Description

TEWKESBURY

SO83SE A38, The Mythe
859-1/2/385 (West side)
27/07/73 Southern Mythe Court and Mythe Court
(Formerly Listed as:
THE MYTHE
Mythe Court)

II

Country house, now (1991) in 2 occupations. Built 1756,
extended early C19. Smooth rendered, some painted brickwork,
slate roofs.
PLAN: the original house probably an L-plan, with symmetrical
S front, and an extra principal room to the W front, around a
central staircase hall. The extensions, with 2 parallel wings
to a narrow courtyard, have produced a U-plan, the courtyard
enclosed by a wall to N. The division of the property in the
late C20 gives the S and W fronts to Southern Mythe House, and
the E front to Mythe House. It is all in 2 storeys.
EXTERIOR: the S front is symmetrical, with a slightly recessed
centre, in 2:1:2 windows, all 12-pane sashes. The central
panelled door with side lights is under a broad portico on
flat paired pilasters to an entablature. Flat pilasters frame
the ends and the central recessed bay. Bold moulded cornice,
blocking course and coped parapet conceal the low-pitched
hipped roofs. To the right of this front, without the cornice
or parapet, is a slight extension of approx 1.7m, returning to
the E front.
Return front to the left has 2 bold and close-set canted bays,
with 8:12:8-paned sashes at each level, and with a glazed hood
on a lightweight scalloped wrought-iron 'fringe', carried on
wrought-iron doubled standards. This was formerly glazed in
curved tent-hood shape, but has now been replaced by flat
glass. The former stone or rendered cornice was removed, and
is carefully replaced in painted wood to the original profile.
Rendered ridge stacks to right and left on S front.
To the left, slightly set back, and with a stack in the
internal angle a hipped wing in painted brick, with 12-pane
sashes above a 16-pane sash and 2 smaller windows. Set back
again, a small-scale 1-bay extension with 2-light casements,
and, on the N return, a 2-light above a 4-light casement in
segmental head. To the left a C20 door and porch, now the main
entrance to Southern Mythe Court.
The E front, Mythe Court, is also in 2 parts, all in painted
brickwork to hipped slate roofs. The first 3-bay section, to a
coped parapet, has 12-pane sashes, and a central panelled
door. To the right, a slightly set-back wing in 2 bays with
glazing-bar sashes. Both wings have gable stacks.
INTERIOR: Mythe Court has been much altered, but Southern
Mythe Court retains much original work. The central entrance
hall is on geometrical Minton tiles, with good panelled doors
in fluted surrounds, and a richly modelled frieze and cornice.
A tall arched opening with panelled intrados on paired
consoles gives to the square staircase hall, with open-well
stair covered by a conical rooflight with radial bars, on a
bold egg-and-dart cornice. The stair has scrolled open string,
swept mahogany handrail, and very slender turned balusters
with a mid reel.
The main room left of the hall has early oak floor boards, a
white marble fire surround, and a rich decorative cornice. The
windows have panelled shutters, and the central opening to the
bay has one section of shuttering which is pulled up from an
under-floor pocket. The second room is similar, with a wood
fire surround. It has a frieze with egg-and-dart, and
rosettes.
The house belonged in the late C19 to Revd Charles William
Grove (donor of the Grove organ to the Abbey (qv)), and later
to the Healing family. During the Second World War it was a
hospital for US troops. The subsequent division into 2
ownerships has not harmed the building externally and it has
retained the best of the internal layout and detail. An
engraving by George Rowe of c1840 shows that the S front
already had the slight extension to the right hand end,
suggesting that the major extensions were undertaken in the
early C19.

Listing NGR: SO8915833918

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26496907

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair