Stables And Egg-End Boiler, Swinton House

The stables and egg-end boiler form part of Swinton House, dating to circa 1825, with later 19th-century extensions and alterations. The complex comprises an improved court of stables and coach houses, with grooms’ and tack rooms above. To the east and north are later additions including a sawmill and covered courts.

The frontispiece is a near-symmetrical U-plan with a recessed central section, extending nine bays. The front (southeast) elevation is of squared and snecked tooled sandstone with droved sandstone dressings; harl pointed rubble is to the sides, and brick to the rear. A raised base course and projecting cills are visible. The entrance features a 2-storey, 2-bay former coach house with a coachman's house above, recessed at the centre. There are single windows in both bays at each floor, with gableheads to the first-floor windows. A 2-bay wing is slightly recessed to the right, containing a boarded timber door with a 4-pane fanlight, and a single window to the ground floor. A 2-leaf, boarded timber door sits in a large, segmental-arched opening to the left. Gabled wings project to the outer left and right, each with single ground floor windows (the outer windows are blind) and boarded hayloft openings above. A gabled wing is slightly recessed to the outer right, fronting the sawmill (formerly an oil engine and generator room).

The southwest elevation reveals three small windows relating to former loose boxes offset to the right of centre. The next two bays to the left housed a former harness room with a groom's house above, featuring single windows at both floors. A boarded timber door is situated at ground floor, and another bay to the left. A single window at first floor is visible in a part-demolished taller addition where an ‘egg end’ boiler serves as a water tank. A tall rubble wall, originally roofed as a hay shed, adjoins the elevation to the outer left, with square-headed openings. A further egg-end boiler is located behind this wall.

The northeast elevation presents an open-sided access to the sawmill and various openings within the recessed wings to the outer right.

The northwest (rear) elevation shows a covered courtyard to the right, a lean-to addition at the front, and pitched wings recessed to the outer left.

The windows are predominantly timber sash and case with 12-pane glazing. Roofing is mainly corrugated iron, with grey slate in part. Raised stone skews are present, along with corniced brick ridge stacks and circular cans.

Internally, a notable feature is a rear covered court with a 54-foot span timber and iron-trussed roof. Simple timber-lined loose boxes and horse stalls are visible. Some 19th-century cast-iron ranges are found in the former grooms’ and coachmen's houses, along with a sawbench to the east.