Barrington Court in Somerset is owned by the National Trust and in good old NT tradition is a superb day out both in the house and the garden, not to mention an excellent lunch in the restaurant.

The Court House was built by William Clifton who purchased Barrington in 1552 from the Daubney family. The house is built to a typical Elizabethan E-shaped design in mellow stone.

William Strode, whose father acquired Barrington Court in 1625, added the Strode House in 1674. These were the original farm buildings and stables and now contain the restaurant and shop.

When Barrington was purchased by the National Trust in 1907 it was little more than a derelict shell. The purchase was very controversial at the time because it cost the NT a small fortune and they did not have the funds to restore it.

It was in 1920 that a solution came to hand and Barrington was leased to the Lyle family who had made their fortune with growing and refining sugar. This provided the means and the vision to create the estate that exists today.

The family employed the architects Forbes and Tate in the restoration and they designed the new stone buildings, which flank the avenues to the North of the Court.

The varied and enchanting garden at Barrington dates from the 1920’s. It is laid out in a series of contrasting ‘rooms’ inspired by a very grand design for the whole property prepared by the architects with planting suggestions from Gertrude Jekyll. Each ‘room’ is a separate colour and planting scheme and as you walk through them you can appreciate the work that has gone into their design.  The property was eventually returned to the National Trust by the Lyle family in 1991.

The walled kitchen garden is magnificent and still used to provide produce for the restaurant whatever the season. It’s a lovely place to walk through and admire the various fruit trees and vegetables that are growing there.

The house contains no furniture so you can get a real feel for how it was in bygone years and fully appreciate Colonel Lyle’s skillful and sensitive restoration.

There is the usual NT shop which we always enjoy looking around and there is plenty to do and see and it’s another prime example of what the National Trust do best.

To find out more about Barrington click here.