08 / 08 Oak framed buildings
Hopton Oak builds bespoke oak framed stables in Shropshire, Worcestershire and the surrounding counties. Each stable block is designed around your horses and your yard, with the number of boxes, the tack room and the hay store laid out the way you need. The frame is solid oak, built with traditional joints to stand up to daily use.
Five bay oak framed building by Hopton Oak in Northumberland with enclosed bays.
A stable has a hard life. It is leaned on, kicked, hosed down and left open to the weather. Oak is dense, strong and naturally durable, so it copes with that better than light softwood sections, and it does not need painting to last.
It also looks right. An oak framed stable block sits comfortably in a yard or beside a house in a way that a steel or prefabricated building rarely does, which can matter a good deal when planning is involved.
Like our garages, a stable block is planned in bays. Each loose box is a bay, and further bays can be given over to a tack room, a feed store or an open bay for hay and bedding. A roof overhang along the front keeps rain off the doors and gives the horses and you some shelter.
The layout is yours. Tell us how many horses, how large they are and what else you need under the same roof, and we will draw a block to suit. A straight run and an L shape round a yard are the common arrangements.
The number of boxes, a rough idea of the site and a few photos are enough to start. It helps to know whether there is a base there already, how level the ground is and whether there is access for a delivery of oak. We will come back with ideas and a clear price for the frame.
Often, yes. Stables in a field or paddock normally need planning permission, and so does changing agricultural land to keeping horses for recreation. A small stable for your own horses inside the garden of a house can sometimes be built under permitted development, on the same terms as other outbuildings. Rules vary by council and are tighter in National Landscapes and conservation areas, so it is worth asking the planning office early. We can supply drawings of the oak frame to support an application.
Ask us for photos. The larger buildings shown on this site are garages, including a five bay garage in Northumberland with two enclosed bays, which is framed in the same way as a stable block. We are happy to talk through similar work and what we would suggest for your yard.
You deal with Tom and Charlie the whole way: the people who design it, make it and fit it. More on how we work.
We visit, measure up and talk through how you want to use the space.
You get a design and a clear quote, and help choosing the oak and the details.
The frame is cut the traditional way, with mortice and tenon joints held by oak pegs.
We bring the finished frame to you and raise it. Smaller frames often go up in a day.
Something we haven't covered? Call us on 07951 041977.
Yes. The block is planned in bays, so any bay can be a loose box, a tack room, a feed store or an open hay bay.
A concrete base with a low brick or block plinth is usual. The plinth keeps the bottom of the oak dry and away from bedding and washing down.
Yes. Most of our work is in Shropshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Staffordshire, but we have built as far away as Reading and Northumberland, so ask.
We're based in Shropshire and the Worcestershire border and do most of our work across Shropshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands. We have also built in Reading and Northumberland, so if you're further afield, ask.
Send us a few details and photos of where it will go. We'll come back with ideas and a clear price.
