Building record 1511804000 - Former stable block at Rayners

A country house stable block, perhaps designed by David Brandon in the 1860s or 1870s and altered in
the C20.
MATERIALS & PLAN: Flemish bond brick with blue brick and moulded brick dressings and a plain tiled
and fishscale tiled roof. The building is L-shaped on plan, of one and two storeys, with a three-storey
tower to the north-western corner.
EXTERIOR: the east face has diaper panels and a dentilled cornice to the eaves which runs around the
building. There are two wide carriage arches which have been partially infilled with wooden screens and central, pedestrian doors which are half glazed. At left is a C20 extension which joins the stable block to the western service wing of the house. The southern face has been overlayed by a later extension, but internally a window and another, similar carriage arch can be seen.
The west face has the tower at left and four gabled bays to its right. Each bay has a central recessed
panel with pointed arched top and moulded bricks to the apex. At first-floor level windows fit within these panels but at ground-floor level wider openings have been inserted with concrete lintels. The tower has clasping buttresses and a series of closely-set, vertical panels to the top with square openings above which may have been a dovecote. The steep roof is pyramidal with a weather vane to the apex. To the left of the tower is a wider, single-storey bay with two narrow lights beneath the arch.
INTERIOR: this has been converted to school use with no indications of its former purpose.
Selected Sources: Books and journals:
Green, Miles, Tiddy, Jo , Mansions and Mud Houses, (2007), pp27-28;
Green, Miles, Clark, Evelyn, The Rose Family, Rayners and Tyler's End Green, (1999)
The Stable Block is not recommended for statutory listing for the following principal reason:
Degree of Architectural interest - although an attractive design that indicated the style of the main house, the building has been significantly changed by additions and alterations, leaving the distinctive tower to excel (B2).