The Stable Complex

This stable complex was built around 1900 by architect William Huckvale for Charles Rothschild and converted into four residential dwellings in the early 21st century, now known as the Newmarket Rooms, St Ledger Rooms, Goodwood Rooms and Gold Cup Rooms.

Construction and Materials

The buildings are constructed with coursed, irregular-sized, rock-faced limestone blocks. They are topped with steep gable roofs covered in 21st-century concrete imitation Collyweston slate with ashlar stone dressings.

Layout

The complex is arranged around a central courtyard with a partly cobbled surface and gated entrance to the south-west. The courtyard is enclosed partly by buildings and by walls to the north-west and south-east.

The Principal Range

The main two-storey U-shaped range to the north-east has a central two-storey section with truncated end stacks and coped parapets, flanked by lower wings. At ground floor, a central arched carriage opening with ashlar surround, leading to the estate road to the north, is flanked by a single light and stable door to the left, a reset tripartite mullion window to the right, and a partly infilled door opening in the wing beyond. Above is a large central gable containing a mullioned and transomed window of two lights, flanked by two gablets each with a mullion window. A central domed clock turret sits above.

The rear elevation is similarly arranged. The central cranked arch opening has a two-leaf boarded entrance door with a projecting gable over featuring ball finials to the copings, flanked by two gablets. At the centre of the projecting gable is a canted oriel window with stone dressings and decorative frieze above. A pair of four-light mullion windows appears on each storey; the ground floor windows have hooded drip-moulds. The side wings have a pair of mullion windows.

The Former Stables

Wrapping around the yard to the north-west is the former stables with converted hayloft above. On the ground floor, a central stable door is flanked by tripartite windows and there are two gablets above, with the left one containing a part-glazed and boarded taking-in door. A stone staircase leads to a door at first floor on the south elevation with a window to the right. The roof has two axial ventilation turrets. The rear has some 21st-century inserted windows and renewed window surrounds to original openings.

The Former Garage Block

Continuing to the south-east of the central range is the former garage block, single-storey with an attic, aligned north-south, with a 21st-century front wall of no interest. The rear has two original tripartite mullion and transom windows.

The Former Blacksmith's Workshop

Detached at the south-west boundary is the single-storey with attic former blacksmith's workshop. Attached to the right is a single-storey outshot with pent roof. The façade wall to the left and central door is a 21st-century construct; a tripartite mullion window is to the right. The roof has a small dormer and central ventilation turret; the west end stack is truncated. The rear has inserted 21st-century openings.

General Features

All stacks are truncated. Other than the single lights, all mullion and transom windows have chamfered stonework. The leaded-lights windows in the central and western range are original, but there are 21st-century double-glazed units elsewhere. All door and window openings have ashlar stone surrounds which mimic quoining.

Interior

The former stable to the left of the carriage entrance retains plank stall divisions incorporating wavy metal rod panels and carved wooden posts. Curved niches against the south at ground level contain taps. At first floor, the cast-iron ribs remain exposed.

To the right of the carriage entrance, the gun room retains some panelling and the base of the working clock mechanism, manufactured in Leeds in 1902, with the timepiece remaining in the attic space above the first floor flat. The king-post roof structure of the former garage block is exposed in the inserted mezzanine space.

Historical Context

The Ashton Estate, stretching from the River Nene near Oundle in the west to Ashton Wold in the east, has been occupied since Roman times. In the 18th century it was a well-known sporting estate, with avenues of chestnut trees planted in a cross as rides and a number of fox coverts. In the early 19th century the estate was owned by William Walcot and was largely farmed by tenants, with Ashton Wold continuing as a sporting ground. However, there is no evidence that it had ever contained a manor house, and when it was purchased by Lionel Rothschild in 1860 the sale particulars describe it as "a very valuable and important landed estate" with sporting advantages, but no house adapted for the occupation of a gentleman.

Both Lionel Rothschild and his son Nathaniel Mayer, 1st Lord Rothschild (1840-1915), showed little interest in the estate, and the only structural work undertaken in the 19th century was the building of a hunting lodge at Ashton Wold. However, when Lord Rothschild's second son, Nathaniel Charles (1877-1923) – known as Charles – discovered Ashton by accident whilst on a butterfly-collecting expedition with the vicar of Polebrook, he was so impressed by the rich fauna and flora of Ashton Wold that he persuaded his father to build him a house on the site of the hunting lodge.

In 1900, Lord Rothschild commissioned William Huckvale to design not only a house, but a model farm and an entire complement of estate buildings which included the Steward's house, stables, gardeners' accommodation, a building to house a fire engine, a petrol store, kennels (now derelict) and a dog hospital. Most of the cottages at nearby Ashton were rebuilt to create a model village. The Rothschilds also became the first landowners in the country to provide their tenants with the luxury of both running filtered water and electricity, the latter generated by turbines housed in an old mill below the village on the River Nene, from where water was pumped to a water tower and so to the estate buildings. Each cottage had a bath house and was placed in a large garden planted with a lilac, a laburnum and fruit trees.

High quality design and workmanship were consistent themes throughout the estate, where traditional vernacular building traditions – Collyweston stone slate and thatch roof coverings, steeply pitched roofs, tall chimneys, limestone masonry walling and dressings and mullioned windows were all faithfully referenced.

The former stables, now subdivided into four units known as the Newmarket Rooms, the St Ledger Rooms, the Goodwood Rooms and the Gold Cup Rooms, were designed by William Huckvale (1847-1936) around 1900. The conversion into dwellings in the early 21st century entailed the recovering of the roofs with concrete tiles imitating Collyweston slate, truncation of the stacks, part-demolition of the garage block (north-south range of the St Ledger Rooms) and the infilling of open-fronted elements on both the garage and the former blacksmith's workshop (Newmarket Room). The historic plan-form, fixtures and fittings were removed in both those units and the windows are 21st-century double-glazed units. The stables (Gold Cup Rooms) retained some of the stall divisions and other features on the ground floor with bedroom and bathroom facilities inserted into the open hayloft above. The first floor flat of the more architectural east-west range (possibly once the groom's lodging) was retained and renamed the Goodwood Rooms, although the accommodation was remodelled. On the ground floor, the former gun room is incorporated into the St Ledger residence.

Charles Rothschild was a renowned naturalist and became the leading expert on fleas in the country. He published around 150 scientific papers and was also interested in other fields, including the cultivation of rare orchids, irises and water lilies. He was a pioneer conservationist, arguing that the whole natural habitat needed to be protected, not just rare species.

Following his death in 1923 and that of his wife Rozsika in 1940, their daughter Miriam (1908-2005) inherited the estate. The house was commandeered for use as a hospital during the Second World War and the gardens and estate suffered much damage and neglect. Like her father, Miriam was deeply involved in conservation; she continued her father's work with fleas to become an international expert in her own right. She was a fellow of the Royal Society, was awarded eight honorary degrees and was appointed DBE for her services to the study of natural history.