Bedford House

Bedford House

A racehorse trainer's house on Bury Road in Newmarket, adjoining Bedford House Stables. The building was probably constructed around 1850 for the seventh Duke of Bedford. It underwent major alterations and additions around 1884, including a former billiard room, carried out by the architects W.C. and A.S. Manning. Further alterations followed around 1894 by the architect Herbert Green, commissioned by Captain J.O. Machell, a racehorse manager.

The house is constructed of gault brick with red brick and stone details, and flint work. It has a hipped slate roof and gault brick chimney stacks.

The building follows a double-depth plan, backing onto the south west side of the main stable yard of Bedford House Stables, with a later 19th-century wing to the rear. The entrance front facing the road is two storeys high and four windows wide. A single-storey porch with a flat leaded roof is supported by Doric columns and includes cornice shields. The doorway has a rectangular fanlight and a four-panel door. To the left of the porch are two sash windows, to the right one sash window, and on the first floor are four sash windows, all with glazing bars. The garden front facing south west features a large single-storey semi-circular bay window to the right, lit by five curved sashes with glazing bars.

The interior has not been inspected.

Bedford House and its stables were originally part of a small estate that also included Bedford Cottage (now Rockfield House) and Bedford Lodge (now Bedford Lodge Hotel), which was built around 1820 for the sixth Duke of Bedford as his Newmarket residence. The seventh Duke built Bedford House and Stables; the stables are considered noteworthy and were described in Thomas Knightley's Stable Architecture, published in 1862. Following the Duke's death in 1861, the entire estate was purchased by Sir Joseph Hawley, who subsequently sold it to William Butler, the Duke's former trainer. Butler demolished the original stabling at Bedford Lodge and sold the Lodge to Joe Dawson, who constructed the main range of stables adjoining it (now Highfield Stables) in 1864. Around the same time, Dawson appears to have sold Bedford House and Stables to Captain J.O. Machell (1837-1902), an army officer and sportsman who settled in Newmarket, developed a strong interest in horse racing, and significantly improved his fortune through successful betting. He became a figure of considerable importance in the development of horse racing in the second half of the 19th century and served as racing manager to many of the principal racehorse owners of the period. His own horses won the Grand National three times. He employed excellent trainers in the yard, most notably Joseph Cannon and J. Jewitt, who successively occupied the enlarged Bedford Cottage. Machell retired in 1892, having also purchased Bedford Lodge and Stables in 1880. Bedford House, Bedford House Stables, and Bedford Cottage were then sold to Colonel Henry McCalmont, a racehorse owner and breeder.