More information : The building has a date stone 1873 and was built as a mews for the Carlisle Swifts Racecourse, which moved from its location adjacent to the mews in 1904. The mews is shown on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1901 and the footprint has remained unchanged until the present day. The mews is attached to a slightly later drill hall and provided accommodation for officers associated with the drill hall during the First World War. After the end of the war the mews returned to stables and later became part of a riding school. The site occupies a corner plot and consists of an L-shaped range enclosing a courtyard to the west. The north range fronting Strand Road (formerly Swifts Lane) has two-storeys and four bays. It is constructed of red brick under a pitched roof of slate with a prominent gable chimney and an ornamental eaves cornice. The two westerly bays are domestic dwellings and are symmetrical, each with a ground floor entrance, flanked by a segmental headed window with a single first floor window; they also have a first floor sill band and a band which rises above the ground floor window lintels. The third bay has an original, tall main entrance flanked by plain gate piers with the words SWIFTS MEWS painted on its timber lintel, and a single first floor window. The fourth bay has a wide, inserted double opening and a first floor window. The single storey west range fronting onto a narrow lane, has a series of nine recessed panels, each with a rectangular ventilation slot indicating the site of the former stables. The courtyard of the small complex is accessed through the main original entrance, flanked on the left by the stable range which although retaining some original window and door openings has been converted into two large spaces and all original fixtures and fittings have been removed.
The building was proposed for listing in 2011, but were not assessed for listing for the following reasons:
Architectural interest: Externally, this building is very plain and utilitarian and its architectural merits are limited.
Survival: Internally it has undergone significant alteration including changes to the original stable plan by the removal of walls and the enlarging of window and door openings. No original features such as stall partitions or mangers that reflect its former function remain.
The primary interest of the building is as a remnant of urban stabling associated with a early racecourse, but while acknowledging the building's local interest, it is overall too poor quality and too altered to recommend listing in the national context. (1) |