Barrow Hall Stables

Barrow Hall Stables

Stable block constructed around 1808-1809, altered in the 20th century. The building is made of brick with a tiled roof.

The stables form a linear range running north to south, partly enclosing a yard directly to the west. The structure has a tiled gable roof and dentilled cornice. The west elevation, which faces into the yard, features a central timber belfry with a leaded roof and weathervane. The belfry contains a clock visible on its west elevation from the yard. Below this is a large inserted entrance with double timber plank doors. To the north and south of this later entrance are original timber doors beneath brick segmental arches, with lunette windows with timber frames alongside. At first floor level there are three regularly spaced window openings with timber frames under segmental arches. The remains of an arch in the brickwork immediately north of the inserted entrance shows where an original door once matched those elsewhere on this elevation. The south elevation has no window or door openings but contains ventilation openings at the centre, with a 20th-century external brick stack at the east end of the gable. The east elevation is unpainted brick with three ground floor window openings with blue brick sills and boarded frames, together with cast-iron ventilation grates across the elevation. The north elevation is blind but retains an infilled window opening at first floor under a segmental arch.

The interior contains four original timber stalls at the north end with cast-iron railings and posts with ball finials. The stalls retain their cobbled flooring with cast-iron drainage channels, with flagstone flooring to the west. Fixed iron hay racks and water troughs remain at the east end, along with fixed iron hoops for tethering horses surviving on both the posts and hay racks. A hoop with star-shaped plate survives on the north wall. A chamfered beam with run-out stops running west to east supports the first floor, identical to beams in the two rooms to the south. The central room to the south, likely a former loose box, has an altered opening and contains two transom and mullion windows on the rear east wall. A cast-iron feature on the east wall may have provided heating, with a cast-iron plate on the external wall having a moulded arched head. The southern room has been altered with a later brick partition inserted, though some original cobbled flooring and drainage channels remain. This appears to be the location of the other loose box and contains a window on the east wall. Original timber doors with cast-iron latches and hinges survive between the rooms.

The first floor contains a loft which would have housed accommodation for groomsmen, access to the belfry and possibly a hayloft. The loft retains much of its original principal rafter roof construction, though the battens appear to be later replacements and there has been some rebuilding at the south end. The south room is accessed via an original six-panelled door and contains some concrete blockwork inserted during 21st-century stabilisation works. To the north are three further rooms; the central room contains an opening in the roof to access the belfry and the weighted clock mechanism. The room to the north has a central principal rafter truss spanning the room and supporting a ridge piece, with a trap door at its north end. The infilled opening on the north gable wall may have been a taking-in door for the hayloft.