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Squash Court at Chirk Castle

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NPRN410408
Map ReferenceSJ23NE
Grid ReferenceSJ2676038230
Unitary (Local) AuthorityWrexham
Old CountyDenbighshire
CommunityChirk
Type Of SiteSQUASH COURT
Period20th Century
Description
Built c.1930 the Squash Court at Chirk Castle reflects the rise in the popularity of the game of squash in the inter-war period. It is a two-storey brick building, with framing pilasters and applied half-timbering and white washed brick to the upper storey. It has a gabled slate roof with a large rooflight along the ridge and swept eaves with plain chamfered bargeboards.

This was built on the site of one of the so called Gasometers in 1936. Architecturally, the Squash court has the merit of being a handsome and well- designed structure for its intended purpose, built in a vaguely mock-Tudor style (a version of late Arts & Crafts) in brick and timber. It is ca 12.5m x 7.5m in plan and about 10m to the apex of its pitched roof (see survey below). It is essentially a box with a small entrance at the east. Internally, a narrow hall runs north ? south across the front with a staircase to the south leading to a gallery above the back of the squash court proper. The roof has two large glass roof-lights. The structural detail is clearly shown on the survey (below). Almost certainly it was built for by Thomas Evelyn Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden who lived at Chirk until the 1940's.

John Latham RCAHMW 20 September 2016