Elgar Court

Elgar Court is a mid-19th century house, later divided into flats in the late 20th century. It is located on Hampton Park Road, Hereford. Constructed of red brick, the south and west elevations are stuccoed, with a hipped slate roof, deep eaves supported by brackets, and stuccoed stacks with moulded cornices and panelled sides. The house has a double-depth plan, originally featuring two main rooms at the front, an axial hall passage, and stairs. Former service rooms were located in the basement; the stairs have since been removed, and the west rooms divided to create the flats.

The building is of Italianate style, standing two storeys high with an attic and basement. The south front has a two-window arrangement on each side, with the right-hand section breaking forward. A wooden trellis and tented-roof verandah extends along the ground floor and basement, canted around a bay window on the right. The ground floor features French casements, while the first floor has sash windows with segmental pediments on consoles, with a pair of sashes on the right sharing a single pediment. Moulded strings are present at sill levels. Flat-roof dormers project above the eaves and have moulded architraves.

The west return continues the verandah to a central porch, featuring stuccoed square columns and an entablature, with two-one-two windows above and a blind window to the right. Two dormers break the eaves. The east elevation is brick faced, with a one-three window arrangement on the ground floor and paired windows above, all with stuccoed architraves. The rear (north) elevation is of plain brick.

The interior, limited to the ground floor, retains moulded plaster cornices and joinery, despite the removal of the stairs and the division of the former dining and drawing rooms. Elgar’s study, located at the front right (southeast) corner of the house, remains undivided and preserves a moulded ceiling cornice with an oval medallion frieze, although the fireplace is now a later replacement.

Historically, the house, formerly known as Plas Gwyn, was the home of the composer Sir Edward Elgar from 1904 to 1912. During this period, he composed many of his most celebrated works, including Pomp and Circumstance Marches Nos. 3 and 4, Introduction and Allegro for Strings, The Kingdom, Wand of Youth Suites 1 and 2, Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, and the Violin Concerto.