Tibberton Court

Tibberton Court is a former country house, now converted into five flats. Built in the late 18th century and substantially rebuilt and enlarged in 1853 for W. P. Price, Chairman of the Midland Railway, by architect J. Medland, the building is constructed in ashlar with parts of the back in smooth render lined as ashlar, and covered with a slate roof.

The principal entrance front faces west and displays five bays across a three-storey centre with projecting single-bay wings on either side, each wing two rooms deep. A slim tower rises on the left. The centrepiece features a five-bay colonnade with Corinthian columns and end pilasters, topped by a full cornice with balustrade extending to a lead-flat balcony. The colonnade is stone paved and contains a central half-glazed door with two panels below and a rectangular single-pane fanlight with sidelights. On either side are two double French doors with lights over and moulded ashlar surrounds. The floor above has five double French doors with lights over, creating the effect of tall mullion and transom windows with stone surrounds. Alternate pointed and segmental pediments crown these openings on consoles. The second floor contains five square four-pane sashes with moulded surrounds and blocks under the ends of sills. A modillion stone cornice carries the lead eaves gutter beneath a hipped roof with lead hips, ridges and centre valley. End chimneys feature modillion caps.

The projecting wings on either side have furrowed plinths and moulded tops. Each wing contains a tripartite window with French doors and fanlight at ground level matching those behind the colonnade, a plain string course above, a cantilevered stone balcony on brackets with balustrade, and a similar tripartite window below. A modillion eaves cornice identical to the centre section tops each wing, with hipped roofs and similar chimneys on the outer walls.

Set back on the left is a four-stage tower. It rises from a battered base with rusticated quoins and has a plain string course at first floor level extending above the roof of the two-storey wing. The lower stage displays a coat of arms in a raised circle within a sunk square. Two levels above feature framed plain corners. A two-light window with pilasters between and either side of the lights sits beneath a balustrade, with a single-pane sash above each light; both lights have semi-circular heads with keystones. The tower is topped with bracketed wide stone eaves and a lead pyramid roof, crowned by a wrought iron weathervane.

The interior retains panelled shutters to the front. The front room left of centre serves as the original entrance hall, where Roman toric piers with elliptical arches form an arcade, with plaster panelling to soffit and spandrels. The main stairs are pitch pine with square newels topped by ball finials and turned balusters, rising around an open well to a double arch at first floor with plaster panelling to soffit, spandrels and piers. A stained glass window lights the stair. Six-panel doors open from the landing, featuring moulded surrounds with semi-circular painted low-relief carvings above. Short pitch-pine stairs at each end lead to slightly higher first floor levels in the wings. The front room fireplace on the first floor, to the right of centre, has a fluted surround with corner paterae and an iron grate, accompanied by a fluted door surround. The centre rear room contains a fine steel fireplace surround with side hobs. A spiral timber stair in the centre tower links the top two floors; the top stage was originally open. Cellars exist below the centre part of the house.

The building originally included a servants' wing projecting from the rear on the left, a ballroom and library on the right, and a second tower containing a water tank to drive an organ blower; these were demolished in the mid-20th century.

W. P. Price rebuilt and enlarged a three-storey, five-window house on the site. Historical records indicate that an earlier house, described as newly built but not completed, appeared in an 1795 sale catalogue. That earlier structure featured a pedimented centre breaking forward slightly with a semi-circular porch. Drawings, photographs and the sale catalogue are held at Tibberton Estate Office.