Stallion pens to the north-east of Home Farm, Parlington Estate, Parlington, Leeds

Summary

Stallion pens, constructed in 1813, for Richard Oliver Gascoigne

Description

Stallion pens, constructed in 1813, for Richard Oliver Gascoigne

MATERIALS: coursed limestone with two small sections of coursed sandstone infill

DESCRIPTION: the four stallion pens at Parlington are located approximately 113m to the north-east of Home Farm along the east side of a lane/drive that leads up to the estate's north entrance at Barwick Lodge (Grade II) and immediately to the south of Willowgarth Plantation, and are aligned in a linear north-south arrangement. They are enclosed by coursed-limestone walls approximately eight feet high with rounded corners on the west side to each individual pen to prevent the stallions suffering injury. Wide corner entrances with tall cylindrical, limestone gate piers exist to the north-west and south-west corners of the north and south pens respectively, with narrower west pedestrian entrances to the two middle pens with square gate piers and modern boarded doors. All of the piers have domed caps. Originally the north-west and south-west corner entrance pier caps are understood to have been surmounted by finials in the form of horse's heads, but these have since been removed. The internal dividing walls between the pens survive, along with gateways with cylindrical gate piers linking each pen. Historic plans suggest that each pen also originally had a corner shelter, but these have since been removed, although their footprints are visible on satellite imagery and the locations of their eastern entrances in the two middle pens and north pen have been in-filled with large coursed sandstone blocks.

History

The history of the Parlington estate is intertwined with that of the Gascoignes, a family of Catholic landed gentry based in Yorkshire. Land at Parlington, including the medieval village of Parlington and probably also a manorial complex, was bought by John Gascoigne (1520-1602) from Thomas Lord Wentworth in March 1545. The remains of the village are believed to have been removed in the C18 when the landscape was gentrified and mineral extraction was also exploited. Parlington became the seat of the Gascoignes in the early 1720s when they moved from nearby Barnbow Hall (now demolished).

Parlington Hall (now - 2018 - largely demolished) is believed to have been remodelled in the 1730s for Sir Edward Gascoigne (1697-1750), and again in around 1800 for his son Sir Thomas. Sir Thomas Gascoigne (1745-1810), who was born and raised in Cambrai, northern France, inherited the Parlington estate in 1762 after his elder brother's sudden death. He settled in England in 1765, interspersing his residence with two Grand Tours where he mixed in court society, including with Marie Antoinette and Charles III, King of Spain. In 1780 Gascoigne abjured his Catholic faith to become an Anglican and a Member of Parliament, becoming a close ally of the Marquis of Rockingham. However, in 1784 Sir Thomas married Lady Mary Turner, a widow with two young children, and he resigned from politics to concentrate on his family and improving the Parlington estate, although he returned to politics several years later following Mary's early death from childbirth complications. Sir Thomas was an advocate of agricultural reform like his father Sir Edward, and a coal mine and quarry owner interested in developing technologies and innovation. He also had a keen interest in horse racing and breeding, establishing a stud at Parlington. His horse Tuberose won the Doncaster Cup in 1776, Hollandaise won the St Leger in 1778, followed later by Symmetry who won in 1798, and Theophania won the Epsom Oaks in 1803. The Gascoigne Stakes were also run at Doncaster in the early C19. Gascoigne was elected Honorary Member of the Board of Agriculture in 1796 and his expertise and opinions on agricultural reform were sought by the board and his contemporaries.

Sir Thomas Gascoigne died in 1810 shortly after his only son and heir, Thomas Charles (1786-1809) had died in a hunting accident. The estate subsequently passed to his step-daughter Mary (c1783-1819) who had married Captain Richard Oliver (1762-1842); her husband taking the name Gascoigne as stipulated by Sir Thomas' will. Richard Oliver Gascoigne maintained and developed the estate's agricultural and mineral assets on the estate, and also its horse racing interests. The racehorse stud established by Sir Thomas Gascoigne in the late C18 was developed further by Richard Oliver Gascoigne in the early C19 and gained national and international recognition. Richard's horse Soothsayer won the St Leger in 1811 and his horse Jerry won in 1824, with both horses bred at Parlington. Soothsayer, in particular, was a very successful horse who was sold by Gascoigne to Lord Foley after winning the St Leger, and after winning further races at Newmarket he was retired to stud in 1813/14. Soothsayer sired many winners, including the Derby winner Tiresias, and he was 'Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland' in 1819. He was painted by the notable horse artists, Ben Marshall (1768-1835) and James Ward (1769-1859). Ward painted Soothsayer in 1821 for King George IV who was recorded as the horse's owner at that time; the painting is in the Royal Collection.

Richard Oliver's two sons Thomas and Richard pre-deceased him and thus upon his death his two daughters Mary Isabella (1810-1891) and Elizabeth (1812-1893) inherited. Mary Isabella and her husband lived at Parlington, and Elizabeth and her husband lived at the family's other estate, Castle Oliver in County Limerick, Ireland. After the death of his parents Parlington passed to Isabella's son Colonel Frederick Richard Thomas Trench-Gascoigne in 1905. Frederick, who had already inherited nearby Lotherton Hall from his aunt Elizabeth and had made that his family residence, focused on a military career, leaving the running of the Parlington estate to employees. Frederick removed many of the contents from the hall, along with a number of architectural features, including the hall's porte cochere, which became a garden feature at Lotherton. Parlington Hall was subsequently abandoned and in 1919 the estate's mines were sold.

During the Second World War the Parlington Estate was occupied by the Royal Army Ordnance Corps No 3 Vehicle Reserve Depot and a number of temporary buildings were constructed, all of which have since been demolished, but tank inspection ramps survive. During the war German and Russian prisoners of war were also hired from the West Riding War Agricultural Executive Committee to work in the woods of the estate.

The majority of the hall was demolished in 1952, leaving only part of the service wing surviving, which is now a private house. The entire estate was sold in the 1960s and is now owned by an institutional property investment fund.

It has been suggested that the stallion pens to the north-east of Home Farm on the Parlington Estate were constructed in the late C18, but it would appear from estate accounts that the pens (also known as the 'new paddocks') were constructed in 1813 for Richard Oliver Gascoigne. The pens were constructed to supplement three late-C18 paddocks located in the north-east parkland. It is likely that the pens were designed by Watson and Pritchett of York who designed a number of estate buildings for Gascoigne in the early 1810s, including stables (now demolished).

Reasons for Listing

The stallion pens to the north-east of Home Farm, Parlington Estate, constructed in 1813, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* although constructed for a functional purpose their impressive scale and architectural detailing highlights the fact that they were designed to make an architectural statement intended to be seen by visitors and to reflect the status and ambition of the Parlington stud;
* they incorporate design features specific to their use, such as eight-feet high walls and rounded corners designed to protect the stallions from injury;
* they are an important early survival of a rare building type associated with the specialist industry of horse racing and breeding;
* despite the loss of the individual shelters in each pen and the horse head finials on the gate piers they are well preserved overall.

Historic interest:

* they reflect the importance of horse racing to the Gascoignes and the Parlington Estate from the mid-C18 to mid-C19, and are important physical evidence of the Parlington stud, which gained national and international recognition and produced some of the finest bloodstock of the period.

Group value:

* they have strong group value with the other listed buildings and structures on the Parlington Estate and the Grade II-registered landscape.

External Links

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