Stables About 60 Metres North Of Carnanton House

Stables about 60 metres north of Carnanton House

These stables, dating from around 1740 with some later alterations, are built of slatestone rubble with brick and stone dressings. They are roofed with hipped slate, ridge tiles and lead rolls to the hips, although some ranges have slurried scantle slate roofs. The chimneys have brick shafts.

The buildings follow an overall H-plan layout with a detached laundry block positioned in the rear yard. The front comprises a central range with a cartway running through the middle, flanked by wings to the left and right. These are enclosed by a front wall about 3 metres high with granite coping, ramped down at each side to a pair of central square-plan granite ashlar piers on plinths with flat caps. The piers retain pintles from former gates. The front yard is cobbled and paved.

The central range features a gable over a round arch to the cartway, with a keystone. Above this sits a cupola with a clock and bell, topped by an ogee roof with a weathervane. To the left and right are single-storey ranges, each with 2 mullion and transom windows and a central plank door with overlight; all openings have cambered brick arches with keystones. The range to the front right contains 2 carriage doors, a single door with overlight, 2 mullion and transom windows and a plank door to the right, serving as the estate workshop. The range to the front left has 3 carriage doors, 2 plank doors and a central mullion and transom window, with a ventilator over the door to the left. The cartway through the central block has a 2-light window to the right.

At the rear, the central range has 2 blocked windows to the right. The left wing has 6 door openings of varied widths and a small window with shutters to the left end, with a brick-shafted chimney to the right. The right wing, which serves as the forge, has 2 doors with a central 12-pane light, a ventilator on the roof ridge above the furnace, 2 cart entrances, a 2-light casement, a door and a ventilator window to the right.

The detached laundry is single-storey with a loft and a hipped roof. It has a brick-shafted chimney at each side and an integral single-storey outshut to the rear. The front facing the yard displays 2 windows with cambered brick arches and keystones, with a 20th-century addition to the front right. The left and right sides have a plank door and a 2-pane light each. At the rear, flanking the laundry, are a pair of square-plan rubble piers at each side, forming 2 gateways to the rear yard, with flat granite caps and pintles from former gates. The outshut to the rear has two 2-light windows. The rear of the right wing has 3 blind doorways set low, and the rear of the left wing has a blocked door; all feature cambered brick arches with keystones.

Internally, the left-centre block of the central range contains loose-boxes with name-plates, drains and mangers, and saddle racks on the walls. The rear left range houses a complete forge with a furnace and hood, a lead water trough and work bench positioned below the front window, and 19th-century concertina bellows operated by a wooden arm counterbalanced with weights. This represents a rare survival of a stables complex in complete working order, combining uses for carriages, riding and driving horses, farm horses at the rear, and estate workshops including the forge. The laundry appears contemporary with the stables and formerly contained boiling coppers. This is a good example of a symmetrically planned stable complex, with higher-status uses positioned at the front and farm uses arranged behind.