Stud House, Childwick Bury Stud

Stud House, Childwick Bury Stud

A stud house, originally a farmhouse, rebuilt or reconstructed as Childwick Hall around 1840, though it may incorporate an earlier structure. The building likely underwent alterations in the late 19th century when converted to a stud manager's house for Sir John Blundell Maple, Member of Parliament and a prominent racehorse owner and breeder who founded the stud. Further alterations followed in the mid to late 20th century under H.J. Joel, during which it was converted into separate dwellings for the stud owner and stud groom.

The building is constructed of stuccoed brick on its west side, with red brick and stone dressings on the east side. It has a hipped plain tile roof behind parapets, featuring decorative cross gablets on the east side, and is topped with three brick stacks. The plan consists of a long rectangular block positioned on the east side of the Main Yard of the stud, with the entrance front facing the yard.

The west front, largely obscured by ivy, displays a crowning cornice and parapet. The entrance doorway is positioned to the left and is rendered in Gothick style, framed by fluted pilasters and a traceried hood supported on shaped brackets, with traceried panels on the jamb reveals and door itself. To the right sits a 20th-century single-storey closed entrance porch with classical details and a doorway with fanlight. On the ground floor to the left and between the doorway and porch are irregularly spaced sashes with glazing bars; the first floor has four large sashes with glazing bars of three by four panes.

The east or garden front comprises five bays and features a moulded stone crowning cornice and stone coped parapets with triangular cross-gablets above the central and end bays, and Dutch cross-gablets, each containing a small oculus, above the second and fourth bays. On the ground floor, the central and end bays contain tripartite Gothic-arched sashes with glazing bars, each with a wide central sash, all recessed within dressed stone frames with mullions and rectangular hoodmoulds; the second bay from the left has a single sash with a similar arched sash and frame. The first floor features tripartite arched sashes in the central and end bays, and double sashes in the second and fourth bays, all of equal width with glazing bars and set within stone frames matching the ground floor windows.

The interior was not inspected, though early 19th-century features are indicated in photographs.

The property was part of the former Childwick Hall estate, purchased by Sir John Blundell Maple around 1888 and converted for use as a thoroughbred horse racing stud with the construction of extensive stable ranges and service buildings. By 1895, as described in an issue of the Racing Post periodical, it was regarded as "one of the most complete and beautifully arranged of its kind". Following Maple's death, the stud was purchased from his executors in 1907 by J.B. Joel and passed to his son, H.J. Joel, in 1940. The stud house and stable buildings comprising the Main Yard have been maintained to a very high standard without alteration by successive owners. Since its foundation, the stud has achieved considerable success in breeding thoroughbred horses for both flat and National Hunt racing. Notable stallions have included Royal Hamton and Saraband, which stood at stud for Sir John Blundell Maple, and Sunstar (winner of the 1911 Derby) and Humorist, which stood for J.B. Joel. The stud has also housed brood mares of outstanding pedigree, including Absurdity and Doris.