Handball court Nelson – Treharris District

Nelson’s open-air handball court, in the centre of the village near Commercial Street and Station Terrace, is generally believed to have been built around 1860, although some local accounts suggest a slightly later date.

The traditional game, known in Welsh as pêl-law, was probably brought to Nelson by Irish labourers working on the Great Western and Taff Vale railway lines. It was originally played against a wall of the Nelson Inn, now the Village Inn. The landlord of the nearby Royal Oak then had the purpose-built three-sided court constructed, partly to attract players and customers away from the rival pub.

Players struck a small, hard, leather-covered ball with the palm of the hand against the main wall. It was similar to squash but played without rackets, either as singles or doubles.

Nelson became one of the leading handball centres in South Wales. Its most successful period was from about 1880 until the Second World War, when tournaments ran from May to August and drew large crowds, prize money and considerable betting. Wire netting was added in 1913, partly to prevent balls reaching the police station built nearby in 1910.

The court was designated a Grade II listed structure in 1988. The Royal Commission describes it as the only surviving outdoor three-wall handball court in the United Kingdom. After a period of decline around 2000, local players helped revive the game, and the historic court has again been used for community matches and demonstrations.

A Brief history of the Handball court devised from books available at Caerphilly library which is similar to above from a different source.

The handball court is believed to have been built around 1865 although it is difficult to get an accurate date. The landowners were the Wingfield and Mackintosh estate and they paid for the construction.
Nelson was a very small community in the early nineteenth century but the influx of workers to the area, particularly Irish labourers employed on the new railway works, saw the village grow considerably and handball was a game that became popular in Nelson. It is thought that the men played handball against the walls of the old Nelson Inn, this meant that the nearby Royal Oak was missing out on possible trade. The owners of the Royal Oak decided to build the Handball court on land they owned close by the pub and that idea proved successful as the Royal Oak became the headquarters of the Handball players and bar takings increased

I have a collection of photographs that have beeen donated or gathered from various sources over the years, hopefully they give you all a flavour of the court and its long history., I will start with the oldest ones I can find.

Possible rules guide below

Some more of the players now and a newspaper report from the 1990’s

This is a report from a visitor to the championships held in the village in 1995

“There is a Welcome in the Valleys” ‘We saw the soul of handball in Wales this May. This was the only standard 60 x 30 court built in Britain and was put up for the Irish immigrants who went to work in Wales in the 1860s. Handball became the major sport in the village and for their annual tournaments the court and square around it would be black with spectators, old and young.