Building record EXG 089 - The Barn, Harraton Court Stables

A heritage asset assessment was produced for a barn at Harraton Court Stables prior to its renovation. Harraton Court Stables lies approximately 200 m west of Exning parish church on the north-western edge of the modern conurbation of Newmarket. It was built during the 1880s by John George Lambton, the third Earl of Durham and a major figure in the history of English racing. It originally occupied a site of several acres and contained both a racing yard and a stud yard, but the name now belongs only to the former while the latter, which adjoins Chapel Street on the west, is in separate ownership and known as Queen Alexandra Stables. Despite this sub-division Lord Durham's buildings remain highly imposing examples of late-Victorian equestrian architecture and are of considerable significance to the history of Newmarket and its vicinity - but are not listed.

The barn itself is a 19th C clunch barn, with much of its original slate roof still remaining in tact. The barn has 11 bays and two threshing floors and is a large and impressive example of a structure built in a distinctive local style from this period. Its fabric is largely original and is of a high quality, despite some 19th and 20th C alterations, making it a rare and historically important structure. A number of evil averting symbols and graffiti have been carved into the frame of this building (S1).