Old fashioned stalls and stables

[aintgotnohay]

anyone here use old stables to keep their horses in.im writing a book on and collecting photos of old stables especially the interiors.i know alot of these types of buildings are becoming extinct now as developers snap them up or peeps change them into human dwellings.thanks.

 

[mulledwhine]

A local riding stables at Walton still has the old fashioned stalls complete with swinging bails and log and rope

 

[BlizzardBudd]

my friend has got some old stables.. i will ask her to post you some pics.. hopefully she will do it!! but she has become rather unreliable

 

[haras]

Theres a riding school in north baddesley, near southampton that has old stalls that are still in use. It's called kiln farm. Good luck collecting your photos

 

[Bethie]

My stables were the old stalls for the working horses on the farm, but are now partitioned as loose boxes. The old trough is still there with the rings set in it and one of the original partitions.

 

[aintgotnohay]

thanks for your replies so far.i used to keep my horses on an old stable block.it has now been converted and must say it looks stunning now.the stables all had old paved floors,old tie rings,stone troughs,louvre windows,grills on the doors and hayracks.when the wind blew it was so sheltered and cosy in there.

 

[madeleine1]

try contacting weelsby park riding school, they have a coach house and old tiles on the walls and stalls. they hav some old picks of the stables from years ago on their website

 

[Miss L Toe]

THe BHS handbook has pictures of a swinging bail stall, I've never seen one in real life.

 

[Miss L Toe]

Beamish Museum possibly

 

[indie999]

Dont know of any that exist but this brings back memories I remember the chains hanging from the ceiling one at each end of a plank which divided the stalls. They would swing if you knocked the plank.

Also stalls on a slight incline with no back end on them. Each horse knew which stall was his/hers. They all had the wall hay racks or mangers(no hay nets).

With both of these I dont remember there ever being any escapees or trouble.

we use to white wash the walls sometimes and it was flaky stuff?

 

[Tnavas]

The Royal Mews is the place to go to get photos. Many of the horses are kept there in the original stalls, cobble floors, and partitions with chains at the back.

I remember Pony CLub camp where they would put up stalls with swinging partitions so that the kids with ponies could hvae the experience of stabling their ponies.

 

[*hic*]

PEckover House in Wisbech (National Trust) has the original stables in.

My ponies are stabled in stables built over a hundred years ago but they have been modified over the years and are nothing special to look at now. My garage used to be stalls for shires.

 

[Rowreach]

NT property Florencecourt House nr Enniskillen has some of the original stables and stalls still intact, and a member of staff keeps her horse there (he has become part of the attraction!). They have done some renovations but have retained as much as possible of the original, including the paint!

 

[jeeve]

I have two old books - veterinary /gentleman farmer related that are probably 150 years old - with some drawings/prints of old stables and stalls

no photographs of course

beautiful books - my dad bought them at a red cross stall in 1945 in england, and when we visited england about 35 years ago my gran had saved them and gave them to us

they have some lovely husbandry stories about hunting/game/cattle/pigs/hunting dogs/horses/poutlry and husbandry techniques/history of breed, lots of stories about certain farmers and poetry

 

[only_me]

You should contact the owners of big old country houses and estates, chances are they still have old fashioned stabling

 

[JenHunt]

the old Bilsdale Hunt Kennels had swinging bail stalls for the hunt horses to stand in.

My family have old indoor stables in a barn (now used as general storage space) - too small for horses, would be ok for working ponies like Dales/Fell. We also have an old cow byre that someone has made into 3 good size stables in circa 1960.

 

[Mithras]

I used to use them as a child and they had stone floors with herringbone drainage or cobbles, really nice wooden partitions with iron metalwork but the thing I always remember is that the sides were tiled with blue and white Delft tiles. There were a few old houses round where I grew up with tiled stables, which are all converted into houses now. The standard pattern in a small country house seemed to be two or three old fashioned stalls (I have seen the ball and rope thing) and one large loose or stallion box. There were iron mangers for hay and the stalls had chains at the back but a lot of these had been removed. Generally I found people only used the stalls for storage.

 

[Maesfen]

Off the top of my head, I can think of three places which might still be there and 'viewable' and not too far from you (Staffordhire) either.
Gredington Park, Hanmer near Whitchurch, former home of the Gredington herd of Welsh Ponies;
Combermere Abbey near Whitchurch although not sure if they haven't been converted or not; they had beautiful tiled walls and fitted manger/hayracks;
Doddington Park near Nantwich which was used for the Goudhurst School ponies, lovely building.
There's also Estcourt Park, Shipton Moyne, Tetbury, Gloucestershire which was a beautiful yard when I worked there; coach houses opposite across a cobbled yard with a lovely large well in the middle, then boxes and stalls either side of a large workspace with stable flats at either end above the stables.

As someone else said, old estates, particularly sporting/hunting ones could well have some beautiful old buildings left.

 

[marmalade76]

i know alot of these types of buildings are becoming extinct now as developers snap them up or peeps change them into human dwellings.thanks.

Shouldn't be allowed if you ask me! I'd give my right arm to have some proper old stables.


There is a lady who lives in a coach house near where my dad lives (near Gloucester) who still has the stables and stalls intact and uses them. Could try and put you in contact but couldn't promise anything.

 

[DeJaVue]

Try the Atkinson's at Scurff Hall. Drax, Selby, North Yorks. (Horrid name I know). Their farm is 14th century I believe and has all the old coaching stables Absolutely beautiful place.

 

[POLLDARK]

Years ago I regularly rode past a big Georgian house & the horses' stable was the end room (ground floor I hasten to add) it always seem really funny to see him looking out of the window in such a normal looking house.

 

[kerilli]

try Cranford Hall near Kettering, last time i was there it was a livery yard, still has stable-bricks flooring etc, lovely old stables, although very boring for the horse because they stare straight at a wall all day (single row of stables in a square shape, not opposite each other.)
definitely try Ingestre stables in Staffs, that yard is just magical. beautiful buildings. i can't remember much about the stables themselves (only went there for training and competitions, never really went into the stables) and according to the picture gallery on this page
http://freespace.virgin.net/ingestre.stables/
the stables seem to be newish, but the buildings are old and perhaps some of the stables/stalls are.
the Royal Mews has to be the best bet, proper old stalls there last time I went (about 30 years ago, admittedly!)
umm, Barleythorpe stables in Leics was beautiful but I think it may have been sold for development.
stuck now, that's all i have!

some of the old ones had tiles on the stable walls, which i can understand because they're smart and easy to wash, but i'd be really worried about them smashing and splintering if a horse kicks them... do you have any pics of those?

 

[Jackson]

Hi there! I guess I'm sort of close to you. I would have a looky at Attingham park, I know that they have stables there. I would ask around farms with older buildings too. Often they have old stables still with the original insides that they use for storage purposes. Oh, and of course, Acton scott, they'll have some there!

 

[EmmaB]

I definitely second Ingestre stables, beautiful place and still has all the old buildings, most of the stables are newish but there is one section which is still the old style stalls, and even with the newer stables, the inside of the buildings are all old fashioned and lovely. I did have some pics, tried to find them but must be on my old computer unfortunately! Found this pic on facebook though of the stalls being used as a cafe at some point, they look just the same now except without the tables and ribbon haha xD
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/200150_1019218046077_1393937538_30060351_6738_n.jpg

 

[jendie]

You'll find some stunning old stables and stalls at some of the National Trust owned houses that are open to the public. They really are beautiful, more work went into them than goes into many present days houses.

 

[MiCsarah]

My ponies at stabled in old cow sheds, probably not what your looking for though. But at work they have some stables within their house. You kind of go through what now is their garage through a small opening and their are 2 (of what I know of) stables in there.

 

[alwaysbroke]

Chatsworth House used to use their stable block as a Christmas shop, I found looking at the stables far more interesting than Christmas shopping, how sad am I?

Jamisons vets used to be based in Locko Park (Derbyshire) the old stables and stall were fabulous. Not sure what the stables are used for now as the vets practice has moved.

 

[madeleine1]

bransby has a few old stable

 

[Shazzababs]

Byranston school nr Blandford (Dorrset) has some georgous stables. Got to stay in them when we stayed over for the TREC a couple of years ago. Its a propper old stable block with internal boxes on the corners.

 

[PennyJ]

Another vote for the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace. They were really interesting (sorry if I sound like a geek) and of course are still in use, unlike so many of the other places.