8690

 

II  

Designated  

26/10/1989  

20/03/1998  

Leighton Hall Stables  

 

Powys  

Forden with Leighton and Trelystan  

Forden  

Leighton Park  

324256  

304390  

 

Located approximately 1.6km S of Leighton church and situated on the N side of a minor road E of the B4388 Leighton to Forden road. Set diagonally in open ground.  

Domestic  

 

Built 1852 (the date on rainwater goods) and probably designed by the Liverpool architect W.H. Gee, who was the architect for Leighton Hall and church. The stables were an integral part of the Leighton Estate, acquired by John Naylor, a Liverpool banker, in 1846-47. Naylor embarked on an ambitious programme of building, notably Leighton Hall, church and Leighton Farm, all designed by Gee and largely completed by the mid 1850s. Leighton Hall was constructed 1850-56. Naylor continued to extend and improve the Estate until his death in 1889. His grandson, Captain J.M. Naylor, sold Leighton Hall and the Estate in 1931. The building remains in use as a stable.  

Simple Gothic style, consisting of 4 ranges around a central courtyard, of brick with ashlar dressings and slate roof. The gables have copings on moulded kneelers below gablets, and fleur de lys finials with the letter ‘N’ in relief. The front range has a central 3-bay, 2-storey gatehouse block flanked by single-storey wings. The gatehouse block has an advanced cross-gable in the centre and diagonal buttresses. In the lower storey is a tall, wide 4-centred chamfered arch with double boarded doors. In each outer bay are 2 blind arrow loops to ground floor, and above a string course are 2-light mullioned windows, with a similar window in the cross gable below a blank shield. Above the cross gable is a hexagonal lead bellcote with clock face, an ogee dome and weathervane. In the single-storeyed wing to R in the front range are blind arrow loops, a wide doorway to R of centre with boarded doors, and a polygonal vent on the ridge with swept roof. In the wing to L are similar blind arrow loops, a 2-light mullioned window and a stack with tall diagonally-set shaft. The side ranges are single storey and have sash windows and blind arrow slits, together with vents on the roofs. (The L range is on a rubble stone plinth and has a basement.) The rear range is similar to the front but the gatehouse block has gable stacks (with diagonally-set shafts to L) and its wings to L and R have gabled outer bays, also with external stacks (with diagonally set shafts to R). Both gatehouse blocks have cast iron rainwater goods which include hoppers dated 1852. Within the courtyard, the rear range has 3x 4-centred doorways with double boarded doors in the wing to L (to R are similar arches but blocked and with early C20 windows). The front gatehouse has openings similar to front. In the rear gatehouse is a 4-centred doorway to L and blocked doorway to R.  

 

The Leighton Estate is an exceptional example of high-Victorian estate development. It is remarkable for the scale and ambition of its conception and planning, the consistency of its design, the extent of its survival, and is the most complete example of its type in Wales. Leighton Hall Stables are an important element of this whole ensemble at Leighton. The stables retain their original character and gothic detailing typical of the Leighton Estate.