Survey Data
Reg No
13303003
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
Stables
In Use As
Stables
Date
1800 - 1865
Coordinates
209845, 280206
Date Recorded
08/08/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached multiple-bay two-storey stable block, built or remodeled c. 1860, having a central single-bay three-storey tower (on square-plan) flanked to either side (north and south) by gable-fronted single-bay two-storey sections with crow-stepped parapets. Incorporating fabric of earlier buildings. Pitched slate roofs with cut limestone chimneystacks and cast-iron rainwater goods. Battlemented parapet to tower having Irish crenellations over. Clockface to tower at third stage/third storey level. Snecked squared limestone rubble walls, partially repointed, with pointed arch sandstone voussoirs/relieving arches over openings to central block. Tripartite and paired square-headed window openings to central block having dressed limestone surrounds, dressed limestone mullions and metal latticed casement windows. Square-headed window openings elsewhere with metal latticed casement windows. Square-headed openings with timber louvered vents to the west face. Staged Tudor-pointed carriage arch to tower with dressed limestone surrounds, metal double-leaf gates and with pointed arch sandstone voussoirs over. Shouldered square-headed doorways with dressed limestone surrounds, sandstone voussoirs/relieving arches over, and with battened timber doors. Three-bay single-storey coach house attached to the southeast corner having three segmental-headed carriage arches with dressed limestone surrounds and timber double-doors. Located to rear of Castle Forbes, to the west of the main house/castle, and to the northwest of Newtown-Forbes.
Appraisal
This impressive stable range forms an important element of the Castle Forbes complex. The central clocktower forms a dominant focus and adds to the picturesque skyline of turrets and towers at Castle Forbes. The crow-stepped parapets are a feature of the Scottish Baronial style and are, perhaps, a reference to the Scottish ancestry of the Forbes family. The crow-stepped parapets are also similar in style to those at the Church of Ireland church at Newtown-Forbes (13303021). The window and door openings retain well-executed limestone surrounds and early metal latticed windows. This stable block was remodeled by J.J. McCarthy (1817 – 1882), the architect responsible for extensive works on the main Castle Forbes house/castle, c. 1860.