If you live in the Cotswolds, you are probably surrounded by heritage architecture. So, when building or replacing stables, you might want to build facilities that match your area’s unique building tradition.
In this article, we share tips to help you design timber stables that seamlessly fit in with the sensitive setting around them.
The Cotswolds is home to England's largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It covers 787 square miles (2,038 km²), stretching south-west from Stratford-upon-Avon to Bath.
The region teems with untouched towns and villages featuring stone-built buildings, manor houses, charming cottages, and delightful gardens. These heritage sites need to be maintained for future generations to enjoy. That’s why planning restrictions apply in much of the region.
So, to build stables in the Cotswolds - whether on residential or agricultural land - you probably need to obtain planning permission from your Local Planning Authority. If your home is a Listed Building, you will also need to apply for listed building consent.
Before choosing a stables design, check if these rules apply to your home, yard, or paddock by calling the Cotswolds District Council’s planning department or visiting their website.
While timber stables look timeless in their own right, you can build yours to fit in with their surroundings even better.
Let’s see how.
Whether you live by a charming rural village like Bibury, Burford, or Painswick or on the outskirts of a bigger town like Cirencester, Cheltenham, or Stroud, your stables should complement their surroundings.
The Cotswolds is famous for its quaint honey-colored limestone buildings finished with steeply-pitched roofs, casement or sash windows, and stone chimneys.
To match the local heritage architecture, follow these design tips.
To make the stables look traditional, choose weatherboard cladding. This cladding method, which consists of overlapping horizontal wooden boards, is common in historic and rural architecture across the Cotswold.
Light-coloured wood matches the typical Cotswolds oolitic honey-coloured limestone. Over time, the wood becomes grey, looking timeless.
For the roof, opt for a higher pitch to match the steep roofs typical of the Cotswolds.
To boost the charm factor, create a covered walkway in front of the stalls by increasing the canopy size and adding posts to support it. This feature doesn’t just look appealing - it provides extra protection for your horses and allows you to stay sheltered when you visit them.
For the covering, you don’t necessarily need to install the typical amber Stonesfield slates to help the building fit in.
Choose a material that resembles their colour, like:
Here’s a bonus tip from our team: Onduline sheets muffle the sound of rain, keeping the building quiet for your horses.
Not all stables look equally at home in the Cotswolds. Large modern equestrian buildings can look out of place.
If you’re looking to build a stable block that complements the historic architecture of the area around your paddock or yard, choose a stable manufacturer that offers bespoke blocks. By doing so, you will be able to customise the building to mirror the sensitive setting around it.
At Chart Stables, we build timber stables that look like they belong in the heart of the Cotswolds.
We offer three ranges: the Clipper Stables, Chart Stables, and Chester Stables.
The Chester Stables can be designed with a 35° roof pitch and carry the weight of clay tiles. Chester canopies can be extended to 1.8 metres by adding sturdy support posts, strengthened headers, and attractive curved bracing. We can erect the Chester Stables ready for tiling by your local contractor.
All ranges support Onduvilla shaded brown tiles and can be clad with weatherboard. The Charts and Chester ranges can be tiled with cedar shingles.
At Chart Stables, we’re the UK's largest and most trusted manufacturers of equestrian buildings.
Our stables are built to order, so you can customise yours to suit any size, shape, and configuration. Choose the number of stalls, add a hay store, tack room, or washbay.
