Seend Close

This is a stable court, dating back to approximately 1769, originally built for Ambrose Awdry IV as part of the Manor House (listed separately). The building is now a house, flats, and stable. It’s constructed with an ashlar facade, red brick elsewhere, and ashlar dressings. The roofs are steeply hipped, with stone slates on the front and Bridgwater tiles on the remainder. The layout is a U-shaped group of three blocks, originally connected by screen walls, all with a matching stone eaves cornice.

The central block features a slightly projected pedimented centre above an infilled former carriage archway, topped with a hexagonal ridge cupola. The ashlar south front includes an oval panel within the pediment, with plain raised imposts and a keystone to the arch. The carriage arch now has C20 panel doors, a stone band at impost level, and glazing in the arch. There are six-pane windows on either side, flanking plain square coach entries; two have panelled double doors, and the other two have C20 glazing.

The red brick rear elevation, facing the High Street, displays six-pane upper windows and twelve-pane lower windows, with flat brick heads and a moulded Gibbsian architrave to the carriage archway. C20 timber panelling and glazing are present. To the right, there are two early 19th-century ashlar gate piers. To the left, a red brick wall curves outwards towards the street, featuring an ashlar plinth and coping, returning to two similar early 19th-century ashlar piers with a short length of wall beyond.

Within the courtyard, the west block, which remains a stable, has a seven-window range with nine-pane windows below and six-pane windows above. There are six-panel doors in moulded surrounds and circular windows above, in bays either side of the centre. The ashlar south end features a C20 window above a blank ground floor panel. The rear is red brick and windowless. The east block, converted to a house around 1960, previously had a seven-window range of blank openings mirroring the west side on the upper floor; the ground floor windows are blank to the outer two bays on each side, with the centre bay windowless, but now has four inserted C20 horizontal openings. The ashlar south end is similar to the west block and includes a C20 upper window. The rear has fenestration dating to around 1960. This is an unusually large and impressive stable and coach house complex.