Thoresby Hall Roundhouse, Riding School and stables.

 

Above: Also once known as “Summer Boxes”, the Roundhouse stands amongst the trees a little further up the hill from the entrance to Thoresby Hall. This is where the hunt’s horses in particular would be kept during the summer months. During World War 2 it was requisitioned by the military using the estate for training purposes, and this was where they had their workshops. Hence the close proximity of the red brick vehicle maintenance ramp, mentioned on a separate post. After the Hall opened to the public in the 1950s, a small children’s farmyard was installed.

Above: c 2010. The roundhouse became a shop, selling plants to the public. Later still it functioned as a bicycle hire service for visitors wishing to cycle around estate.

During the winter months these horses would be moved into the courtyard sables.

Above: 2007. A relic from the stables, a feeding trough, could still be seen in a corner of what had become the art gallery.

Above: “Black Prince”, inside the stables at Thoresby Courtyard. This was a favoured horse of Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont, 3rd Earl Manvers (1826 - 1900), himself a onetime Captain in the South Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Cavalry.

Above: The Riding School, Thoresby Hall. 2024.

The Riding School was where horses and ponies would be trained. The original flooring was simple sawdust and sand. When the room was used for celebration dances, wooden panels were put down. When the army requisitioned the place, they had a concrete floor laid, and the facility was better suited for dining. Soon after, a stage was erected, and concerts, dances, even cinema shows, followed. A good moral booster for troops on the estate.

In much more recent times the riding school has been totally renovated, whilst still retaining a sense of history, and used for wedding celebrations.