Stables And Kennels To Bradgate House

Stables and Kennels to Bradgate House

Former stables and kennels, now a ruin, built in 1856 by M.J. Dain of Dain and Parsons for George-Harry Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford, who was Master of the Quorn Hunt from 1856 to 1863. The building was constructed to accompany Bradgate House, which served as a hunting lodge for the Earl and has since been demolished.

The building is designed in the Jacobean style and is constructed of red brick with white brick decorative banding and ashlar dressings. It has plain tile roofs and clustered brick gable and ridge stacks. The structure follows a quadrangular plan.

The main south front comprises five bays with a central projecting square entrance tower of two storeys plus attics. The entrance features a round-headed archway with moulded ashlar imposts and arch, decorated with a fox's head keystone. On either side are single Roman Doric columns supporting an entablature. Above this is a large panel bearing the arms of the Earl of Stamford, flanked by tapering columns supporting an entablature and topped by a Dutch gable containing a circular window. The square dome was originally capped by a square cupola. The entrance tower is flanked by lower semicircular towers with small round-headed openings to both stages and half-domed roofs. To either side are two-storey projecting pavilions, each of a single bay with brick bands and coped Dutch gables, featuring a single three-light stone mullioned opening decorated with strapwork on each floor and a circular opening in a lozenge surround in the gable. Flanking these are blank recessed wings terminated by single-storey pavilions, each with a single three-light mullioned opening with strapwork surrounds and a circular window in a Dutch gable above.

The inner courtyard facades present considerable variation. The southern facade has a central five-bay two-storey block including the gate tower with a central round-headed arch, above which is a four-light traceried window and a circular window in a Dutch gable. Either side are single two-light mullioned windows flanked by three-light mullioned windows, with two further two-light mullioned windows on the upper floor, followed by small and large Dutch gables both containing circular windows. Beyond this are single-storey stable wings with irregular segmental-headed doorways and round-headed windows.

The east and west fronts are identical, each with a central two-storey block containing a central segmental-headed archway with three round-headed windows above it and a Dutch gable containing a circular window. Either side are single round-headed windows and single large segmental-headed doorways, followed by further round-headed windows. Above these are single segmental-headed loft doors with small Dutch gables over them. Single-storey wings on either side have two segmental-headed doors, the outer ones being larger.

The north front has a central seven-bay section with five segmental-headed carriage arches flanked by a single circular window. Above is a central circular window flanked by single loft doors, circular windows, and small windows with strapwork surrounds. This section is topped by a row of five small Dutch gables, each containing a circular window and flanked by square towers with parapets topped by ashlar strapwork gables. Either side are single-storey wings with irregular segmental-headed doors and round-headed windows.