Sticke Tennis Court To West Of Hartham House

Sticke Tennis Court to West of Hartham House

A covered Sticke Tennis Court built in the 1890s at Hartham Park for Sir John Dickson Poynder, later Lord Islington.

The building has a pre-fabricated timber frame with decorative split larch log cladding. It is roofed with Bridgewater tiles in a half-hipped profile and features decorative bargeboards with fan-shaped cut-outs at the gable ends. Two red brick chimneys with twin diamond-shaped shafts and pots sit on the building: one to the south and one tall external stack to the east elevation.

The rectangular plan comprises a nine-bay court at the north-west end and a two-storey south-east block. The lower storey of this end contains an entrance hall, changing room, and social room, while above runs an L-shaped viewing gallery with access to an external cricket balcony.

The south-east front presents a central glazed entrance door with decoratively patterned small square lights above and to its right, flanked to the left by a casement window with three further casements above on the first floor. The side elevations each have a row of nine pairs of square windows beneath the eaves, fitted with metal opening mechanisms operated externally. The east elevation features two casement windows at its south end with a cricket balcony above, and French doors at ground floor level giving access to the court, flanked by double casements. Windows and doors throughout have leaded timber hoods with decorative brackets.

The interior retains most of its original decorative detailing and features. These include carpentry, window and door furniture, wooden stairs with bobbin balusters, and two upstairs fireplaces with wood mantelpieces, grates, and decorative glazed brick surrounds. The men's changing room on the ground floor has a fireplace with marble bolection-moulded surround and its original Doulton & Co toilet. Painted wood grain effect survives on most internally clad timber walls and the stairs. The roof above the court incorporates a large central light and decorative iron ties to the trusses, with original chicken wire protecting the clerestory lights. The original timber floors with red court markings remain, including the side column with its winding mechanism for tightening the net and two small shelves built into the timber side wall for storing the balls.

Sticke Tennis is a cross between lawn tennis, real tennis, and rackets, played in an enclosed court smaller than that of real tennis, using a standard lawn racquet and soft balls. The game was first developed by the military in the late 19th century, who constructed the first courts on Army grounds both in Britain and overseas. From the 1880s Sticke Tennis became a popular sport amongst the affluent and was played by both sexes. A number of purpose-built courts were constructed at various country estates, the best known being Lord Desborough's Patented Court at Taplow of 1892. Further courts followed, particularly built by members of The Souls, a wealthy and influential group of friends that included Lord Islington of Hartham Park. The court at Hartham Park was built in the 1890s concurrent with late-19th-century improvements to the gardens, sited in woodland on the edge of the pleasure grounds, for which a decorative rustic style was adopted.