The Eglinton Racket Hall
4 April
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The end wall view of the Racket Hall interior
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The Racket Hall entrance and viewing balcony
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A cut-open view of the Racket Hall
Eglinton Country Park has a Racket Hall which was built around 1842, the first recorded Racket match being held in 1846. Racquet is the American version of the name.
The court floor is of large granite slabs, now hidden by a wooden floor. It was the very first covered racquet court, built before the court size was standardised and is now the oldest surviving court in the World, as well as being the oldest indoor sports building in Scotland.
In 1860 the 13th Earl of Eglinton employed a rackets professional, John Mitchell and a Patrick Devitt replaced him. Mitchell owned a pub in Bristol with its own rackets court and this was named the "Eglinton Arms". The match book still survives and a smaller outside court was built in the early 1920s. It is not known when the main court was last used.
The army used it as a store for lorry batteries during WW2 and then it was used as a general storage area by Wilson's factory. It was renovated by Irvine Development Corporation and now forms a vital resource for Eglinton Country Park. Regretably the walls were not restored in the correct way for the game to be actually played, but the hall now hosts conferences, parties, meetings, displays, archival material, etc.
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