Venue Type & Location
Performance Spaces
Overview
Originally a moated manor house, Barrington is located in lowlying countryside a couple of miles from the Daubeney family's other residence at South Petherton and not far from the main road through Crewkerne to the SW. The golden Ham stone house begun by Henry Daubeney retains much of its gabled Tudor S facade and E-plan but the decayed interior was much altered, if tastefully, during early 20th c. renovations. The great hall is in the central block.
The medieval manor house of the Daubeneys was located NE of the present house. 'By the late 14th century the house included not only a hall with a two-storeyed solar wing to the east, but a new two-storeyed addition on the north side, together with kitchens, a chapel, and farm buildings including a gatehouse, a great barn, an ox-shed with lofts (alte camere), a straw-house, and a pig-stye, the whole surrounded by a series of ditches' (VCH: Somerset 4.115).
Performance History
A possible performance venue. The dates of construction for the Tudor house cannot be confirmed. No Daubeney household records survive but entertainers under the family's patronage performed in the SW in the 15th and 16th c.
Current Status
History of the Venue
by 1236 Daubeneys owned the manor of Barrington.
1483 Barrington forfeited to the Crown after Sir Giles Daubeney's attainder.
1484 Granted to Ralph, 6th Baron Neville (of Raby).
1485 Lands recovered by Daubeney.
ca. 1518 Henry Daubeney began rebuilding the house.
by 1543 Daubeneys no longer resident.
1552 Lordship, manor and park granted to Henry Grey, 7th Duke of Suffolk, who subsequently sold the estate to William Clifton of London.
ca. 1559 House completed by William Clifton.
1605 Sold to Sir Thomas Phelips of Montacute.
1625 House sold to William Strode of Shepton Mallet who made improvements.
ca. 1670 2-storey stables block added W of the house by William Strode II.
1756 Sold to Thomas Harvard of Thorney.
ca. 1786 Acquired by John Hanning via marriage with Susannah Harvard.
ca. 1825 Interior mostly gutted, part used as a cider cellar.
by 1847 House known as Barrington Court and property divided into 2 holdings, held by the same tenant.
mid-19th c. Sold to J.W. Peters of South Petherton. House became semi-derelict.
1905 Acquired by Miss J.L. Woodward of Clevedon.
1907 Sold to the National Trust.
1920 Leased by A.A. Lyle.
1921--5 Restored by Forbes and Tate for A.A. Lyle. W front altered by arched French style windows and a terrace. Stable block converted as a dwelling and porch on W side demolished.
Walled gardens in Elizabethan style created in consultation with Gertrude Jekyll.
1940--5 Occupied by a boys' preparatory school.
1986 Andrew Lyle invited Stuart Interiors to help furnish the house with reproduction pieces.
1991 National Trust took over management of the property.
Record Source
REED Bristol 44; Devon 38, 94; Somerset 1.43
Patrons who owned this venue
| Name | Date | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Daubeney, Giles | 1395-1446 | Knight |
| Daubeney, Henry | 1493-1548 | Baron Daubeney |
| Daubeney, Henry | 1493-1548 | Earl of Bridgwater |
Bibliographic Sources
- Barrington Court, Somersetshire.'. Country Life 16 (17 September 1904): 414--17.
- Bond, Thomas. 'Barrington Court'. Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Proceedings 23 (1877): 26--9.
- Cooke, Robert. West Country Houses. Bristol: Clifton, 1957
- Delderfield, Eric R. West Country Historic Houses and Their Families. Exmouth: E.R.D., 1975
- Department of the Environment. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. Np: Npub, nd
- 'Extracts from SPAB files: Barrington Court, Somerset'. Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings News 3.3 (July 1982): 36--7.
- Forbes, J. Edwin. 'Barrington Court'. Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Proceedings 71 (1925): 88--92.
- Garner, Thomas, and Arthur Stratton. The Domestic Architecture of England during the Tudor Period. 2 vols. London: Batsford, 1911
- Hussey, Christopher. 'Barrington Court Somerset -- I. The Seat of Colonel A.A. Lyle'. Country Life 63 (17 March 1928): 370--7.
- Hussey, Christopher. 'Barrington Court Somerset -- II. The Seat of Colonel A.A. Lyle'. Country Life 63 (24 March 1928): 404--12.
- Hussey, Christopher. 'Outbuildings at Barrington Court, Somerset: The Residence of Col. A.A. Lyle.'. Country Life 64 (8 September 1928): 332--8.
- The National Trust. Barrington Court. London: The National Trust, 1997
- Page, William, and R.W. Dunning, eds. The Victoria History of the County of Somerset. 4 vols. London; Oxford: Constable [vols 1--2]; Oxford UP [vols 3--8], 1906--12 [vols 1--2]; 1974--2004 [vols 3--8]
- Pevsner, Nikolaus. South and West Somerset. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1976
- Tipping, H. Avray. English Homes: Period II, Early Tudor 1485--1558. 9 vols. London: Country Life, 1924 2:
- Wellesley, Gerald. 'The Third Exhibition of the Architecture Club.'. Country Life 58 (7 Nov. 1925): 706--9.