Stable, coach house, blacksmith's forge and adjoining wall, Thoroton, Nottinghamshire

Summary

C18 stable, coach house and blacksmith’s forge with adjoining C19 wall.

Description

C18 stable, coach house and blacksmith’s forge with adjoining C19 wall.

MATERIALS: red brick with brick dressings and pantile roof covering. The stable and coach house is laid in Flemish stretcher bond and the blacksmith’s forge in English garden wall bond.

PLAN: the building has a long rectangular plan aligned along the road to the west and facing east towards the service courtyard. The stable occupies the north part and the coach house the south, with the tack room in between and a hay loft running the length of the building. The lower range on the south gable end contains the blacksmith’s forge and has a small projection to the east housing the oven. Just beyond the south gable end a wall runs eastwards and links up to the house.

EXTERIOR: the building has irregular elevations and dentillated eaves. The main range consists of the stable and coach house, the former having a slightly raised roof. The south end has a brick coped gable with kneelers and a projecting chimney stack rising from the forge. The east side, from the left, has a blocked carriage opening with a flat brick arch and an inserted window with timber glazing bars, possibly of C18 origin as it retains some crown glass. This is followed by a wide segmental arch opening which provides access to the hatch above and to three doors leading into the former coach house to the left, the tack room in front, and the stable to the right. The two-bay stable is lit by two small probably late-C19 casements under segmental brick arches. The north gable end has a timber batten door at loft level. On the west elevation the stable is blind, after which there is an C18 top-opening six-pane window with crown glass, followed by a gabled dormer across the eaves and a C20 casement.

The lower range attached to the south end has a coped gable with kneelers. The east elevation has a blocked window opening on the left followed by a small extension under a catslide roof with a quarter-cylindrical oven projection in the return angle. The north side of this small extension contains some rubble stone. The forge is entered through a wide opening with a timber lintel on the south side. The west elevation has a late-C19 wall post box.

On the south gable end there is a plank and batten door adjoining the rebuilt boundary wall. (The wall is not included in the listing). Immediately after the door, a buttressed C19 brick wall with flat stone coping runs at right angles to link up to the house. Towards the east end it ramps steeply upwards and has a plank and batten door under a segmental brick arch. It is surmounted by a stone urn.

INTERIOR: this retains many original fixtures and fittings, including the plank and batten doors with their wrought iron door furniture. The stable is divided into two stalls by an oak pegged partition. It has fitted brick mangers on the east wall and a brick-covered floor which slopes downwards to a central covered drain. Affixed to the stable door are the shoes of William Ransom’s winning horses with labels bearing their names and the races they won. The tack room has early-C20 full-height vertical plank panelling with incorporated saddle and wrought iron tack holders. The hayloft above, accessed through a folding trapdoor, has an oak principal rafter roof with Queen struts, a ridge piece and collars.

The adjoining element to the south contains the blacksmith’s forge – an open hearth with a canopied brick chimney flue supported by a timber bressumer. The rear wall of the hearth is of rubble stone, as is the baking oven to the right. This retains its wrought iron door and domed lining constructed of close-fitting bricks, beautifully laid in an oval pattern. The floor is covered with flag stones and incorporates a millstone near the hearth. The interior brickwork of this room has been repaired and the common rafter roof is C20 in date, except for one of the purlins.

History

Thoroton is a small village on the northwest bank of the Smite River. In his History of Nottinghamshire (published in three volumes 1790-96) Robert Thoroton recounts that the village is included in the Domesday Book and conjectures that the predecessors of Roger de Thurveton, the local landowner in the time of Henry III (1207-72), took their name from the place. Whilst the subsequent history of the family is recorded in detail, no mention is made of the house until the revised edition of the History (1796) by John Throsby who relates that ‘Thoroton Hall and the estate there belonging to the Barrets was purchased of them about the year 1718, by Richard Brough, esq.’ As the house dates to the early-C18, it is possible that the new owner was responsible for its rebuilding.

The stable and coach house to the north-west was built in the late-C18. The original carriage arch has been blocked up and another opening made to the right, possibly in the C19 when the new coach house was built further to the east. The lower extension on the south end of the coach house, which contains the blacksmith’s forge and oven, appears to have been rebuilt as the brick is laid in a different bond and it incorporates some rubble stone which was probably retained from an earlier building. The 1884 Ordnance Survey map depicts a narrow range projecting from here in a westward direction to link up to the house. This was the wash house which was later demolished.

Thoroton Hall has had two well-known residents. Ethel Bedford Fenwick (1857-1947), who lived there between 1859 and 1879 after her mother remarried the then owner George Storer MP, campaigned for the state registration of nurses and appeared as Nurse ‘No. 1’ when the register was established in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s Thoroton Hall was the residence of William Ransom, the amateur champion jockey. He won many races and it was during his time at Thoroton that he became a champion. The shoes of his winning horses are fixed to one of the stable doors, together with a label stating their names and the races they won.

Reasons for Listing

The C18 stable, coach house and blacksmith’s forge with adjoining C19 wall is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: it is a well-preserved example of an C18 stable with a Queen post oak roof and it retains a high proportion of its original fittings, including the stall dividers and fitted mangers, brick floor covering, and plank and batten doors with original hinges and latches. The canopy of the blacksmith’s forge and the bread oven also survive, providing further evidence of the building’s configuration and function;

* Historic interest: its special interest is enhanced by the historic association with William Ransom who fitted out the early-C20 tack room and affixed the shoes of his winning horses to the doors, a connection thus manifested in the fabric of the building itself;

* Group value: it is a significant element in the architectural and historic context of the Grade II listed Thoroton Hall with which it has strong group value.

External Links

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