The second of a series of articles tracing the fascinating and varied history
of the building the Museum now occupies
The Tennis Court – 2
In the first (LINK) part of this blog, we looked at how the Tennis-court came to be built, and reached the red-letter day 25th September 1777 when it opened to the public for the first time. So how did it go?
Whereas the Riding School could accommodate quite a large number of gentlemen at one time (and had an income from stabling and looking after their horses), at the Tennis-court only four people could play. So presumably it was difficult to make much money.
Seven months after opening, the Tennis-court is not covering its costs and Richard Scrace advertises in the Chronicle (30th April 1778) pleading for more subscribers:

He borrowed £800 on mortgage and it’s cost £1,500 to build. Now he needs to pay back the bank loan and he can’t carry this much debt on his own. £1,500 in 1777 is about £130,000 today – which may not sound excessive, but at that date it would have taken about 35 years for a skilled tradesman to earn £1,500! (estimates from National Archives Currency Calculator). So Scrace probably invested something nearer to £1.5m today.

No wonder he’s worried. And so a couple of weeks later he gives up and the Tennis-court is up for auction. The notice in the Chronicle (14th May 1778) states that it is 112 feet in length and 40 feet in width, freehold, and 8 guineas (£8.8s = £8.40) annual ground-rent. The Tennis-court is the light brown rectangular are on this map from the Museum archives:
Throughout 1778 Scrace advertises increasingly desperately for subscribers, and even suggests that a benevolent individual might wish to buy the entire mortgage off him (an unlikely outcome). And on 17 Sept. 1778 he places a notice in the Chronicle seeking to apprehend the person who horribly mutilated his dog, a brown & white spaniel. A mysterious incident – is someone out to get Scrace?
Eventually the Tennis-court is re-advertised for auction in January 1779. It’s still open, but is also used for other purposes:
Chronicle 19th August 1779:
“The Military Association of young Gentlemen and Tradesmen in this City amounts to one hundred; – they began to learn the exercise for the first time on Monday morning last, in the Tennis-court …”
These young men became the Royal Bath Volunteers: the Tennis-court is a useful space for large gatherings like this. However a year later it apparently remains open for tennis:
“10th February 1780: A dull warm morning. … Went to the Riding School and Tennis Court.”
The Journal of Edmund Rack (BRLSI, Bath 2018)
The Tennis Court has a new Owner
Later in the year (25th October 1780) a Mr Mucklow of London advertises in the Chronicle:

This sounds promising – but it’s the sole reference to Mucklow, he does not advertise, and one of the subscribers wonders what’s going on:
27th December 1780:
“To whom does the Tennis Court belong now? J’y suis intéressé [I have an interest in it], being a £50 subscriber. Is the Marker a tolerable player, & how are the racquets, & balls, etc?”
Letter, the 10th Earl of Pembroke to his son George, Lord Herbert
Quoted in Trevor Fawcett Voices of Eighteenth Century Bath: An Anthology (Ruton, Bath 1995)
And so the short life of the Tennis-court faded away at some point during the 1780s.
In the next of these articles we’ll look at some of the extraordinary events that took place here in the 1790s and early 1800s.
Full Series: links added after publishing
Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7
Building complete timeline can be viewed here
Ann Cullis September 2024