Merton Street tennis court is the home of the Oxford University Real Tennis

Real tennis

Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original indoor racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis , is descended...

 Club. It stands on the north side of Merton Street

Merton Street

Merton Street is a historic and picturesque cobbled lane in central Oxford, England. It joins the High Street at its northeastern end, between the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art and the Eastgate Hotel at the historic east gate of the city...

 in central Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and forms part of Merton College

Merton College, Oxford

Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...

.

There has been a tennis court in Oxford since 1450 and one at the Merton Street site since c. 1494, according to http://www.tennisbookshop.com/real.htm. Alternatively, according to http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/features/2004/09/secret_oxford.shtml, Oxford has had a court since 1595 and one at this site since 1798.

The Merton Street court, being early, has somewhat non-standard dimensions, and in particular an unusually flat tambour

Tambour

In classical architecture, a tambour is the inverted bell of the Corinthian capital around which are carved acanthus leaves for decoration....

(a buttress used as part of the court).

Books

• Tennis and Oxford by Jeremy Potter; 1st edition of 1994; 152 pp in 8vo and dw