Shipton Court

Shipton Court is a country house, originally built around 1603, with significant remodelling in 1633 and during the 18th century. It underwent a substantial restoration by Bulmer and Perkins between 1903 and 1906, carried out in a revived Jacobean style. The house is constructed of coursed rubble with Cotswold stone roofs. The plan is irregular, appearing symmetrical to the west and incorporating a courtyard to the north. It is designed in a Jacobean style, characterised by gables and Cotswold stone detailing. Architectural features include mullioned and transomed windows with drips, coped verges with kneelers, carved finials, and tall ashlar chimneys with square shafts and common cornices, some of which are joined and some open. The building is two storeys and has attics.

The west front is symmetrical, with five gables, and projecting one-bay wings creating a rhythm of 3:1:3:1:3 in the window arrangement. The central gable has been altered, its original entrance replaced with mullioned windows. An attic window above features Ipswich-pattern glazing, and this, along with the other attic windows, are the only original features remaining. Moulded, elliptical-headed doorways are found in the returns of the projecting bays, although the left one is blocked. Two-storey angled bays are present in the gable returns. A crenellated tower adjoins the north gable. The north, south, and east fronts benefit from an additional storey due to the sloping ground level. The north front incorporates a low service courtyard dating to 1903, with Tudor-arched openings. The north-east pavilion preserves original hollow-chamfered mullion and transom windows, while the south-east pavilion has been replaced by the previously mentioned crenellated tower. The central recessed section has a string course above the third floor and a small ogee-arched bellcote between the attic gables. The east front presents three principal gables, with lower, crenellated one- and two-storey extensions flanking them; the southern extension includes an angled two-storey bay and a Tudor-arched entry to steps leading to a terrace. The south front is recessed behind the site of a former Winter Garden.

The interior was extensively remodelled in an Edwardian Jacobean style, featuring plaster rib ceilings (tunnel vaulted on the first floor), panelling, and large wooden fireplaces with mother-of-pearl inlay. The staircases are also in this style. The principal staircase, located in the south-east corner, includes large windows containing reset heraldic glass and roundels, likely Flemish, dating to the 16th and 17th centuries. A chamfered round arch in the basement beneath the east wing is believed to represent earlier fabric.

Historically, the house was acquired by the Reade family in 1633 and, in 1902, passed to a butler before being sold to a coal millionaire called Pepper. In the 18th century, the west front’s windows were replaced with sashes, and a portico was added between the two wings. The restoration work by Bulmer and Perkins involved recreating the Jacobean style, also affecting the garden layout and terracing. The design shares stylistic similarities with Chastleton Manor. The house has stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops.