Monday 16 March 2015

Manderston House Stables

These magnificent stables  were finished in 1895, some years before work on the house had even started Horse and Hound suggested that Manderston could 'probably boast the finest stabling in all the world'. Built by Sir William Miller and designed by John Kinross the stables are built around two courtyards. The main entrance is through an arch flanked with Doric columns and surmounted by a pediment. On the left side of the courtyard are the coach houses, to the right the loose boxes.


On the inside of the arch are stone panels of hounds and huntsmen carved in high relief.Facing the entrance across the courtyard are the stalls. The barrel-vaulted roof is lined with teak. The stalls and feed troughs are made of teak. The finials and tie rings are made of brass.


The names of the horses which once occupied them are incised on marble panels. They all have the same initial....... 'M' for Millar and Manderston.....Magic, Monarch and  Malakoff...



The tack room is the ultimate in Edwardian luxury. Rosewood cupboards and  marble floors.


The table for cleaning the tack and harness is made of brass and Italian marble.


The rear exit  to the paddocks and the muck heap.


The second courtyard is lined with loose boxes that open directly onto the yard in the manner of racing stables.


Before the house had even been finished the motor car superceded the horse as the means of transport and the coach houses at Manderston were converted into garages. But happily horses are still kept at Manderston, for pleasure and for hunting.


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