Stable Block And Wall And Former Laundry At Fornham Park

The stable block, wall, and former laundry at Fornham Park were built around 1785 by James Wyatt for Sir Charles Kent. Constructed from gault brick, the buildings feature parapeted hipped slate roofs and gault brick ridge stacks. The stable block is arranged in a U shape, with a main range that is two storeys high and wings that are mainly single storey.

The symmetrical facade facing the stable court has a seven-window range on the first floor, consisting of four 8/4 sashes, with a central loading doorway above another ground floor doorway. On either side of this doorway are 8/12 sashes, each flanking a door with an 8-pane overlight. The corners feature 4/8 sashes above a door to the left and a 20th-century window to the right. The left wing has three windows—two 8/12 sashes (one damaged) and a damaged casement—along with a door that has an 8-pane overlight and a pair of carriage doors. The right wing has a 20th-century door and window, while the continuous run of carriage doors has been infilled with 20th-century brick. The rear of the building is mainly blank.

Inside, some elements of the former stalls are still visible. The former laundry, linked to the left end by a gault brick wall, is built from gault and red brick and features a hipped slate roof with gault brick end stacks. It is two storeys high and has 3/6 and 6/6 sashes, along with a tripartite sash high in the wall facing the rear (park) that lights the full-height former laundry room.

These buildings served as part of the service facilities for Fornham House, which was also designed by Wyatt and demolished around 1951. Wyatt's drawings for the house are preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and in the Wyatt Album at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The stable block, wall, and former laundry are part of a significant group of buildings at Fornham Park.