19th century stables at Bentfield Bower (EHER 49380)

Stable block dating to the 19th century, recorded in 2019.

August 2019. Building survey. The stables are shown on the first edition map of 1874, facing south toward what is thought to be the malthouse, a typically linear building with a water pump (handy for the steep) situated toward the west end. They are shown once again on the next Ordnance Survey map of 1897, built to the same layout, but notably shown as open-sided to the south. This arrangement clearly does not conform with the present south elevation, suggesting the stables were remodelled and re-fronted late in the 19th century or early in the 20th century. The present roof structure over the stable is pitched for slates and does not adopt a vernacular style, instead built with machine cut softwood trusses each with a wrought king bolt and side purlins on back cleats. Such trusses are more typical of the period spanning the second half of the 19th century or slightly later. The stalls, door and window furniture and the match-boarding to the walls would also be current during the mid to later Victorian period. It is possible that parts of the end and rear walls to the stable represent a retained earlier phase dating to the first half of the 19th century, built as part of the complex of outbuildings shown on the tithe map. This may explain why the ventilators to each stall (the latter dating to the later remodelling) are not centrally placed. Remnants of the former outbuildings survive in part along the rear of and as an internal wall within the adjoining range and the eastern flank. A layout more representative of the present floor plan is shown on the OS map of 1920-1, the stable shown as a detached building, flanked either side by the remnants of the farm and former maltings out-buildings. The malting has been demolished by this date (although after 1898 as it was still in use by C. Spencer & Co.) and maybe its demolition and the sites redundancy (in an industrial context) provided the impetus to renovate and re-front the stable, which after the removal of the malthouse became much more visible from the lane. With the rise of the motor car during the early part of the 20th century, the stabling was thereafter increasingly used more for recreational purposes or livery and the coach house re-used as a garage. Post-war the adjoining ranges have both been much altered and re-roofed, the coach house, because of the restriction on entry (width of the opening) relegated to a store, and a new open sided garage built adjoining the west end. The stables have been subjected to few internal changes and remain remarkably intact. <1>