The Dyvours Club

The Dyvours Club, these days known as The Grange Dyvours Club, is the oldest lawn tennis club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club has four grass tennis courts, four flood-lit all-weather courts, and two indoor hard courts, in the Stockbridge district of Edinburgh.

1. History

The club was founded in 1883. The origin of the club name comes from the 17th Century, when bankrupts in Scotland - known in Scots as 'Dyvours' - were condemned to advertise their plight by wearing clothes of various colours, particularly brown and yellow which were known as 'dyvours' hose. As the club founders had no grounds of their own they co-opted the 'Dyvours' name and colours to represent the fact that in the words of the clubs first chairman Lord Dunedin "they intended to play on other people's grounds and eat other people's lunches". The club eventually began playing on ground next to The Grange Club in Stockbridge, the home of Scottish cricket. Initially this was Real tennis played in a hut called the 'Tin Temple'. Sir James Patten McDougall KCB was one of the first to play Lawn tennis outdoors at The Grange Club ground, and over time a sub-section of The Dyvours Club began to play outside in the summer months. For ten years, the club enjoyed the use of ten grass courts until two were requisitioned by The Grange Club for the construction of their cricket pavilion, opened in 1895 Two more courts were lost with the construction of squash courts in 1974. Eventually the club became a fully lawn tennis club in 1902. In 1996, the name of the club was changed to Grange Dyvours Lawn Tennis Club to reflect the long standing association with The Grange Club.

1. Facilities

The club has four grass tennis courts. Since 1994 the club has also had four floodlit, all-weather courts. Proposals were drawn together in 2016 to construct a new indoor tennis facility for the club called 'The Tin Temple Two' on the clubs site next to The Grange Club Pavilion.

1. Competitions

The club was home of the Scottish Lawn Tennis Championship from its founding in 1878 to 1892. It would return for one year in 1994. The club plays in the East of Scotland leagues.

1. See also

Tennis in Scotland Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club

1. References

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Raeburn Place

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The Grange Club

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Stockbridge, Edinburgh

Stockbridge is a district of Edinburgh, located north of the city centre, bounded by the New Town and by Comely Bank. The name is Scots stock brig from Anglic stocc brycg, meaning a timber bridge. Originally a small outlying village, it was incorporated into the City of Edinburgh in the 19th century. The current "Stock Bridge", built in 1801, is a stone structure spanning the Water of Leith. The painter Henry Raeburn (1756–1823) owned two adjoining estates, Deanhaugh and St Bernard's, which he developed with the assistance of the architect James Milne. Milne was also responsible for the fine St Bernard's Church (1823) in Saxe Coburg Street. Ann Street, designed by Raeburn and named after his wife, is a rare early example of a New Town street with private front gardens.

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Stockbridge public library

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Library