Summary

The stable adjacent to Ashwick Court, a building dating from 1698, with C19 and C20 alterations and rebuilding, now converted to domestic use.

Description

Former stable, standing to the north-east of Ashwick Court, dated 1698, with C19 and C20 alterations, and late-C20 rebuilding, now converted for domestic use.

MATERIALS: Doulting rubble with dressed quoins and ashlar door surround. The raised ashlar-coped verge to the east is supported by a small stone corbel on the south side. The pitched roof is slated.

PLAN: rectangular plan, on a west/east alignment. There is a lean-to to the east elevation, probably dating from the C19. To the west, the stable is attached to a cottage.

EXTERIOR: the south front has a central entrance with a two-light window above; the doorway and window are framed by a single ashlar surround. The doorway has an emphasised keystone. Above the window is a stone bearing the date 1698. The wall has some patching. In the eastern gable is a round pigeon hole. The eastern lean-to, which has a tiled roof, has a wide opening to the south. The rebuilt north wall has a large central archway, reached by stone steps. To either side are windows with single mullions, slightly lower than on the original elevation; at eaves level, to the east, is a horizontal opening, also following the original pattern.

INTERIOR: the current plan has a central passage, with a room to east and west. The stalls and other fittings have been removed, and the rooms lined with modern boarding. The roof structure is of Victorian sawn softwood with metal fixings, with some re-use of earlier timbers.

History

The origins of the building now known as Ashwick Court date back to the C17, and some fabric of that period remains, but substantial remodelling has taken place at various times during the building’s history. Owing to its name it has been supposed that the house might have been used as a court house, and there is a tradition that it was used for Judge Jeffery’s Bloody Assizes in 1685. However the current name did not come into use until the mid-C19, and the re-naming is thought simply to reflect the gentrification of what was originally a farmhouse. The house was refronted in the C18, with other alterations taking place at that time. In 1823 the Manor of Ashwick was bought by Richard Strachey, and the house remained in the Strachey family, though leased to tenants, until 1924. Major phases of alteration took place in the late 1920s and late 1990s.

The stable block was built in 1698, as evidenced by the date stone over the south doorway. The building underwent substantial alterations in the 1990s, at which time the north wall was rebuilt, in a new form, with a wide archway reached by steps. Though the north wall had no entrance when the building was photographed in 1987, a photograph of the interior taken at the same time shows an arch of the same shape in the same position, blocked. Early Ordnance Survey maps indicate the presence of a structure at the centre of the building on the north side (gone by 1960), so there may originally also have been steps. The windows were rebuilt, in similar form, but slightly different positions. At the time of the rebuilding the stack was removed, and the interior stripped. It is not possible to be certain about the building’s original plan, but the presence of a central opening to the south, and the evidence of an opposing opening to the north, makes it seem likely that there was some sort of central passageway, with stalling to east and west. The 1987 photograph shows the interior as an open space, with C19 loose boxes.

Reasons for Listing

The stable adjacent to Ashwick Court, a building dating from 1698, with C19 and C20 alterations and rebuilding, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: as a late-C17 stable block, with a distinctive frontispiece incorporating the datestone;
* Historical interest: for its long connection with Ashwick Court, a house of similar date;
* Group value: with Ashwick Court, also listed at Grade II, and the nearby Church of St James, listed at Grade I.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26310579

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)