Former barn and riding school to the NE of Wrightington Hall

This group of buildings to the northeast of Wrightington Hall comprises a former barn with later cross wing, now largely disused, connected via a 19th-century link to a former riding school now used as an archives store. The barn probably originated in the 16th or 17th century and was altered in the early 18th century with further changes in the 19th and 20th centuries. The riding school is early 18th century, possibly incorporating elements of a 17th-century structure. Both are built of coursed sandstone with slate roofs. The 20th-century lean-tos attached to the north side are excluded from the listing.

Exterior: Former Barn

The former barn is constructed of coursed sandstone blocks of varying size (smaller sandstone 'bricks' on the south side) and probably originated as a 16th- or 17th-century timber-framed building associated with the earlier hall. It was encased in stone in the early 18th century and converted to stabling, with further alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. Several exterior features resemble those of the neighbouring riding school, believed to date largely to the early 18th century.

The barn is one and a half storeys with a pitched slate roof, probably laid in the mid to late 19th century when the east link bay was added. The west gable end is quoined (the quoining to the southwest corner only rises to mid-height) and has two cross windows to the ground floor. The gable has a deep eaves cornice and an oculus with a keystone at the apex, now boarded over.

The south elevation has three windows with ashlar surrounds incorporating carved sills: two towards the west end and one at the far east end forming part of the single-bay mid to late 19th-century link connecting to the riding school. A later window opening has been inserted into the elevation, along with two later openings containing glazed doors flanked by sidelights with makeshift timber panel lintels imitating brickwork. These light an internal function space in the east half of the barn's ground floor. The ashlar lintel of a blocked-up opening exists above one of the inserted openings. The roof has a small ventilator.

The barn's north elevation incorporates a series of later inserted window and door openings of varying size, including two vehicular openings. Set to the roof is a 19th-century small round-arched dormer window in the same style as those on the main hall building, a truncated chimneystack to the centre of the ridge, and three later two-light rooflights. The single-bay link at the east end, which is of mellow red brick on this side, has a truncated chimneystack and two two-light rooflights. Attached in front of the link on the north side is a late 20th-century brick single-storey lean-to, excluded from the listing.

North Cross Wing

Projecting at a right angle from the east end of the barn's north elevation is a later extended north cross wing, also of one and a half storeys. A corresponding cross wing at the west end shown on early 19th-century maps (forming a U-shaped range probably used for stabling) has been demolished.

The cross wing has stone quoining and a north gable end of coursed sandstone with an eaves cornice incorporating two sections of horizontal cornice to form a broken pediment. An external stair with a later metal balustrade leads up to a ledged and braced door accessing the upper floor. Set to the left of the upper doorway is a square two-over-two sash window with a stone surround. A tall blocked-up ground-floor doorway exists to the right of the stair.

The cross wing's east elevation is of mellow red brick and has a large round-arched opening to the north end, partially blocked up and converted into a doorway with sidelights. Two further openings to the south are now hidden by the late 20th-century brick single-storey lean-to (excluded from the listing) attached in front of the link bay, but the openings are visible internally and are glazed. Set to the roof on this side is a two-light rooflight.

The cross wing's west elevation is rendered with two segmental-arched windows to the ground floor containing replaced glazing; a third window at the south end has been blocked up. A tiny square window exists to the top right corner of the wall and set to the roof is a two-light rooflight.

Exterior: Former Riding School

The former riding school, attached to the barn via the mid to late 19th-century link bay, is constructed of coursed sandstone incorporating a plinth with ashlar dressings. It is a tall single-storey building, double height internally, with quoining to the external corners and a pitched slate roof with a dentil eaves. A mullioned window on the north side that does not correspond with the styling and detailing of the rest of the building suggests its origins possibly lie in a vernacular 17th-century building associated with the earlier hall that was given a polite makeover in the early 18th century and converted into a riding school.

The south elevation has three four-light fixed pane windows set at first-floor level, which provide the appearance of sash windows from a distance and have ashlar surrounds in the same style as those on the south side of the neighbouring barn. Later inserted openings have been inserted to the ground floor with makeshift timber lintels intended to mimic brickwork and containing French windows.

The east gable end has two windows at first-floor level in the same style as those to the south side, and the dentil eaves cornice incorporates a horizontal cornice creating a pediment to the gable. Set to the gable apex is an oval-shaped blind oculus with a keystone and scrolled decoration to the shoulders, containing a small later inserted window. Only the uppermost part of the west gable end is visible due to the presence of the mid to late 19th-century link bay connecting to the barn, which cuts into the horizontal cornice of the gable end's pediment. The west gable end is surmounted by a weathervane.

The riding school's north elevation is largely hidden by a mid 20th-century stone, brick and timber lean-to running along the full length of the riding school on this side, excluded from the listing. Two three-light rooflights have been inserted into the main roof. The lower part of the north wall is contained within the 20th-century lean-to and has been painted. It incorporates a four-light mullioned window with a hoodmould above (one of the lights has been boarded over and partially hidden by a partition in the lean-to) and a mid 20th-century inserted doorway at the east end of the north wall, probably inserted to access a 20th-century stage located in the riding school. A tall Gothic-arched doorway exists to the centre of the north wall with chamfered jambs and panelled double doors. The doorway appears to have possibly been rebuilt: the inside arch (visible internally) is slightly larger than the outer arch and appears to be of rubblestone rather than ashlar construction.

Interior: Former Barn

The ground floor of the former barn has been altered and the west half has been partitioned into a series of rooms and lobbies, but parts of the lower sections of cruck blades are visible in places. Some early 20th-century three-panel doors survive. Two modernised rooms exist to the far west end. One of the west rooms contains a 19th-century chimneybreast and a truncated stair leading up to the upper floor (the lower section of the stair has been removed). At the time of inspection the chimneybreast was largely hidden by furniture so it was not possible to see if a fireplace survives. The room also contains a cast-iron column to the northwest corner with saddlery pegs. The east half of the ground floor is formed of a large modernised room latterly used as a function space. Two inserted doorways in the east wall access the mid to late 19th-century link bay, which has panelled walls and has been partitioned to create a passageway through to the former riding school and a room on the south side; the link bay's north wall incorporates a sash window now hidden externally by the mid to late 20th-century single-bay lean-to. The inserted opening accessing the link bay also has an inserted doorway in the north wall that leads into the ground floor of the north cross wing, which has been heavily altered and modernised and converted into a bar area. Ceiling beams in the north wing are supported by later inserted brick columns and sections of walling, and all three round-arched openings are visible to the east wall (two are now hidden externally by the late 20th-century lean-to attached to the north side of the mid to late 19th-century link bay).

On the barn's upper floor a series of at least four crucks are fully visible (the far west room on the upper floor was not accessible for inspection due to unsafe floors) along with pegged roof timbers, including stop-chamfered side purlins. Some rafters have been replaced, but much of the original roof appears to survive. Partly-glazed 19th-century panelled partitions have been inserted in the east half of the upper floor on the south side, creating a series of three rooms (probably for stablehands) and effectively creating a corridor along the north side. Floor joists remain in situ, but floorboards have been removed and sheet boarding has been placed over the joists in the corridor, which incorporates a 19th-century round-arched dormer window (boarded over externally) on the north side. One of the rooms has a stone fire surround containing a large late 19th-century cast-iron range and some shelving to the walls. A stair to the centre on the south side has stick balusters and a square newel post, but the lower section leading down into a room below has been removed. The west half of the upper floor contains two large rooms, and at the far east end off the end of the north corridor is a room in the mid to late 19th-century link bay, which has a slightly lower floor level and has a built-in cupboard to the east wall and a stone fire surround and raised hearth to the west wall. A doorway inserted into the north side of the corridor accesses the upper floor of the north cross wing, which also has a lower floor level. The cross wing has machine-cut king post trusses and roof timbers with assembly marks, and a brick chimneybreast to the centre of the north gable wall with a blocked-up fireplace opening (a corresponding chimneystack has been removed externally).

Interior: Former Riding School

The former riding school is a large double-height space with a later floorboard floor. The tie beams and curved braces of a series of roof trusses are visible beneath a mid 20th-century inserted ceiling. The trusses are supported by carved stone corbels, although one of the trusses has lost one of its braces and corbels. A blocked-up window exists to the west wall, and it has been suggested that a rendered section to the upper part of the walling in the northwest corner is evidence that the building was possibly lower in height originally and then later raised—a suggestion that would concur with the presence of the mullioned window and the differentiation in styling. The roof was not accessible for inspection, but a consultant's report of 2012 records 'a simple trussed purlined roof'. A photograph within the report reveals a series of collared trusses and it is believed that the purlins are chamfered.