Exploring the history of Real Tennis
6.1 PE A Level students visited Hampton Court this week to deepen their understanding of Real Tennis, the original indoor racquet sport from which modern lawn tennis developed.
The visit forms part of a key unit in the PE A Level curriculum, exploring the historical development of sport. Due to the college’s close proximity to Hampton Court, first-year PE students make the trip annually, giving them the opportunity to see the game played in one of its most historic settings.
Real Tennis only acquired the term “real” at the end of the 19th century, when lawn tennis emerged as a newer alternative. Hampton Court’s association with the sport dates back to the 16th century. The original tennis court was built for Cardinal Wolsey between 1526 and 1529, while the current court was constructed for King Charles I in 1625. As a younger man, Henry VIII was known to be a talented and enthusiastic player spending hours on court perfecting the game.
The game has long been valued for its physical and moral benefits. An English guide to tennis written in 1553 claimed,
‘This game has been created for a good purpose, namely, to keep our bodies healthy, to make our young men stronger and more robust, chasing idleness, virtue’s mortal enemy, far from them and thus making them of a stronger and more excellent nature’.
The visit brought sporting history to life, reinforcing how ideas about physical activity, character and wellbeing have remained central to sport for centuries.
