The Riding House

The Riding House is a late 16th-century structure, originally a riding house. It is built of ashlar stone on the east, south, and west sides, with squared and coursed rubble on the north. Later alterations are in coursed rubble of poorer quality. The roof is slate, with gable ends.

The south elevation features a plinth with a chamfered footing course and ogee moulded capping, divided into seven bays, the eastern bay being three times the normal width. A secondary external stone staircase is located in the westerly bay, where a buttress has been removed. A round-headed doorway is centrally positioned in the wide east bay, with plinth mouldings returning downwards on either side, and a small carved lion mask above. Mullioned windows of three square-headed lights, now blocked and weathered with labels, are in the fourth and south bays from the east. A similar label remains in the second bay. Alterations include a two-light casement with a segmental head inserted in Bay 1, large openings with planking in Bay 2, a small 20th-century window in Bay 4, a 19th-century plank doorway with a segmental head in Bay 6, and a plank doorway with a segmental head at the top of the secondary staircase in Bay 7. The west wall has two weathered buttresses and moulded plinths, with a round-headed doorway and two three-light mullion windows on the ground and upper stories, all with labels.

The north elevation displays a weathered buttress near the north-east corner and another near the middle. A blocked round window is near the eastern buttress, with two blocked rectangular openings near the eaves. All other openings on the north elevation are secondary. The large barn doorway may have replaced a narrower original doorway. The east wall has a plinth, buttresses, and an upper window, and five small round windows arranged in two tiers.

The original first floor has been removed, but the substantial beams supporting it remain, measuring 300 mm by 300 mm in section. These beams supported both a floor and an independent ceiling. To the north, the beams are housed within the wall; to the south, they rest on rounded stone corbels projecting from the wall, positioned directly above the level of the timber lintels spanning the window recesses. The roof has been extensively strutted and repaired. This riding house is of considerable architectural importance.