Listed pavilion 'won't survive storm' - councillor

A Victorian tennis pavilion dating back to the earliest days of the sport "won't survive another storm" a councillor has claimed.

The Grade-II listed Bramcote Tennis Pavilion in Scarborough was built in 1885 and was put on the Victorian Society's Top Ten Endangered Buildings list in 2024.

North Yorkshire councillor Rich Maw warned Storm Darragh had damaged the building in December, leaving it dilapidated, and called on the council and owner to enforce a basic level of maintenance.

He said: "If things stay as they are and there's no investment in maintenance, we're going to lose it and that would be a travesty."

According to Historic England, the lawn tennis pavilion was designed by local architect John Hall and held nine annual tennis competitions from 1884 to 1894.

Historic England said because the pavilion included changing rooms for both sexes, the building illustrated a "particularly significant social, historical aspect of the sport".

In 2017 it was given listed status as one of the earliest surviving lawn tennis buildings in the world.

In 1901 the pavilion and grounds were leased to Bramcote School as a recreation ground. It is now on the site of an athletics tracked used by Scarborough College.

Scarborough College said it did not own the building and the land was leased to Bramcote Athletics Limited.

The land around the pavilion was converted into a running facility and athletics track in September 2023, but the tennis pavilion was left empty.

Maw said if the pavilion was not maintained he would back residents' calls for the council to purchase the building.

He said: "If they [the owners or council] fail to do the basic level of maintenance that you are required to on a Grade II-listed building, then I would look to what the residents are calling for, which is a compulsory purchase order.

"The council has an obligation to enforce a basic level of maintenance and we have to impress upon those who own it to get on and do that level of maintenance."

North Yorkshire Council said it was liaising with Historic England to protect the building.

Director of the Victorian Society, James Hughes, said nothing had been done to protect the building since 2024.

He said: "The pavilion is a unique survivor from the earliest days of tennis. Simply waiting for it to fall down is not an acceptable solution.

"We welcome councillor Maw's interest in the plight of this building."

Christine Perry, a member of Scarborough Civic Society, applied to Historic England for listed status for the building in 2015.

She said: "The local authority gave planning permission for it to be demolished in 2015 but I saw a 'for sale' sign on it and thought the new owner might act on that, so I thought I better try to circumvent that.

"If it is restored, it could be used as it was initially as a changing rooms and lavatories, and a tea room for the athletics groups that use the track."

North Yorkshire Council's head of development management, Martin Grainger, said: "While we do not own the pavilion, we are aware of its condition and the desire for a positive outcome about its future.

"As a council, we have a responsibility to give regard to buildings of this nature in the public interest and so we are liaising with Historic England and will continue to do so.

"If working with the owners and our heritage partners does not provide a satisfactory outcome, as a last resort we have statutory powers to secure the structural condition of Listed buildings."

Bramcote Athletics Limited has been contacted for comment.

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