Building record 6395/1 - Stable complex at Sandy Brow, Tarporley

<1> Peter de Figueiredo (Independent Consultant), 2017, Sandy Brow, Tarporley, Cheshire: Conservation Statement, R4726 (Client Report). SCH9502.

Conservation statement produced in 2017 for Sandy Brow Stables, prior to conversion and redevelopment of the complex for residential use.

Sandy Brow (CHER 6395), now a locally listed building, was bought by Colonel William Hall Walker (1st Baron Wavertree, 1856-1933) in 1896, when he also became MP for Widnes. At the time of purchase, Sandy Brow was a small house with stables close to the Tarporley Race Course, administered by the prestigious Tarporley Hunt Club. William was a son of Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, founder of Walker’s Brewery, who donated funds for the construction of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Colonel Walker achieved distinction as a breeder of race horses in England and Ireland. In 1900, he bought land at Tully in County Kildare, Ireland, where he began breeding horses.

At Sandy Brow, Walker commissioned the Chester Architect, Richard Thomas Beckett, to design a stable complex. Beckett had already designed a stud, comprising stables, cottages, a yard and ancilliary buildings, for Walker at Grange Lane, Gateacre, on the outskirts of Liverpool (this complex is now Grade II Listed). The Sandy Brow stables were built c.1905 in vernacular style, they are timber-framed with infill panels consisting of vertical timber boarding, supported on a brick plinth, with clay-tiled roofs. The timbers were prefabricated for assembly on site, which was an innovative approach at the time; the design/build was specially adapted for stabling horses. 'The Soarer', the legendary racehorse that won the Grand National in 1896, was stabled here, along with four other British Classics.

In 1915 Colonel Walker gave his bloodstock to the British Nation. At the time the country was desperately in need of cavalry horses for World War I, and in turn the government purchased Walker’s stud farm Tully, County Kildare, and a training stable he owned at Russley Park in Wiltshire. In recognition of his gesture, Walker was given the title of Lord Wavertree, and the property and horses became the first National Stud for Great Britain. In 1943 the National Stud was moved from Ireland to Newmarket and, two years later, the Tully property became the Irish National Stud. Apart from a period during World War II when Sandy Brow was requisitioned for use by the engineering company Vickers Limited, it remained in the family and has continued to be used for race horses; however, the stable complex is no longer considered appropriate for race horse accommodation.

At the time of assessment (2017), there were four main buildings forming the stable complex. Building 1 was the riding school, which consisted of a covered space surrounded by loose boxes on all four sides, with an arched gateway to the east. It is a two-storey space with an iron/steel trussed roof and a large area of patent glazing bringing light into the centre. Building 2 was the wing of loose boxes that projects from the south-east corner of Building 1, and was originally erected elsewhere on the site. It was moved to the present location in the 1940s, and was constructed with a small gap between the gable ends of the two formerly independent buildings. Building 3, located to the east of the riding school, is a long brick and timber-framed building which contained a blacksmith’s forge and motor house. Tack rooms and a log store were also incorporated. Building 4 was a small hay barn. The western section of this building was dismantled and fitted with a new roof in the late 20th century. A small storage building was also designed by Beckett, as were timber-framed extensions to an earlier cottage.