Former Principal Stable Block Of Moggerhanger House

The former principal stable block at Moggerhanger House, built between 1790 and 1792, was designed by Sir John Soane for Godfrey Thornton as part of his initial remodelling of Moggerhanger House. The stable block is constructed of colourwashed red brick with a hipped slate roof.

The building has a rectangular plan with a small gabled block to the northwest and a recently restored section to the southeast. The southwest-facing elevation has five bays on the ground floor featuring recessed bays with round-headed brick arches. Each bay contains a round-headed window, with doors located below the windows in the central three bays. The first floor has four casement windows, mostly replacements from the 20th century, and a pair of double plank doors on the right side. The northeast elevation also presents five bays, where the recesses extend through the first-floor band to accommodate Diocletian windows. These windows retain their original sashes, and a distinctive Soaneian feature includes small half-domes that illuminate the ground floor rather than the first. The ground floor also has doors and sash windows.

Moggerhanger Park, a country house with 18th-century origins, was remodelled by Sir John Soane between 1790 and 1799 for Godfrey Thornton, Director of the Bank of England, and subsequently altered for Thornton’s son, Stephen, between 1806 and 1811. This stable block was built during the first phase of the remodelling, and its alignment with the house indicates that it was planned as part of a cohesive ensemble from the outset.

The principal stable block is designated at Grade II* for its significance as an 18th-century stable block designed by the renowned architect Sir John Soane. It forms an exceptional group with the main house (Grade I) and other outbuildings, and it demonstrates Soane's planning ingenuity and the likelihood of an overall scheme for the buildings’ layout.