Audley End 2010-11-07 043

Stables from N. List description: britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-406401-audley-end-stables... . Now dated to the early C17, according to the Buildings of England: Essex (2007 edn.), p.105, which compares the windows with St Mark's College (see www.flickr.com/photos/40878011@N07/12010405114 ). The style is less fashionable than that of the house, possibly to create a little "fake history" (cf. Heritage Today, May 2010, 17-18).

The building seems to have originated as ancillary domestic accommodation (perhaps for the lower ranks among those accompanying the monarch on progress), but was converted to a stable a few years after its construction, possibly because the now-demolished forecourt of the main house took over its original function. The bay windows, surprisingly, were added as part of the conversion, perhaps to provide space for the owner and his visitors to inspect and discuss horses. Originally they had gables which were removed in 1685. [Paul Drury and Pete Smith, 'The Audley End Stable Block in the 17th Century', English Heritage Historical Review, 5 (2010), pp.44, 64, 68, 73, 79]

The lantern may date from the 1860s. [ibid., 76]