Stables and attached cartshed, Roche Old Court

The stables and attached cartshed were built in the 18th century, with alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The buildings form an L-shape, attached to the north-west end of a late 17th-century threshing barn (listed separately). To the north is a three-bay cartshed.

The walls are of flint with horizontal brick lacing courses in a Flemish bond, and have pitched roofs covered in plain clay tiles. The north end of the cartshed has a half hip and timber weatherboarding. There is also weatherboarding above the openings to the cartshed.

The roadside elevation is a continuous range of brick-faced flint, with brick buttresses flanking a blocked opening to the cartshed. A section of timber-framing with brick infill is visible on the stable, and a dormer with a taking-in door is in the stable roof. The farmyard elevation has louvred windows with vertical slats for ventilation, though some elements are missing. The cartshed has an open front, with three bays defined by timber posts, supporting flat-headed openings with weatherboarding above.

Inside the loosebox, a brick segmental arch is above the doorway and there is a splayed window opening. Both the loosebox and stable range are largely boarded with horizontal and vertical timbers, and retain their original timber troughs and tethering rings. The rear wall of the stable range has the remains of a split pole feeding rack. A feed drop extends from the hayloft above. The stall partitions have been largely removed, except for two at the north end. The south end of the opposite wall has timber harness hooks. The hayloft has a timber partition; the roof is of common rafters with a single purlin.

The cartshed’s structure includes Queen post trusses with trenched purlins above the collar, and straight braces from the tie beams to the posts of the principal elevation. Timber frames with arch braces and vertical struts support the weatherboarded sections.