Stallion pens to the north-east of Home Farm, Parlington Estate

Stallion pens, constructed in 1813, for Richard Oliver Gascoigne

MATERIALS: coursed limestone with two small sections of coursed sandstone infill

DESCRIPTION: the four stallion pens at Parlington are located approximately 113m to the north-east of Home Farm along the east side of a lane/drive that leads up to the estate's north entrance at Barwick Lodge (Grade II) and immediately to the south of Willowgarth Plantation, and are aligned in a linear north-south arrangement. They are enclosed by coursed-limestone walls approximately eight feet high with rounded corners on the west side to each individual pen to prevent the stallions suffering injury. Wide corner entrances with tall cylindrical, limestone gate piers exist to the north-west and south-west corners of the north and south pens respectively, with narrower west pedestrian entrances to the two middle pens with square gate piers and modern boarded doors. All of the piers have domed caps. Originally the north-west and south-west corner entrance pier caps are understood to have been surmounted by finials in the form of horse's heads, but these have since been removed. The internal dividing walls between the pens survive, along with gateways with cylindrical gate piers linking each pen. Historic plans suggest that each pen also originally had a corner shelter, but these have since been removed, although their footprints are visible on satellite imagery and the locations of their eastern entrances in the two middle pens and north pen have been in-filled with large coursed sandstone blocks.