Gaddesden Place Stables And Attached Walls Of 2 Enclosures On South

Gaddesden Place Stables, now a riding school, dates from the 18th century, likely built in 1768 by James Wyatt, who is also credited with Gaddesden Place. The stables are constructed from plum red brick with scattered black headers and fine red dressings, topped with low pitched hipped slate roofs. They form a symmetrical three-sided courtyard of single-storey buildings that open to the north, with two two-storey square corner blocks that rise slightly higher at the junctions, featuring pyramidal roofs.

The south range has blind arcading with 11 bays, the east range has 6 bays, and the west range has 2 bays, all with thermal windows set under semi-circular arches above a band that links the impost blocks. Stable doors are located in alternate bays on the east side and in the central and end bays on the south side. The coachhouse, located in the north part of the west wing, has two pairs of double doors under a billet moulded beam. The brickwork facing the courtyard is in header bond, with a dentilled eaves band and a chamfered plinth.

The stables are equipped and currently in use, featuring finer stalls in the western part of the south range. The inner enclosure has 5-meter high red brick walls in Flemish bond, with corbelled brick capping and external pilaster buttresses at the corners. The outer enclosure has 3-meter high red brick walls with special coping bricks and external pilaster buttresses that die into the wall at 1.5 meters. It is taller and features an external offset and a round arched gateway on the north side, adjacent to the lane east of the stables.