Stable block at Claremont, designed by Sir James Pennethorne. 1852-56. These fine stables were the only addition Queen Victoria made to her uncle Leopold's estate in Esher, Surrey. They were useful in more ways than one. On his visit to the estate in 1871, the Reverend Kilvert noted that there was "stabling for some 40 horses at Claremont" (110) and that the equerries quarters were immediately over the stables: "The equerries try to get the horses put under each other's rooms that they themselves may not have their sleep broken by the stamping and neighing of the horses and the rattling and ringing of their chains. There is not room for the equerries usually in the house so they are sent down here to sleep" (111).
The block from outside. It is now used for other purposes, as part of Claremont Fancourt School.
Related Material
- "Dear Old Claremont": Queen Victoria and Surrey's Royal Estate
- Extract from Kilvert's Diary: A Visit to Claremont
Photographs and text Jacqueline Banerjee.
[You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Kilvert’s Diary (a selection). Ed. William Plomer. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1977.
Turnor, Reginald. Nineteenth Century Architecture in Britain. London: Batsford, 1950.
Tyack, Geoffrey. "Sir James Pennethorne (1801-1871)." The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Viewed 27 Nov. 2007.
Last modified 10 April 2020