Woolsington Hall, Coach House & Stables

Stables and coach house. Late 19th century or early C20. Ashlar coach house; brick stables; graduated Lakeland slate roof. 3 ranges around courtyard. Coach house of one storey and 3 bays flanked by 2-bay stables with 3-bay projecting wings. 3 high carriage arches; lunettes with radial glazing bars and sill band above; top pediment contains painted clock face dated 1901. Arched stable entrances contain recessed brick side pilasters supporting ventilator bands and lunettes above. All doors boarded. Hipped, low-pitched roofs. The stables were built in the early 19th century. They include many internal fixtures and fittings. The stables have been extended on both sides. These extensions have covered the original blind arches on the south walls. The south-west block has the original flanking wall as its west wall. This wall has been extended upwards to cover the monopitch roof of the extension. There are no gates on the gate piers to the west. The roof is diminishing Welsh slates. There are lead ridges and pitched valley gutters. The windows in the three lunette windows to the groom's quarters at upper level appear to be original but have secondary glass plated over them. The joinery infilling to the arches appears to be original but the doors with diagonal boarding are crude mid 20th replacements. The other openings retain their original doors. The clock is dated 1901 rather crudely. The date appears to be an addition. The outward faces of the stable block are simpler with two blind arches containing windows, only the northern one functions. On the west side a circular window has been added which spoils the design. On the east side an opening has been cut through to form a door with a new lintel. The interior contains a tank on supports in the south chamber of the west block. There are hay ricks, one trough and boarding rising to a dado. The floors are a mixture of stone paving and gridded concrete. A small chamber in the north east has an original simple fire surround and timber belting with hooks for horse gear. The central coach house is the biggest and most characterful interior in Woolsington Park. The floor is fine stone paving. The walls retain evidence of painted decoration. On the north side is a duct and pulley. There is a stair up to the groom's accomodation. In the eastern stable block there is an almost completely preserved timber lined wall. The courtyard is concrete with a central circle leading to a drain. The eastern stable block has a lot of different periods of brickwork.