Club History

The earliest documents recording the Club’s history date from 1882. In March that year the Honorary Secretary of what was then Dulwich Lawn Tennis Club approached the Governors of Dulwich College, which administered the Dulwich Estate, to rent some ground near Dulwich Picture Gallery for tennis courts. This was clearly agreed as two years later the minutes of a General Meeting of the Club, on 2 October 1884, record the decision to give up grounds “at the back of the Picture Gallery” and to seek a new site. A further meeting, on 17 November that year records the report of a working group set up to find new grounds and notes “ a very advantageous site for the courts in the field at the back of the houses in College Gardens bounded on one side by Gallery Road and on the other by the houses”. This site was chosen and the Club moved to what are still its grounds in 1885.

The Club thrived in the years before the First World War but fell into financial difficulty during the war, when tennis was not played after 1916. In 1917 it was decided to halt operation of the Club but to retain the grounds. It was only after the War, in 1920, that a meeting was held to revive the Club, but under the new name of Old College. There is no explanation in the Club records for the name change but it may be because by that time another Dulwich Lawn Tennis Club, now Dulwich Sports Club, had come into existence. Alternatively, the new name may have reflected a closer association with Dulwich College, whose Master became the Club Honorary President.

Since then the Club has operated continuously on its Gallery Road site. Croquet was introduced but ceased in 2020.