Buildings In Talbot Yard

Carriage house with associated buildings in Talbot Yard, Malton, dating to the early 19th century and built to serve the Talbot Hotel and the Wentworth family.

The complex consists of two open yards separated from the road by a Grade II listed wall. A two-storey north-south stable range divides the two yards. The main eastern yard contains the carriage house on its eastern side, with a single-storey saddle room to its north. Beyond to the north, extending eastwards, there is a cobbled passage flanked by looseboxes. The north side of the eastern yard has a two-storey east-west range with a through-passage exiting Talbot Yard northwards. The smaller western yard is bounded to the west by the Mount Hotel and to the north by a two-storey stone building with a lean-to gig house.

The buildings are constructed mainly of red brick with limestone dressings and pantiled roofs.

The carriage house is the focal point, a central two-and-a-half storey gabled bay flanked by two-bay, one-and-a-half storey wings slightly set back. The central section has a carriage entrance with a timber lintel and brick relieving arch above. To the first floor are a pair of domestic window openings. Above is an equilateral arched opening to the attic, interpreted as a dovecot. The gable is raised and coped with decayed kneelers. The flanking wings contain ground floor stabling with domestic accommodation above for grooms, interconnecting with the first floor of the central section. Access to the first floor is via an added external staircase. The gable end of the south wing is coped with kneelers and has two ground-floor windows with one at first floor. The rear east elevation is blind and retains fragments of earlier stone walling suggested to be remains of a 17th century boundary wall. The interior is lime plastered throughout. The stables retain stall divisions, hay racks and other fixtures and fittings. A fireplace position survives on the first floor of the central section.

The two-storey through passage building has six bays with three ground-floor doorways on the south side, that to the west opening onto the through-passage exiting Talbot Yard northwards. The first floor has two taking-in doors, presumably to a hay loft, which are boarded. Brickwork suggests the roof has been raised. The ground floor retains stall partitions and stabling fixtures and fittings.

Single-storey ranges flank the cobbled passageway extending eastwards from the eastern yard and mainly consist of looseboxes generally retaining hay racks. Breaks in brickwork indicate buildings of different construction dates. A 1920 plan marks the eastern end of the south range as a granary and the western end as a saddle room. The saddle room faces west and retains a fireplace opening as well as timber planking with pegs to some of its walls. At inspection, the roof of the central section of the southern range had largely collapsed, although the timber partitions forming the looseboxes survived.

The north-south range is two storeys with a brick-built east wall, a dressed stone west wall and a rubble stone south gable coped with kneelers. The east elevation is of most interest, retaining door and window openings for stalled stables, with hayloft openings above generally retaining joinery, although at inspection these were blocked internally with blockwork. At the north end is a larger blocked opening, formerly internal, to an open-fronted shed forming a cross wing connecting to the through-passage building. At inspection, only the eastern part of this open-fronted shed remained roofed. The south gable has an inserted vehicle entrance. On the west side is a brick and timber boarded lean-to extension considered to be an early 20th century alteration not of special interest. This elevation was probably originally blind. The north-south range is altered internally.

The gig house range on the north side of the western yard is formed by a dressed stone two-storey building with a wide inserted roof dormer, probably an early 20th century alteration. To the west end of the south elevation is a basket arched carriage entrance infilled with brickwork. To the centre is a timber linteled garage entrance with a hayloft opening above partially obscured by a lean-to roof supported by a pair of cast iron pillars embossed "T.READ MALTON 1871".

Talbot Yard developed to provide stabling and carriage housing for the Talbot Hotel, across the road to the south. The Talbot Hotel, listed Grade II*, was owned by the Wentworth family from the mid-18th century and became Malton's first private hotel, becoming a focal point for members of the town's horse-breeding and racing community. The hotel was later used as a coaching inn by "The Mail" operating between York and Scarborough during the 19th century.

The stone-built range on the north side of the western yard with the basket arched carriage entrance may be marked on an 1801 Terrier Map, but the carriage house is not shown on the 1801 map but appears by 1809. Also shown is a range extending eastwards from the carriage house's northern end which could be the single-storey range on the south side of the cobbled passage, although changes in brickwork suggest this range is later in date than the carriage house. Talbot Yard's complex of buildings, apart from lean-to sheds, appeared to be effectively complete by an 1843 terrier map. By the 1892 Ordnance Survey map there had been some limited demolition to the south of the central range between the two yards, possibly explaining its rubble-built south gable. In the western yard, open-fronted sheds had been added, of which one range still survives with cast iron pillars dated 1871. A plan of Talbot Yard in 1920 indicates the contemporary functions of the buildings, showing them mainly as looseboxes and stalled stables.