Service Ranges, Stables, Former Coach House And Brewhouse Attached To Hintlesham Hall

Service Ranges, Stables, Former Coach House and Brewhouse Attached to Hintlesham Hall

This is a group of service buildings attached to the north and east of Hintlesham Hall. The stables have a 16th-century timber-framed core with 17th and early 18th-century additions in brick; the remaining structures date from the 18th century. The buildings were refurbished in the 1980s when they were converted to a cookery school.

The Service Range is a single-bay structure attached to the north of the Hall, built in red brick in Flemish bond with a red brick plinth in English bond and a white brick first-floor band. It has a hipped plain tile roof and a symmetrical facade in which the centre breaks forward beneath a pediment-like gable. The main elevation is 2 storeys with 2:3:2 sashes with glazing bars, a central 6-panel door with overlight, and all ground-floor openings beneath flat arches. An oculus with glazing bars sits in the pediment. A 1710 Sun Insurance plaque is attached to the left.

The Lower 2-Storey Service Wing, also red brick with the lower courses in English bond and a white brick band, extends to the left with a hipped plain tile roof. It contains 5 bays: 4 ground-floor sashes with glazing bars (replacing earlier openings, with one formerly a doorway), all beneath flat arches, plus an inserted door at the far left. There are 5 first-floor horizontal sliding sashes with glazing bars.

The Former Coach House, linking the right-hand return of the stables, is built of red brick with a hipped tile roof. Its north facade has 5 bays centred on a semi-circular archway with brick imposts leading from the stables and service wings. To each side are 2 semi-circular arched openings with brick imposts, originally fitted with carriage doors and with loft lights above. These are now all glazed with margin lights and glazed fanlights; the ground-level openings have been reduced by inserted courses of brickwork.

The Former Brewhouse is attached to the east of the service range, built in red brick with a plain tile roof and a plain brick band. The west facade is 2 storeys with 3 bays, containing a replaced central doorway and sashes with glazing bars on the ground floor and first-floor latticed windows. The gable wall, partly rebuilt, features a 1980s Venetian window with Gothic glazing bars.

The Stables are constructed in red brick, in Flemish bond with flared brick headers, beneath a hipped plain tile roof. The brickwork represents two separate builds, with a further single bay to the far left encasing a 16th-century timber-framed structure within the right-hand build. The rear of the timber-framed section is rendered. The facade is 2 storeys with irregular bays and includes a moulded brick band; the earlier build exhibits fine rubbed brickwork. A central bell turret with an ogival leaded roof rises above the roof line.

The left-hand build features 2 fixed 4-paned lights (one overlapping the added bay) positioned above a larger rubbed brick flat arch, plus a blocked segmental-headed doorway to the right. Above are 2 first-floor casements, one replaced, beneath segmental arches of alternating red and black bricks. To the right are 3 doorways: one with a 6-panel door and two beneath gauged brick segmental arches, plus a third doorway inserted in the 1980s. There are 2 altered timber casements beneath flat arches and 4 first-floor openings (one a pair of boarded doors, the rest timber casements with some fixed lights), all beneath flat arches. A clock face is painted on slate between the first and second windows.

The right-hand return, linking to the rear of the coach house, comprises two builds. The section forming the end wall of the stables has no openings. The adjacent section shows scattered fenestration on each side of a doorway, mainly with glazing bars, including a first-floor horizontal sliding sash and fixed light.

Interior: The building encloses a 4-bay timber-framed structure, replaced in brick on its front wall. The frame contains 3 square crown posts with longitudinal braces, some straight and some cranked. Tie beams have cranked braces to the rear wall, though these have been removed from the front. The right-hand tie beam is slightly cambered; the left-hand tie beam, probably reused, formerly had studs to its lower face. A collar purlin continues to the end wall, now forming an internal partition, which is close-studded on one face and slate-hung on the other. The remaining roof employs clasped purlins and collars, with the final bay having a later butt purlin roof. Further slate-clad partitions are present. Some beams are chamfered, but most ground-floor ceiling joists have been replaced. Opposing doorways in the brickwork may reflect earlier openings. The clock mechanism appears to remain intact.