By Elizabeth Hunter via SWNS
Pictures show the world’s oldest tennis court – where fans still play the original 500-year-old form of the game.
The Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club consists of around 50 members who play ‘real tennis’ on a court built in 1539 by King James V of Scotland.
Real tennis is a precursor to modern tennis played on a hard court surrounded by four walls.
It became popular with nobility across Europe in the 15th century and includes the use of complex wall and floor markings to calculate scores.
The court at Falkland Palace in Fife, Scotland has existed for 485 years, and is still regularly used by the tennis club – and any visitors that are keen to get involved.
Club member Kevin Gilbert became introduced to the sport whilst living in Australia – and after retiring to Scotland, sought out the Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club.
“It’s played quite differently to lawn tennis, which originated in the 19th century,” said Kevin.
“The game involves hitting the ball off a penthouse roof, and you’re allowed to hit it onto the walls – and there are other quirks of the game that can win you points.
“The game originated in the courts of Europe, but there are only around 50 of these courts left around the world.
“Around half are in Britain, a few in the US, some in Australia, and there are only three left in France.
“We have about 40 members from Scotland, and we have others who come and play once in a blue moon.
“The palace allows us to use the court, and their visitors sometimes arrive during the sessions that we run – they can see us play and we often invite them to join in.
“We love to provide the opportunity to visit us and play on the court.”
Modern tennis, or lawn tennis, was created to allow the average person to participate in the game without the need of a purpose-built court – but fans of real tennis say they value the opportunity to play the game as it was originally intended.
“In those days, it was only the royalty and the upper class could afford to play on these courts,” said Kevin.
“Once lawn tennis was invented in the mid-19th century, a journalist is said to have coined the term “real tennis” to refer to the original game.
“The reason that tennis changed was to provide the ordinary person an opportunity to play by drawing out lines on a piece of grass and changing the rules to suit the fact that there were no more walls nor penthouse around it.
“It evolved to provide people around the world the opportunity to play the game, but those with a chance to play “real tennis” or “royal tennis” as it’s called now, can really get a sense of the origins of it.”
The court at Falkland Palace is maintained by the National Trust of Scotland – but the club hopes to raise money to contribute to maintenance and upgrades as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations next year.
The palace welcomes thousands of visitors per year – and club members are thrilled to be able to share their love for the sport.
“We get visitors from all over the world who visit us, and sometimes write or email us asking if they can have a game on the court – and we always include them.
“We’re trying to keep alive the tradition of many centuries of play.”
