EN TOUT CAS HISTORY

En-Tout-Cas is the oldest and best known of all artificial tennis court surfaces. The original En-Tout-Cas surface was first manufactured in 1909. Commander GW Hillyard, secretary of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon and captain of the Great Britain tennis team, had seen artificial courts made from crushed ant heaps in South Africa. He asked Claude Brown, the manager of a coal merchants and a brickyard in Leicestershire, if he could produce something similar.

Claude soon came up with a top-quality court made from crushed brick and burned shale. A prototype court at the Commander’s home in Thorpe Satchville proved to be an instant success and orders rolled in from some of the country’s best players. These courts became known around the world as En-Tout-Cas - a phrase Claude appropriated after a guest at one of his tennis parties showed off her En Tout Cas – an all-weather parasol from France. The earliest synthetic tennis court surfaces had been slow to drain and dry. Claude’s genius lay in the idea of making courts, from ground-up stone and brick, that were quick to drain.

By 1914, the new En-Tout-Cas red clay tennis courts were being installed in their hundreds for the wealthy and for leading clubs.

Choice of Champions - En Tout Cas courts were used for the Davis Cup, and the French, British and Canadian Championships. After the war, the company thrived. By the mid-1920’s the company had agents throughout Europe, Scandinavia and North America. En-Tout-Cas’ London offices were located in Harrods and Fortnum and Mason. An En-Tout-Cas tennis court was as essential an adjunct to an English country house as a Rolls-Royce. Claude Brown was appointed Tennis Court Maker to King George V. By the mid-1930s, there were ten En- Tout-Cas courts at Wimbledon and the company’s courts were being used for the Davis Cup and the French Open. North American clients included Edsel Ford, H F Du Pont, S R Guggenheim, J Pierrepoint Morgan and two members of the Vanderbilt family. During the second world war, En -Tout-Cas contributed to the war effort by building and repairing airfields for the RAF.