Stables and Stable Quarters to Minley Manor

Stables and Stable Quarters to Minley Manor

Built in 1885–86 by architect George Devey for Bertram Woodhouse Currie, these stables and stable quarters are constructed in red brick laid in English bond with limestone dressings and slate roofs.

The buildings occupy the ground north of the entrance lodge and gates to Minley Manor, arranged irregularly to form three sides of a courtyard. The central range runs south-west to north-east, with low walls enclosing the courtyard on the south-east side. According to the original plans (RIBA PB820/DEV [124] 45–61), the north and east wings contained stabling with a hay loft above the east wing, while the west wing housed a coach house with a full-height second storey laid out as dormitories for staff.

The east and west ranges rise two storeys beneath tall pitched roofs, their gable walls creating a symmetrical front to the estate drive that contrasts with the informal, asymmetrical design of the courtyard facades. Both gables feature a pair of two-light stone mullion-and-transom windows set within pilastered architraves beneath semi-circular pediments enriched with ball finials, the sills aligned to string courses. The principal gables display raised parapets with crocketed stone copings and finials to the kneelers.

On the courtyard side, the east range presents an asymmetrical composition of irregularly spaced mullion-and-transom windows. A semi-circular entrance arch of moulded stone with square Tuscan columns marks the former stables, above which rises a limestone panel bearing a heraldic crest. To its right stands a double-height aedicule with pilasters, chamfered jambs and relief moulding, crowned by a semi-circular pediment with ball finials; a roundel at its centre bears the initials BWC for the patron.

An octagonal stair tower rises at the junction with the central range, lit by two small stone-surrounded casement windows at first-floor level and accessed externally from a short stair. The door architrave is plain stone with chamfered jambs and moulded cornice. The upper storey forms an open lantern beneath a flared octagonal slate roof topped by a weather vane.

The west range's courtyard facade is stone-built at ground level with five pairs of ledge-and-brace plank doors fitted with strap hinges. Above, the first floor contains five two-light stone-mullioned windows with leaded casements, grouped in pairs and singly.

The single-storey central range, originally laid out as stables, features five double garage doors (altered in the early 20th century according to historic photographs). The dominant feature is the carriage arch to the right, flanked by stone pilasters rising above the cornice as finials and framing a shaped pediment enriched with open stone scroll brackets, ball finials and semi-circular apex. To the left, an arch opens onto a covered entrance leading to six-panelled doors with moulded muntins into the domestic quarters. The roof vent is surmounted by an octagonal open-sided cupola with small ogival dome and facetted spire.

The rear and roadside elevations share the irregular composition with simplified detailing. From the north, the carriage entrance displays a plain elliptical arch beneath a half-hipped roof with deep flanks; louvred dormers pierce the roof to the right. The north-east lower range has a simplified stone parapet. At the north-west corner, single-storey gabled domestic quarters adjoin a two-storey range with canted bay beneath a hipped roof featuring metal casement windows in flush stone surrounds. Ground-floor openings in the rear elevations have been inserted and altered.

Internally, the octagonal tower contains a stone winder stair. At the junction of the west and central ranges stands a domestic stair with rectangular balusters and square newels topped with facetted caps. Stable floors in the east and north ranges are lined in Dutch tiles, and the inner face of the north range vent remains visible in the ceiling.

A tall brick wall with shaped stone coping adjoins the west block, partially enclosing the courtyard. It drops to half-height before returning to the east block, interrupted by the entrance. Square brick piers and a shaped stone feature mark the junction between high and low sections. The courtyard is paved in black and white sett stones arranged in an octagonal and star-shaped pattern.