Stable Yard, Seaforde House, Newcastle Road, Seaforde Demense, near Seaforde, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 8PG

This large two-storey stable complex with hipped roofs is grouped around a courtyard to the south-east of Seaforde House in Seaforde Demesne, north of Seaforde village, approximately five miles west of Downpatrick. The complex is largely of pre-1834 construction, with an entrance gable to the east and a cupola-like bellcote. The exterior facades are largely rubble-faced, while all courtyard-facing facades are uniformly cement-rendered.

Main Stable Complex

Most window openings to the south and east facades appear to have been altered in the mid-20th century, evidenced by concrete lintels and metal frames. The inner facades of the north and west wings feature a series of eyebrow windows, also possibly dating from the mid-1900s.

East Wing – Principal Entrance

The complex is entered through the east wing via a large central carriage arch set within a tall rendered gable that rises above the eaves of the main roof. The arch is elliptical-headed with timber-sheeted double doors and in-and-out stone dressings with a keystone. At the gable's apex sits a black (possibly enamel) faced clock bearing the name "William Forde" in Gothic-like script within a roundel feature with circular stone dressing. The gable has in-and-out quoins. Behind the gable, on the main roof ridge, stands a cupola-like bellcote with arched openings to the sides, a pyramidal roof supported on brackets, and a weather vane.

The main east facade is roughcast rendered and painted. To the left of the gable is a large modern-looking window opening with a steel-framed casement window with multiple Georgian-style panes. The far left of the ground floor is blank but shows a large area of patched render. The first floor left side has four unevenly spaced window openings, each with steel frames with top openers. The render shows evidence of single-storey gabled buildings once having been attached.

To the right of the gable, the ground floor is obscured by a hipped-roof single-storey building linked to the outbuilding complex. The first floor has four unevenly spaced sash windows (six-over-six panes) with segmental arched heads.

South Facade

The south facade is rubble-faced and unpainted. The first floor has ten window openings. Between the ninth and tenth openings (counting from the left) is a timber-sheeted door accessed by a stone external stair with steel handrail. The ground floor has eight windows with a timber-sheeted door with fanlight between the first and second windows.

All windows are of mixed size and spacing: some are timber sash, others are more modern timber with top openers, and the remainder are steel with top openers. All appear to have modern concrete lintels and look to have had their openings altered, except the first three first-floor windows and the first ground-floor window, which have retained their Georgian-paned sash frames. Above many windows in the centre and right sections, small ventilation openings have been inserted. To the left of centre, evidence suggests a large arched opening has been blocked. The stonework coursing at the right-hand edge suggests this wing was once longer, a suggestion supported by map evidence.

West Facade

The west facade of the west wing is difficult to observe in its entirety due to close tree and plant growth. It has a similar appearance to the south facade, being rubble-faced with rows of windows to each floor. Unlike the south, however, most window openings appear unaltered and most have retained Georgian-paned sash frames and brick dressings. At the far right, the facade projects slightly. The ground floor of this projection has a sturdy timber-sheeted door with exposed stud-like bolt heads. This door leads through an arch into the courtyard.

North Facade

Much of the north facade cannot be seen due to thick tree and shrub growth. Only part of the very right-hand side can be observed without hindrance. The facade appears largely rubble-faced, but few openings could be seen. To the right, the facade is abutted by a small rubble-built lean-to which sits within a moat-like trench immediately north of the facade itself.

Courtyard Facades

The inner (courtyard-facing) facades of each wing display greater uniformity than the exterior, all being cement-rendered.

East Wing Inner Facade

The ground floor has five large elliptical-arched carriage doorways with in-and-out dressings and timber-sheeted double doors. To the right of centre is a gable similar to that on the opposite east facade of the wing, but with a segmental-headed sash window above the archway and a moulded crest (of the Forde family) on the keystone of the archway itself. Either side of the gable are first-floor sash windows—three to the left, two to the right.

South Wing Inner Facade

The north-facing inner facade of the south wing has three timber-sheeted pedestrian doors on the ground floor, two sash windows, and two eyebrow windows. The first floor has eight windows, most with metal frames (as per the south facade of the wing), and a timber-sheeted loft door.

West Wing Inner Facade

The inner facade has a large segmental-headed archway to the left and a timber-sheeted pedestrian door with semicircular head to the far right. Another doorway to the right of centre has been largely filled with glazing. Between these doorways are five window openings: two boarded, two with wrought-iron bars, and one with a sash frame. The first floor has six evenly spaced windows. Within the large archway at the far left on the ground floor are timber-sheeted doorways—one to the north, two to the south, and one to the west (which leads outside).

North Wing Inner Facade

The inner facade has three timber-sheeted pedestrian doors on the ground floor, two sash windows, and four eyebrow windows. To the far right is a large segmental-headed archway within which is a quarter-turn stone stair leading to the upper floor of the east wing. The first floor has two sash windows and two timber-sheeted loft doors. Marks in the render suggest some upper-floor openings have been blocked.

Further Outbuildings

Attached to the right-hand side of the east facade of the east wing is an L-shaped single-storey hipped-roof outbuilding with rendered facade, slated roof, and timber-sheeted doors and sash windows. This outbuilding, possibly an early to mid-19th century garden shed, is abutted to the east by a large two-storey rubble-built gabled barn, whose roof is slated to the west and covered in corrugated iron to the east.

The barn has several sash windows and a pedestrian door to the west, a Gothic window to the south gable, and a large elliptical-arched vehicle entrance and some small (largely frameless) windows to the east. The east side of the barn has a dilapidated appearance, contrasting sharply with the tidiness of the west facade and south gable.

Both the barn and the L-shaped building form a small yard enclosed by a tall rendered wall to the south. Within this yard are some modern glasshouses.

To the east of the barn stretches a very long dilapidated outbuilding, two-storey to the west and single-storey to the east. This wing may be largely pre-1834 but has been altered over the years. At the east end rises a tall square polychrome brick chimney stack, probably mid to later 19th century, which may have been part of a small gasworks once present on this site (though most of which may have been cleared away).

Enclosed Nursery

To the south of all these structures is a large, almost circular, standalone enclosure with a tall buttressed rubble wall. This enclosure, which may once have been a garden, is now filled with a small plantation of fir trees. A high rubble wall stretches from the south gable of the barn to link with this circular enclosure.