Stud Farm Buildings At Egerton Stud

Stud farm buildings at Egerton Stud

Stetchworth

A row of two houses for stud groom and manager, built 1891–93 for Lord Ellesmere, standing at the centre of a stud farm complex. The houses are brick-built with plain tile half-hipped roofs and ridge stacks, with timber-framed central gables. They are two storeys high.

The front facing the main yard has a 5-window range at first floor: three 3-light wooden mullion and transom windows with glazing bars in the upper lights, alternating with single-light windows. Doors on the ground floor have similar 3-light windows at the ends and a central 5-light canted bay. The rear elevation has similar doors and windows.

Arranged around the houses is a comprehensive stud farm layout. The stables have weatherboarded walls on brick plinths with pantile roofs and ornamental ridge tiles. Single-storey ranges to either side of the houses are planned on L-shapes, projecting forward and housing mares and foals. The eastern block nearest the houses contains six foaling boxes. A range of stallion boxes to the south-west has the same style and materials, with fully boarded interiors featuring corner mangers and, in part, original padding. To the north-east are two further ranges of stabling for mares, similarly constructed to house animals ready for veterinary attention so the central yard could continue to be cleaned. To the north-west is a range of four stallion show boxes with gables facing outward, boarded interiors with corner mangers. Further north-west is the covering yard, also weatherboarded with pantile roof and boarded interior; its roof structure was strengthened in the late 20th century. (A central late 20th-century clock tower block is not of special architectural interest.)

Egerton Stud represents a rare and significant example of a combined stud farm and racing stables, built as the most modern training establishment of its kind. In 1890, Lord Ellesmere's land agent proposed converting Egerton House stud into a lavish establishment funded by stallion fees. Rather than abandon the stud function, the redesigned facility combined both stud farm and racing stables, with the two parts set slightly apart. The prominent trainer Richard (Dick) Marsh, who had trained for the Duke of Hamilton at nearby Lordship Farm since 1876, was invited to tenant the property and moved in November 1892 with 54 horses. His owners included the Dukes of Hamilton and Devonshire. In early 1893, the Prince of Wales's horses arrived in Marsh's care—a significant development that saw Egerton become a royal training establishment. Two of the most celebrated horses trained here were the Prince's Persimmon, winner of the Derby in 1896, and Diamond Jubilee, the triple crown winner of 1900. Royal horses continued to be trained at Egerton under Marsh and his successor Willie Jarvis until Jarvis's death in 1943, a tenure spanning half a century.

The complex remains little altered since its careful design and layout. The buildings were illustrated in the July 1895 edition of Racing Illustrated, where they were referred to as Egerton House Stud. They form an integral part of this very significant establishment and stand as a group with Egerton House, the Stable Block to Egerton Stud, and the Lodge to Egerton Stud.