Revesby Abbey And Stable Yard

Revesby Abbey is a country house with a stable yard, constructed in 1845 by William Burns for James Banks Stanhope, built in a Jacobean style. The house is ashlar with shaped quoins, slate roofs, shaped decorative gables, pinnacles, and ball finials. It has octagonal paired ashlar ridge stacks and twisted cable moulded wall stacks, arranged in an E-plan. The stable court is attached to the house on the north side.

The entrance, facing east, is two storeys plus a garret, with seven bays. The end bays are advanced and gabled, featuring a plinth, string course, parapet cornice, and arched balustraded parapet. A double door of six panels is centrally positioned, leading to a flight of steps, set within a moulded ashlar surround with a keystone and covered by a large ornate porte-cochere. The porte-cochere has four strapwork-decorated piers supporting a balustrade with open strapwork design and four pinnacles. The porch sides have arcaded balustrades. To the left of the entrance are single two-light, single-light, two-light, and a large rectangular two-storey bay windows. To the right are similar windows. This pattern is repeated on the first floor, with an oriel of three lights above the porch and a circular oriel to the right of the left-hand bay window. All windows are cross mullioned and chamfered. Shields are featured in the gables, alongside three-light garret windows. The side front of the house has three tall bay windows, the central one flanked by twisted cable moulded stacks.

Inside, the entrance hall features an ornate strapwork ceiling and a bolection moulded fireplace with an overmantel of oval panels carved with Classical scenes. The grand staircase has openwork balusters and decorative plaster panels to the stair wall. The stair hall above has a barrel-shaped vault with plasterwork details, including painted shields. The main room on the south front has a strapwork plaster ceiling with an ornate frieze, Classical pedimented chimney pieces, and Adam-style decoration. The house was originally equipped with catacombs containing a railway system designed to service the fireplaces.

To the right of the front of the house is a stable yard with a semi-circular arch with a bellcote above. Revesby Abbey was previously the residence of Sir Joseph Banks in the second half of the 18th century, a figure described as “The Father of Modern Science”, who sailed with Captain Cook on the Endeavour. The house was rebuilt by his descendant, James Banks Stanhope.