Barrington Court near Ilminster in South Somerset. The remarkable restoration of a Tudor manor house.

Barrington Court, a Tudor manor house built of Ham Hill stone and completed in the 1550s, is situated near the village of Barrington in South Somerset.  It is approached along country lanes signposted from the B3168 and A303 South Petherton roundabout.

The Tudor manor house at Barrington Court.

By the early 19th century the house had fallen into disrepair having been used as a tenanted farm.  In 1912 it was described by Edward Hutton (Highways and Byways in Somerset) as being: "a farmhouse going to ruin - the great Hall, a cider cellar, and all spoilt."

However, the house, the first to be bought by the National Trust, was turned around in the 1920s by Colonel A.A.Lyle of the Tate & Lyle Company.  Having taken the lease he refurbished the court house and renovated the adjacent Strode House, originally a stable and coach block built in 1674 by William Strode ll: the Strodes owned the estate from 1625 until 1745.

The west wing of the manor house with its barley twist chimneys and finials.

The Long Gallery runs the length of the top floor.  During the English Civil War it was used to billet 500 Parliamentary troops.  The panelling is from Colonel Lyle's collection. 

Barrington Court House, although unfurnished, is well worth visiting if only to view the outcome of such a remarkable restoration - which also incorporates Colonel Lyle's collection of oak panelling - and, of course, there are the gardens to enjoy.