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This functional building was erected about 1740. It was used by the Earl's keepers at a time when venison was an important item on his lordship's menu.
"A certain number of male deer should be gelt at about a year old, which are called haviors; these are accounted very fine and a great rarity, and if fat are never out of season, so that where there is a proper and sufficient number of these kept, the lord is never at a loss for venison at his table when he calls for it". John Mordant in The Complete Steward, 1759.

This was strictly a game larder rather than a slaughterhouse: the deer were killed out in the park and there carcasses brought here for dressing and jointing.
Probably when originally built there were louvred openings in the upper storey; carcasses could be hoisted up to hang in circulating air. This function was superseded by the construction of a game larder in the domestic block at the hall; the building was then modified with additional windows and fireplaces to serve as a summer house.