Catmose Cottage and the Rutland County Museum (formerly the riding school of the Rutland Fencible Cavalry Regiment)

This is a military riding school with attached accommodation and stable block built in 1794-1795, with a 19th-century rear wing added in two phases.

Materials and Construction

The riding school, stable block and Catmose Cottage have walls built from squared blocks of local iron-rich stone, laid in courses of differing heights. Catmose Cottage has large quoins to its corners. The stable block has limestone dressings around its openings. The rear range to Catmose Cottage comprises both a brick section and a stone section, both with limestone dressings. All roofs are covered in slate.

Layout

The riding school is a rectangular building orientated with its narrow ends to the north and south. It comprises four adjoining elements: the stable block (now museum) to the north, the riding school (now museum) centrally, and Catmose Cottage to the south.

The Stable Block (Museum)

Exterior

The stable block is single-storey with four chimneys. A weather-vane is attached at the north end of the eastern roof's ridge. The windows are Crittal-style metal frames dating from the building's conversion to council offices in the late 1930s, with arched heads under segmental arch lintels in surrounds of ashlar blocking and stone cills.

The east elevation facing Catmos Street has three large pitched-roof dormers through the eaves; one dormer is an addition from the late 1930s. The central and northern bays each have a ground floor window aligned beneath the dormers, while the southern bay has a single doorway in a similar surround to the windows. The northern bay is wider than the others and extends further north.

The north elevation shows the gable end of the 'M' profile roof. At ground floor level there is a single doorway to the east, then an early-21st-century double doorway (occupying the site of the original entrance) under a porch. Three windows are set close together beneath the western roof at ground floor level, positioned so that the stones of their surrounds touch. At first floor level under the eastern roof are two windows positioned off-centre to the west, and under the western roof is a central single window. A string course runs from just above eaves level, rising and falling over the heads of the upper windows.

The west elevation has three bays, each with a pitched dormer similar to those on the east elevation; the central dormer dates to the late 1930s. The ground floor has a window to each bay, though the northern window is off-centre.

Interior

The ground floor has been opened up into a large reception and display area to the west. Some elements of internal walls remain, defining a stair hall, study and library to the east of the building. A suspended ceiling was inserted in the 20th century. The first floor provides office and storage space.

The Riding School (Museum)

Exterior

The riding school is single-storey with a gable projecting from the centre of the eastern roof slope facing Catmos Street. The windows are round-headed under segmental arch keystone lintels and have stone cills.

The principal east elevation facing Catmos Street is arranged in three bays. The northern bay has a single window. The central bay has a 20th-century double doorway beneath the apex of the gable above. The gable has stone coping and a finial at its apex, and is fitted with a weather-vane bearing the Noel family coat of arms. Within the gable is a centrally placed ogee-arch headed niche. The southern bay has two windows, the northern of which has been shortened from a full-height opening. The south elevation is solid brickwork.

Interior

The hall of the riding school is one large space, open to the double pitched roof, which reveals the original Baltic pine roof trusses. These triangular trusses comprise a tie beam spanning the entire hall from east to west, supported by later 20th-century brick piers. The trusses have a central kingpost meeting the valley of the 'M' profile roof, with a crown post either side to support the ridges.

A 1960s mezzanine gallery spans the north and west sides of the building, allowing first-floor access to the rear range of Catmose Cottage from the south end of the western gallery, and to the stable block from the northern gallery. There are blocked brick archways leading from the stables to the school, and from the school to the west. At the south-west corner, a late-19th-century brick wall partitions off a corridor allowing ground-floor access to Catmose Cottage's rear range; this wall truncates the trusses of the two southern bays.

Catmose Cottage

Exterior

Catmose Cottage is two storeys under a rectangular pitched roof with a gable end to the east and hip to the west. The truncated end of the 'M' shaped roof extends from the north slope of the main roof. A single central gable projects south from the south slope. A two-storey semi-circular bay under a flat roof sits further west below the roof hip. Windows are typically six-over-six sashes under flat keystone arches with stone or concrete lintels. There are four brick chimney stacks.

The main elevation faces south to South Street and is symmetrical in three bays, with the central bay projecting slightly and rising taller than those to its sides. At ground-floor level the central bay has a single door within a recessed panel that originally had an arched top but now has a horizontal lintel supporting a first-floor 20th-century canted-bay oriel window with one-over-one sashes. The central bay is topped by the gable end of the roof extending from the south roof slope. The gable contains a blank circular stone plaque and is separated from the storeys below by a string course. Both flanking bays have two six-over-six sash windows to each floor, with the upper windows being taller than the lower.

The east elevation to Catmos Street is arranged in three bays within the gable end of the main roof. To the north of these three bays, and slightly set back from the street line, are the remains of the demolished south end of the riding school. The southern bay is solid, and the northern has a six-over-six sash to each floor. The central bay is spanned by a round keystone arch sprung from the eaves level of the formerly adjoining riding school, this level being marked by a drip mould. Above the arch is a plain circular stone plaque. Below the arch, the central bay is recessed from the side bays and has a central eight-over-eight window to its ground floor and a six-over-six sash to the first floor.

The north elevation shows scattered 20th-century openings in the 'M' shaped gable end. The west elevation features the two-storey semi-circular bay, which has a projecting canted-bay window centrally at ground-floor level and a six-over-six sash at first floor level. North of the bay is a small porch built at an angle spanning the west elevation of Catmose Cottage with the south elevation of its later rear range.

Interior

The interior was converted for office use in the 20th century. Little original joinery remains, and there are a few simple Classical style fire surrounds on the first floor. The ground-floor room filling the curved bay to the west of the building contains a niche with an arched moulding over shelves and cupboards, and coffered panelling to the base of the bay. The staircase is located centrally in the building and is an open string straight flight with a pair of slim barley twist banisters to each tread.

Rear Range to Catmose Cottage

Exterior

This is a rectangular two-storey range under a pitched roof with gables to north and south. It comprises two sections: brick to the north and stone to the south. The windows are asymmetrically arranged due to later additions, but all are mullioned and under lintels with slight lugs. This range has been much altered in the 20th century, with rebuilding in stretcher bond brickwork and new openings under concrete lintels.

Interior

The interior is now mostly in use as offices and a café, all with 20th-century finishes. There are some late-19th-century fireplaces and coffered panelling on the first floor.