Riding School With Upper Middle And Lower Courts

The Riding School, built between 1839 and 1848 by Edward Blore, features upper, middle, and lower courts and is designed in a Gothicised, castellated utilitarian style. The exterior of the Riding School is constructed from rock-faced stone with decorative dressings, a weathered cornice string, and parapet coping. It has 13 Y-tracery windows on the sides, positioned above adjoining stock brick stables. The west front has a central break flanked by stepped crenels, with ashlar facing and corbelled out false machicolation at the second floor, which includes a three-light window. A projecting ashlar entrance bay has a stone roof and a large four-centred arched chamfered opening with double doors.

Inside, the Riding School features a lofty flat ceiling with panelled beams supported by pierced angle brackets. There is a viewing box above the east entrance, which has side lights leading to a three-light stone mullioned window. The stable ranges are made of stock brick with ashlar dressings and weathered parapet copings, and they feature crow-stepped gables on the dormers. Iron columned canopies extend in front of the coach houses.

The upper court includes two-storey ranges and an east side arcade with four-centred arches, featuring a central full-height one-centred archway leading to the Home Park, topped with a parapet that has weathered coping. The Home Park front is rock-faced and has large stepped crenels, with a corbelled out parapet on the east front of the Riding School, where the centre bay is recessed above the entrance. The middle court has low screen walls with lamp standards flanking the entrance. The lower court includes a south return block of storeys and weathered parapet coping, along with a small stable yard to the right.