Stable block at the Home of Compassion

The former stable block at the Home of Compassion dates from around 1786, with a clock mechanism dated 1792. The architect is currently unidentified. After 1905, the building was adapted into residential accommodation.

Constructed from stock brick in Flemish bond, the stable block features a hipped slate roof, three brick chimneystacks, and a wide dentilled and bracketed wooden eaves cornice. It also includes a slate and wooden clock tower topped with a cupola.

The building has a rectangular plan, consisting of two storeys. The entrance front has seven bays, while each end has three bays, with a central clock tower featuring a cupola. Originally, the ground floor housed stabling, with a hayloft and accommodation above.

The principal front faces south-east and is symmetrical with seven bays. The central clock tower has a splayed base clad in slate, displaying a clock face within a wooden pedimented surround. Above this, an open wooden cupola, square in plan, contains a bell and is topped with a domed wooden cupola and a gilded weathervane. The ground floor features a blind arcade of round-headed gauged brick arches that hold flat-arched leaded casement windows. The first floor has sash windows with glazing bars beneath gauged heads, along with a central loading door.

In the centre, there is a ribbed, planked door beneath a pointed arched head, flanked by glazed paired doors at either end. The ends of the building consist of three bays each. The rear, or north-west elevation, is simpler, with a central oculus and two triple leaded light windows on the ground floor, and nine leaded light windows on the first floor, separated by a raised brick band.

Inside, the clock mechanism, dated 1792, bears the maker's name, John Grant of Fleet Street. The central wooden staircase, dating from the late 19th or early 20th century, features triple stick balusters set diagonally.