The Oriel Square tennis court was a real tennis court that was located in Oriel Square, central Oxford, England. The Liber Albus mentions the Oriel court being in Vinehall Lane in 1577. The only active court left in the city is in Merton Street.
Charles I played tennis here with his nephew Prince Rupert in December 1642 and King Edward VII had his first tennis lesson here in 1859.
The court survived until 1923, when it was used as a lecture hall by Oriel College, though it may have seen earlier use as a theatre. The site is now the location of Oriel College's Harris Building, used for student accommodation, a seminar room and lecture theatre.
Famous quotes containing the words square, tennis and/or court:
“Interpreting the dance: young women in white dancing in a ring can only be virgins; old women in black dancing in a ring can only be witches; but middle-aged women in colors, square dancing...?”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The boneless quality of English conversation, which, so far as I have heard it, is all form and no content. Listening to Britons dining out is like watching people play first-class tennis with imaginary balls.”
—Margaret Halsey (b. 1910)
“We went on, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the soldier, binding up his wounds, harboring the stranger, visiting the sick, ministering to the prisoner, and burying the dead, until that blessed day at Appomattox Court House relieved the strain.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)