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Tigbourne Court is an
Arts and Crafts style The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...
country house in Wormley, Surrey, England, south of
Witley Witley is a village in the civil parish of Witley and Milford in the Waverley (borough), Waverley district in Surrey, England. It is centred south west of the town of Godalming and southwest of Guildford. The land is a mixture of rural (ran ...
. It was designed by architect
Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...
, using a mixture of 17th-century style
vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture (also folk architecture) is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. It is not a particular architectural movement or style but rather a broad category, encompassing a wide range a ...
and classical elements, and has been called "probably his best" building, for its architectural geometry, wit and texture. It was completed in 1901.
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
have designated it a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.


History

The plot of land on which Tigbourne Court was built was originally part of Tigbourne Farm. First recorded in the 14th century as ''Tykebourne'', it appears in records from the 17th century as ''Tickborne'', ''Tikbourne'' and ''Titchbourne''. The name is thought to derive from the
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
''ticcen'' meaning "kid" (i.e. a young goat) and ''bourne'' meaning "stream". The name may also indicate a historical connection to
Tichborne Tichborne is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish east of Winchester in Hampshire, England. History In archaeology in the south of the parish within the South Downs National Park is a bell barrow, bowl barrow and regular aggr ...
in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
. Tigbourne Farm House, parts of which date from the 15th century, still stands to the southwest of Tigbourne Court and is Grade II listed.
Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...
designed Tigbourne Court in 1899 for businessman Edgar Horne. Horne later became the chairman of the
Prudential Assurance Company Prudential plc is a British-domiciled multinational insurance and asset management company headquartered in London and Hong Kong. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working people. Prudential has dual p ...
and Member of Parliament for
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
. Lutyens was assisted by his business partner E. Baynes Badcock, who was responsible for inspecting the building as the construction progressed, and by
Norman Evill Norman Adolphus Evill FRIBA (1873 – 5 August 1958) was an English architect and draughtsman, apprenticed to Edwin Lutyens. Life and works Evill was born in the village of Hewelsfield, Gloucestershire, in 1873. His father, Walter, was also an ...
, who drew the architectural plans. However, by the start of 1901, faults in the building work had created an "awful mess" and Lutyens wrote in his journal that Horne was "very cross". He blamed Badcock for the construction problems both at Tigbourne Court and elsewhere, and the partnership between the two men ended in March of the same year. Horne never moved into Tigbourne Court and, in September 1901, it was let to the fraudster
Whitaker Wright James Whitaker Wright (9 February 1846 – 26 January 1904) was a company promoter and swindler, who committed suicide at the Royal Courts of Justice in London immediately following his conviction for fraud. Early life The eldest of five child ...
. The writer, Newton Wethered, owned the house between 1905 and 1934. The single-storey
billiard room A billiard room (also billiards room, or more specifically pool room, snooker room) is a recreation room, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table (The term "billiard room" or "pool room" may also be use ...
, at the rear of the house, was added in 1910 and was designed by Horace Farquharson. In 1968, Tigbourne Court was purchased by
Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had List of Maggie Smith performances, an extensive career on stage and screen for over seve ...
, her then husband,
Robert Stephens Sir Robert Graham Stephens (14 July 193112 November 1995) was an English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. Early life Stephens was born in Shirehampton, Bristol, in 1931, the eldest of three children of shipyard ...
, and her brother and sister-in-law. They partitioned the house, so that Smith and Stephens could live in the main part and the other couple in the servants' quarters. The family sold the property in 1981 for £185,000, having bought it for £37,000 thirteen years earlier. Tigbourne Court is privately owned.


House

Tigbourne Court was conceived by Edwin Lutyens in the spirit of the
Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...
, combining architectural styles from the
Tudor period In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with ...
and the 17th century. The house has a strong geometric layout that Lutyens' biographer, Christopher Hussey, suggests was influenced by the ideas of
John Thorpe John Thorpe or Thorp (c.1565–1655?; fl.1570–1618) was an English architect. Life Little is known of his life, and his work is dubiously inferred, rather than accurately known, from a folio of drawings in the Sir John Soane's Museum, to whic ...
. The walls are primarily of local
Bargate stone __NOTOC__ Bargate stone is a highly durable form of sandstone. It owes its yellow, butter or honey colouring to a high iron content. In some contexts it may be considered to be a form of ironstone. However, in the context of stone buildings local ...
with
galleting Galleting, sometimes known as garreting or garneting, is an architectural technique in which spalls (small pieces of stone) are pushed into wet Mortar (masonry), mortar joints during the construction of a masonry building. The term comes from the ...
of the mortar using pieces of
ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...
. The main U-shaped frontage faces west and is immediately adjacent to the Petworth Road. The porch is classical in style with Doric columns and is flanked by single-storey concave walls that form the inner faces of the forward-projecting north and south
wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...
. Above the entrance, the main elevation is formed of three gables with narrow windows. All of the west-facing windows have brick
mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...
s and those on the first floor have brick
pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
s The west end of each wing is crowned by a pair of tall, brick chimneys and the curves of the frontage are accentuated by bands of tiles in the walls. O'Brien, Nairn and Cherry write: "…although the front is completely symmetrical, it never seems so because the eye is led away completely by the play of chimneys and screen walls." The ground floor was conceived as a circular layout with the main staircase at its centre. The south wing is occupied by the drawing room, which has a small gallery and a large
inglenook An inglenook or chimney corner is a recess that adjoins a fireplace. The word comes from "ingle", an old Scots word for a domestic fire (derived from the Gaelic ''aingeal''), and "nook". The inglenook originated as a partially enclosed hear ...
fireplace. The dining room, on the eastern side, is adjacent to a
loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...
, which is linked to the
studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...
on the north side of the house by a timber-covered walkway. The north wing contains the kitchen, which Lawrence Weaver notes is inconveniently sited for the dining room on the other side of the ground floor. There are seven bedrooms on the first floor, with more in the attic.


Garden

The main architectural feature of the garden is the Grade II-listed
pergola A pergola is most commonly used as an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support crossbeams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are t ...
, which links the
terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...
to the croquet lawn. The structure consists of alternating circular and square brick columns, supporting a lattice of wooden timbers. Partially screened by a ''
Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...
'' hedge, it is planted with vines and roses. The pergola inspired later Lutyens/Jekyll collaborations, including at
Deanery Garden Deanery Garden (or The Deanery) is an Arts and Crafts style house and garden in Sonning, Berkshire, England. The house was designed and built by architect Edwin Lutyens between 1899 and 1901. It is a Grade I listed building. The gardens—laid ...
and
Hestercombe Hestercombe House is a historic country house in the parish of West Monkton in the Quantock Hills, near Taunton in Somerset, England. The house is a Grade II* listed building and the estate is Grade I listed on the English Heritage Register ...
. Beneath the canopy is a circular dipping well. The planting scheme for the garden was conceived by Gertrude Jekyll. The terrace runs alongside the southwestern side of the building and includes some
yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...
topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...
, which may not have been part of her original design.


Critical responses

Ian Nairn comments: "Tigbourne leaves the visitor uncertain whether simply to be profoundly thankful for what is there, or to regret that Lutyens never afterwards came up to this level." Clive Aslet writes: "The confident geometry of Tigbourne Court… makes it look bigger than it actually is. In fact, it is an example of a new, smaller type of country house, built with a garden but no landed estate, and within easy distance of London." Architect,
Stephen Gardiner Stephen Gardiner (27 July 1483 – 12 November 1555) was an English Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I. Early life Gardiner was born in Bury St Ed ...
writes: "...amazing ingredients of Elizabethan gables, Roman Tiles, Tudor bricks and chimneys, Doric columns, classical geometry and leaded glass are mixed together with tremendous vigour to make a work of dignity and composure." Journalist, Michael McNay writes: "Looking at one of the best of utyens'houses, Tigbourne Court, is like looking at a drawing by
Osbert Lancaster Sir Osbert Lancaster (4 August 1908 – 27 July 1986) was an English cartoonist, architectural historian, stage designer and author. He was known for his cartoons in the British press, and for his lifelong work to inform the general publi ...
made manifest in bricks and mortar... This is the sort of building... that has led to a rebirth of Lutyens' reputation among the young."


Tigbourne Cottage and Little Leat

Tigbourne Cottage and Little Leat were designed by Lutyens and constructed at the main time as the main house. Both are built of galleted Bargate stone with plain tiled roofs and are now Grade II listed. Tigbourne Cottage was originally the coachman's residence. Little Leat, the former
coach house A ''carriage house'', also called a ''remise'' or ''coach house'', is a term used in North America to describe an outbuilding that was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and their related tack. Carriage houses were often two st ...
and stables, was converted to a three-bedroom cottage in 1958.


Notes


References


Bibliography

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External links

{{Commons category-inline Arts and Crafts architecture in England Grade I listed buildings in Surrey Grade I listed houses Country houses in Surrey Houses completed in 1901 Works of Edwin Lutyens in England Gardens in Surrey Gardens by Gertrude Jekyll