Stable Block Attached To North West Of Tormarton Court

The stable block, likely built around 1812, stands attached to the northwest side of Tormarton Court. It was commissioned for Lord William Somerset, then Rector of Tormarton. The structure is constructed from coursed squared limestone rubble with stone dressings and features random rubble sections. The roofs are stone-tiled. The layout is an L-shape, creating a courtyard and a curtain wall that runs behind Tormarton Court. The irregular five-bay front has a carriage entry that projects forward, positioned to the right of centre. This entry is topped with a segmental head, impost blocks, a pendant keystone, and a rectangular recessed panel above holding a Diocletian window within a gable. The roof has raised coped verges and a ball finial. A cupola with a lead hipped sprocketed roof is present, with bell louvres on each side and a weathervane featuring a horse. To either side of the carriage entry are two 2-light casements at first floor, while a bay to the left has a similar 3-light casement at both ground and first floor, terminating in a pilaster to the right and a pilaster between the two bays to the left. The stable may incorporate an earlier existing building. The right return features an attached pigeon loft, a two-storey, flat-roofed structure with ten rows of pigeon holes, a gable end with a ball finial, and a two-storey wing with two windows at first floor and one at ground level, all of 20th-century design. Inside the carriage entry is a round-headed recess intended for a fountain, with stable doors on either side. A similar carriage entry is located to the rear, with a plain segmental head, a 3-light wooden casement in the gable, and a perspective-carved finial. To the left of this rear entry are two 2-light casements, one previously a door, with a matching window at first floor. An external stone stair leads to an upper door. The curtain wall includes two pointed arched doors and a single-storey shed. A two-storey wing to the left has 20th-century garage doors and a door in a moulded surround, with four 2-light casements under the eaves. The courtyard walls are constructed from random rubble. The interior of the stable block has not been inspected. Lord William Somerset was the brother of the Duke of Beaufort and a hunting cleric. The architectural features of the stables, including the Diocletian window and cupola, are similar to those found at the stables at Dodington Park.