Stable Block And Farm Buildings To Rear

The stable block and farm buildings at Acomb The Hermitage date from around 1760, with some buildings on the north side of the yard remodeled in the early 19th century. The complex features a central gateway and end pavilions made of tooled-and-margined ashlar, while the rest of the front is constructed from squared stone, and the rear parts are made of coursed rubble with tooled dressings. The roofs are covered with Lakeland slate. The buildings form a rectangular yard, with those at the rear built into the hillside.

The south elevation has two storeys and is symmetrical, consisting of 2+3+1+3+2 bays. It has a plinth, and the central entrance bay features a keyed segmental arch with imposts and a moulded eaves cornice. The flanking three-bay sections each have a central panelled door surrounded by renewed windows, with latticed openings above, all set in raised stone surrounds. Each of the two-bay end pavilions has boarded doors beneath boarded tympana with heart-shaped piercings, set in segmental arches with imposts, and 9-pane sash windows above. The right pavilion has a pyramidal roof topped with a weathervane.

The ranges behind the pavilions contain two-panel doors and stone-surround windows. There is a four-bay open cartshed at the rear of the front range, west of the gateway. At the back of the yard, there is a three-bay cartshed/granary on the left and pigsty/henhouses on the right, with an open midden in between; the granary and henhouses are accessed at a higher level from the rear.

The midden is enclosed by a flat-coped wall that ramps up to the left of the entrance, while the lower wall in front of the pigsty includes integral stone feeding chutes and troughs.