Bedstone Court (Bedstone College Main Building)

Bedstone Court, now Bedstone College Main Building

Country house, now school. Built in 1881 by Thomas Harris for Sir Henry Ripley, with minor later additions and alterations. The building is constructed of red brick and planted timber frame with ashlar dressings and machine tile roofs.

The plan is complex and multi-gabled, forming a rough U-shape across three storeys. Wooden mullioned and transomed windows throughout feature leaded lights in several locations.

The entrance front is dominated by a prominent full-height projecting gable, jettied to each floor. Oriel windows occupy the first and second floors, with the second-floor example displaying elaborate plaster decoration to its top. The porch is set within this projecting gable and approached by five steps. The porch entrance has an elliptical centre arch inscribed "DULCE DOMUS" to the lintel, flanked by round-headed arches with Ionic columns and carved spandrels displaying a variety of classical and Jacobean-style motifs. A balustrade runs along low stone walls to the front and sides, with a mosaic floor within. The inner panelled door has raised lozenge-shaped patterns and is flanked by half-reeded and half-fluted pilasters with round-arched recesses.

Gables flank the projecting gable to left and right. The left gable has a large integral stack to its right, decorated with a terracotta armorial device displaying the Ripley family motto "DUMSPIRO SPERO". An octagonal wooden cupola crowns the ridge, featuring turned balusters to an open balustrade and a lead-domed cap topped by a weathervane. The external end stack to the right has a tall star-shaped shaft with a miniature stone gable approximately one-third of the way up, bearing an armorial device with hanging garlands of fruit and the date "1881", with "BED / STONE / COUR / T" in raised lettering to an oval medallion. A tall red brick stack to the right of the ridge and projecting gable carries a brass sundial at its apex.

The south front displays seven gables with a full-height canted bay between the second and third gables from the left. A balcony to the first floor, with vase-shaped balusters, runs from the canted bay to the sixth gable from the left. This balcony is partly protected by the continuous jetty of the gables above and supported by slender wooden posts with Ionic columns. A two-storey projection to the right is capped by miniature twin gables. Initials "HWR" and the date "1881" appear on several rainwater heads.

The rear elevation displays some planted timber frame, though the majority of gables are tile hung. On the courtyard (north) side, the principal feature is a two-storey canted bay projecting from a multi-light mullioned and transomed window.

Interior

The main staircase is set within a panelled hall with a painted ceiling. The staircase features sturdy vase-shaped balusters and a deeply grooved ramped handrail, with plain Ionic columns at the ends enclosed by unfluted pilasters. A stained-glass window behind the staircase (extending into the canted bay) depicts the labours of the months. The entrance hall to the left of the porch contains stained glass showing parrots and butterflies, while the upper lights of ground-floor windows to the south range feature stained glass depicting figures from classical mythology, ancient history and literature, illustrative of the feminine virtues.

Several rooms on this side of the house have plaster ceilings and friezes, most notably in the former dining room (now library) at the west end. The entrance hall includes carving of a well with the word "FARE" over the exterior door and another carving of a well with the word "COME" over the door leading to the main hall. Original panelled doors and fireplaces occur throughout, including on the first floor.

The house is known locally as a calendar house, reputedly containing 12 chimneys, 365 windows, 7 external doors and 52 rooms.

Thomas Harris, the architect, was author of Victorian Architecture (1860), in which he sought to define a specifically Victorian style of architecture. In Shropshire he is best known for his design of Stokesay Court.