Webber House

Webber House is a retirement apartment building in Tewkesbury, originally built between 1792 and 1796 as the House of Industry and Union Workhouse, constructed by Act of Parliament. It was later used as a hospital before its conversion to apartments in 1991. The building may have been designed by George Byfield, known for designing gaols.

The building is constructed of English bond brickwork with slate roofs and brick stacks. It is laid out symmetrically, featuring a large square central block connected by short, one-bay links to narrower cross wings. The site slopes downwards at the rear, revealing a basement level. The windows are largely replacement tripartite plain pseudo-sash windows set under brick voussoirs, with flush bullnose brick cills.

The central block is three storeys high with a basement, and has five bays with windows in decreasing proportions, approximately 1.5 metres of plain brickwork above the second-floor windows, all beneath a low-pitched hipped roof. A large, late 20th-century steel and glass porch, accessible by a ramp and three steps, now occupies the centre. The link units, set back by a half-brick depth, have sashes within sunk arched panels, and a third storey, rendered and slightly recessed from the brick parapet, has been added. The wings project forward, with a sash window on both the ground and first floors in the returns, culminating in a narrow, gabled end featuring a lunette. Each wing has two large, plain stacks at the inner eaves. A moulded brick plinth runs around the building, and the central block features a brick dentil eaves. The right return has five bays, with a set-back arched panel in the centre. The northeast front, facing the Abbey, is similar to the street front but includes an additional storey to the basement plinth, also with a central glazed door. The left wing mirrors the right.

The interior, originally very plain, has been modified with partitions to create multiple apartments. The building is a relatively rare example of a pre-Poor Law Amendment Act Workhouse, operating as the Tewkesbury Union Workhouse from 1835. Late 20th-century alterations have removed some intrusive features, and the street frontage, previously painted, has been restored to brickwork. The glazed entrance replaced a flat concrete hood from the 1950s. The building presents a somewhat austere but balanced design, occupying a significant location on the approach to the town from the south and within views from the Abbey.