York Historic Environment Record

In the grounds of The Retreat to the south is a small farm complex with buildings standing on both sides of the north-south drive leading down to the burial ground in the south-east corner. On the east side of the drive is a two-storey stables and coach house building aligned east-west, which was built in the mid C19. It is an attractive building and decoratively ornate for its functional use, having full-height blind arcading to all its exterior walls. This imbues it with an architectural quality which is lacking in the second, smaller coach house later attached to its south-east corner, which has plain brick walls. It also suggests that it is architect designed, although a designer is not known. The building retains original door and window apertures and small-pane window frames. Inside, the layout of stables, cross staircase, tack room, coach house and upper floor remain. Although the stalls have been removed other original features survive, such as the hay drops, stone steps, boarded tack room with cast-iron range and tack pegs in the coach house. Attached to the east gable wall is a small, very complete, early-C20 mortuary. Despite its discreet location and small size, it has been carefully designed in a Domestic Revival style with paired, segmental-arched batten doors and timber-framed windows to the front elevation, beneath a half-timbered gable with barge boards. The interior remains intact with its original fixtures and fittings relating to its use. While the mortuary is relatively late in date, redevelopment of large hospital complexes has only tended to preserve the principal buildings, making the survival of ancillary buildings such as mortuaries increasingly rare. This building survives as a good example of a small, purpose-built mortuary, which served as an ancillary building to the asylum and the Quaker burial ground which lies at the south end of the drive in the south-east corner of the grounds. It is recommended that the larger, arcaded stables and coach house and the mortuary attached to its east gable wall are listed at Grade II. The smaller coach house attached to its south-east corner is later C19 and is plainly built without the architectural detailing of the earlier building.