SM 64/4/64 verso, SM 64/4/64 recto, SM 64/4/63 recto, SM 64/4/62 and SM 64/4/63 verso are copies of a set of plans and elevations/sections for the stables at Skelton Castle, drawn on three sheets (lacking are three of the elevations for the fronts facing the stable yard). They show a quadrangular building with external dimensions of '158..0' by '105..4'; internally, the yard measures '114..4' by approximately 61 feet 4 inches. The plan is symmetrical with a five-bay entrance front 'A' attached by segmental-headed arches (11 feet wide) to the side ranges labelled 'D' and 'E' that lead into the range labelled 'B' and 'C'. The stableyard was entered at 'A' via the twin, segmental-headed arches between which were three coach-houses '17..4' wide and with large double doors. Up to 36 horses were housed in stalls in the three other wings; innovatory loose boxes were generally only introduced from about 1798 (Worsley, op.cit, p.185). The wing labelled 'B' and 'C' is fronted on the yard side ('B') by a three-part Doric entrance beneath a blind, segmental arch. Overall, this entrance is '24..10' wide, with the centre '11..6' wide, the side entrances '4..10' wide and the columns '1..6' in diameter' (as shown on the ground floor plan, SM 64/4/64 recto). In execution, the entrance was modified so that the Doric columns were omitted and a wide segmental-arched opening with flank walls with doors was set some feet in from the wall plane. On Soane's plan (SM 64/4/64), the entrance leads to a stair, store, stalls and beyond these is a ride that is '154..6' long and '14..2' wide and with a good range of lunette windows to the outside.

Giles Worsley (op.cit. p.283) defines a 'covered ride' as 'a long straight enclosed space usually with a turning area at the end' that with riding houses and maneges (covered exercising rings) can be described as riding schools though they are each a separate building type. 'The earliest covered rides ... were long, thin structures placed generally at the rear of the quadrangle in which the horse could be trotted up to one end and then back again. John Soane was particularly keen on rides, incorporating them in his designs for stables for Mulgrave Castle, Yorkshire, of 1780, Skelton Castle, Yorskshire, of 1787, Lees Court, Kent, of 1789-90 and Tyringham, Buckinghamshire, of 1793' (op.cit., pp.198-9, fig.192, photograph).

Group

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