18th century stables and cart shed at Wood Hall, Woodhall, Arkesden (EHER 48923)

18th century stable block at Wood Hall.

May 2016. Building survey. On the 17th May 2016, the stables and coach House at Wood Hall, Arkesden were recorded as Part of a historic building record, in accordance with the conditions of planning permission granted for their conversion to residential use. This work was carried out in response to a brief agreed with Essex County Council's Historical Environment Team. The brief required that a survey (equivalent to an English Heritage Level 2 Survey) was carried out on the existing buildings prior to alterations to the original fabric. The building forms part of an important medieval and post-medieval farmstead that includes four listed farm buildings, though Wood Hall itself is not listed. In the medieval period, Wood Hall was one of the manors of Arkesden, which lay within its own moat. The Hall was rebuilt in 1652 and was much altered in subsequent centuries. A building in the position of the stables appears on a map of 1733, possibly as open sheds and eighteenth century brickwork survives in the rear wall. The present stables appear to have been built in the nineteenth century during a phase of farm improvement. Then, in the mid-nineteenth century, a coach house was added on the south west corner. Alterations to the stables interior were carried out in the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries, notably the refitting of the eastern stable stalls. In the early twentieth century, the coach house was adapted and extended to form a garage and workshop. The stable building is significant, possessing an unusually complete set of stable fixtures and fitting in the eastern stable. Much survives also in the grooms' room (tack room) and in the western stable. The buildings provide an excellent example of a stable and coach house built to accommodate the number of horses and carriages required by those living at Wood Hall. <1>