Covered Tennis Court, Cliveden Estate

TAPLOW

411/0/10056 Covered Tennis Court, Cliveden Estate 26-APR-04

II Covered tennis court. C 1900, designer unknown. Grey and red brick exterior, partially glazed roof. Classical exterior, with a triple-arched ground floor to the main gabled west-facing end, the arched openings now in-filled with boarding; above is a large window with wrought iron balcony, carried on a stone ledge, the tall window opening being set within a rusticated surround with a segmental arch above. Recessed side bays. To the south side is an end pavilion with arched ground floor entrances and bull's-eye windows to the upper floor. The other sides have had lower ancillary structures built up against them, and these are not regarded as possessing special interest. INTERIOR: A large tennis court, spanned with an open bowstring-trussed roof. Lesser rooms run around the sides. HISTORY: located about half a mile to the south-east of the house, this building formed a notable addition to the amenities of the Cliveden estate during the Astor years, and is listed as a notable building for sport of its day. During the First World War it was used as a Canadian military hospital, and was subsequently joined to a large hospital complex to the south, commenced in 1915 to the designs of Major Charles Skipper.