Stables And Former Coach House Range At Capel Manor

The stables and former coach house range at Capel Manor date to the late 19th century, with alterations in the 20th century. The red brick building is constructed in Flemish bond and has a plain tile roof. It has a U-shaped plan, with the right wing slightly shorter than the left.

The left wing, two stories high, originally housed a coach house on the ground floor with accommodation above. The right wing and the right part of the spine range are single-story stables. A covered, open-fronted area connects the stable and coach house wings, topped by a clock tower. A lean-to shelter-shed is positioned against the rear.

The coach house wing has a continuous range of five double doors, alongside two 12-pane wooden sash windows on the first floor, and two lateral stacks on the left side. The spine range features a door and a 16-pane pivoting window at the back of the open-fronted section, a wooden arch to the front, and a supporting bracket for overhanging eaves. The clock tower is square, with a small-pane window at its base, a clock face on each side, moulded string below tripled louvred openings, a moulded cornice, and a pyramidal roof crowned with a 1954 weathervane. The stable section has two large top-hinged 24-pane windows to the spine range, one to the gable of the wing, a stable door on the left side of the wing, and a door at the left end of the spine range. Two circular metal ridge vents with conical caps (one cap removed) are also present. A lean-to stable against the right return wall is not considered of particular interest.

At the rear, a four-bay open-fronted lean-to shelter-shed has wooden posts arch-braced to the eaves plate and a replacement corrugated-sheet roof. The end of the coach house wing has various windows, and an iron staircase leading to a first-floor door with an 8-pane 2-light design, an overlight, a bracketed pent canopy with hoist beam, a half-hipped roof, wooden louvering and a knob finial. The left return of the coach house wing has two late 20th century windows and a louvred gablet.

Inside the stables are four stalls along the spine range and three boxes to the wing. A gallery is situated in the angle, featuring a wooden balustrade and a door in the rear wall. Original high-quality fittings remain, including grooved, non-slip concrete and yellow-brick floors with covered drains, wooden mainscoting, glazed green octagonal and yellow tiles to the walls, mahogany partitions with wrought iron balustrades and iron end columns with brass finials. Additional fittings consist of iron water troughs with plugs, hay-racks with dust filtration base-plates, name plagues, brackets for gas lamps, and one surviving saddle peg. The ceiling is underdrawn.