Stable yard, Moneyglass Demesne, Duneane Road, Toomebridge, Co Antrim, BT41 3PS

Stable Court and Carriage Yard, Moneyglass Demesne, Toomebridge, Co. Antrim

This is a detached, multi-bay, two-storey Italianate stable court complex, built around 1790 and substantially remodelled around 1855, most likely by the architect Sir Charles Lanyon. It stands to the northeast of the surviving ruins of Moneyglass House, within the extensive grounds of the Moneyglass House Demesne, at the southeast corner of the five-acre estate walled garden, and to the west of the estate farm buildings. The complex is quadrangular on plan, with a second courtyard adjoining to the north. Roofs are hipped natural slate throughout except where noted otherwise. Throughout the courtyard elevations, block-marking is applied over random rubble stone walling. Window and door openings, except for the carriage arches, are square-headed; first-floor openings are louvred, except for the sheeted doors serving the wallhead half-dormers. The carriage arches are segmental-headed, with rendered V-jointed reveals and voussoirs.

Southeast Block

The external southeast elevation is roughcast rendered, with a central carriage arch giving access to the internal courtyard. Openings at mezzanine level are boarded. The courtyard-facing northwest elevation has a central carriage arch flanked on each side by five openings.

Southwest Block

Two rendered chimneystacks sit on the ridge, flanking the central section. The external southwest elevation is lime-washed lime render, with two boarded first-floor openings at the far right end above a single blocked window at ground floor. The courtyard-facing northeast elevation has a central coupled carriage arch flanked on both sides by three windows. At first-floor level there are three equally spaced wallhead dormers, each containing painted timber vertically boarded loft doors; the centre dormer and one to the left both have projecting wrought-iron crane arms over them.

Northwest Block

The external northwest elevation opens onto a concrete-paved rear carriage yard. The southeast elevation facing the stable court consists of a central two-storey pavilion flanked by single-storey wings. The northwest elevation facing the carriage yard is largely blank, apart from two painted timber doors at the right end. Two rendered brick chimneystacks are located at the north apex of the pavilion and to the right.

The stable yard southeast elevation features a central two-storey pedimented pavilion with a chamfered plinth, rendered V-jointed quoins, and block-marked render — now partially falling away to reveal squared basalt random-coursed walling beneath. All ground-floor window and door openings are round-headed, fitted with painted timber 1-over-1 sashes. The central entrance opening has moulded architraves and a reticulated keystone, and is fitted with a timber raised-and-fielded four-panel double-leaf door. The pediment contains a central oculus with a moulded architrave and a moulded stone cornice. The pavilion is flanked by two single-bay single-storey rooms, both originally accessed through round-headed doors from the courtyard; the east room door has since been converted into a 2-over-2 sash window. The west room entrance retains the remains of a plate glass fanlight but no longer has a door. The single central first-floor window in the pavilion is tripartite, comprising a 1-over-1 sliding sash flanked by single-light casements. Single-storey open sheds extend to either end of the block, their roofs carried on slender cast-iron columns. The northeast end, which served as the kennel, is enclosed by a full-height wrought-iron screen with a hinged door section.

Northeast Block

The external northeast elevation has roughcast walling with two wallhead dormers containing painted timber vertically sheeted loft doors at the left end, and two blocked windows with cills at mezzanine level at the right end. The inner courtyard-facing elevation has multiple bays with three door openings; the central ground-floor door is surmounted at first-floor level by a lucarne loft door. Ground-floor windows are painted timber bipartite 1-over-1 side-hung casements. The three ground-floor door openings are fitted with painted timber vertically sheeted stable half-doors, each with five-light overlights above.

Carriage Courtyard

The external elevations of the rear carriage courtyard are all blank, with unrendered rubble stone walling laid to courses. The south edge of this yard is defined by the north elevation of the stable court. The west range consists of a multi-bay single-storey stable block with a lean-to corrugated metal roof and rendered walling containing stable half-door openings. The courtyard-facing elevation of the north wall has a slate lean-to canopy supported on slender cast-iron columns, and a segmental carriage arch to the left side opens onto the walled garden enclosure, which is now pastureland containing a modern agricultural structure. The courtyard-facing elevation of the east block has a carriage arch at the right end. The remaining two bays have similar cast-iron column-supported slate lean-to canopies — the northern corner bay collapsed around 2005 — and both have timber gabled dovecots.

Interior

The groin-vaulted stable interiors are of particularly high quality and are notably well preserved, representing one of the most significant features of the complex.

Historical Background

The stable court lies within the 18th-century Moneyglass demesne, a rural estate with long associations with members of the aristocracy. The estate was first leased to W. M. Jones on 15 April 1726, when he took a lease from French John O'Neill for a term of three lives at £25 rent per annum, renewable forever. Jones was second-generation in Ireland and a member of an ancient Welsh family that had arrived during the reign of Charles II. He was himself the inspiration for Carolan's celebrated planxty, "Bumper Squire Jones," as recorded in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs. According to those same Memoirs, a replacement house was built in 1787 by Thomas Morres Jones Esq.

The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 records the stableyard as three large buildings — two rectangular and one L-shaped — forming a courtyard, suggesting that this arrangement was broadly contemporary with the 1787 house. The second edition map of 1857 records the quadrangular form seen today, indicating that extensive remodelling took place around 1855. The west range shown on the 1833 map appears to have been incorporated into the new stableyard at this stage. The 1921 Ordnance Survey map confirms the plan of the current stableyard as it stands. The remodelling of around 1855 is thought to be the work of Sir Charles Lanyon, who is known to have worked on the estate gate lodge. The stableyard's survival, unaltered, makes it a significant testament to the importance placed on stable provision within large country house estates of this period.