Stable Block To Wortley Hall

The stable block at Wortley Hall, built in the early 19th century for the Wortley Hall estate, features coursed, dressed sandstone and a graduated slate roof. It is partly two storeys high and has a symmetrical design with five bays on the front, three of which are highlighted by central pediments that project forward. The building has an ashlar plinth and a central carriage entrance with an impost band above a rusticated round arch. The flanking bays each contain a blind round-arched recess with a projecting sill and rusticated voussoirs, and the recesses in bays two, four, ten, and twelve are set back within larger round-arched panels. A cornice and blocking course sit above, with a central pediment that features a glass-faced clock. The hipped roof has corniced stacks near each end and louvred ridge ventilators, while an octagonal central cupola with archivolted openings on each face is topped with a cornice and a ball-finialled balustrade, leading to a lead dome with an apex finial.

The rear of the stable block mirrors the front in style, with the end bays and the fourth bay from the ends featuring nine-panel doors, while the other round-arched openings have unequally-hung 25-pane sash windows. Roof dormers are also present, and each return has a blind Venetian window.

Inside, some original horse-standing fixtures remain in the left part, along with tiled back walls. The design of the stable block likely draws from the work of John Carr and his assistant Peter Atkinson, who were engaged by James Archibald Stuart-Wortley in 1797 to submit schemes for the estate, although this particular stable was not built by 1800. The cupola is similar to one added later in the century to Wortley Hall, probably by William Burn.