THE INVENTION & REINVENTION OF THE ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE

The Invention and Reinvention of the English Country House

A Joint SANHS and National Trust Conference at Barrington Court

24 April 2010.

 

About 50 people attended and enjoyed a lovely spring day, lectures, discussion and delicious refreshments.

After an introduction and welcome by Andrew Butcher the first speaker was Nicholas Cooper, former officer with the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England and author of works on the architectural and cultural history of the English House. He spoke about the various given for the Court dates from 1518 to 1550s or later and why the date is important. Barrington illustrates a change from the medieval asymmetrical house with the parlour end, hall and service end readily distinguished by eth size and quality of windows to a more symmetrical house which shows no such distinction. We were shown examples of houses in the south-west with similar features to Barrington and alerted to the significance of there being no coat of arms on the house. The careers of the possible builders, Henry Daubeney, earl of Bridgwater and the merchant William Clifton were outlined showing that the former had no connection with Barrington other than ownership and that he had severe financial difficulties. Clifton appears to have been resident and was a generous benefactor to the parish, which makes the 1550s building date given in the Victoria County History the most likely.

We returned to the Library for a talk on the Strodes and Barrington by Robert Dunning, former editor of the Victoria County History of Somerset, introduced by Tom Mayberry. Unfortunately there is little surviving material about the Strodes at Barrington but we were treated to a description of the career of Col. William Strode and his son William. Thomas Gerard declared that the elder William had restored Barrington to its pristine beauty but there seems to be little of 1620s in house or indeed much obvious work that can be ties to the Strode family. Even the Strode building may not be stables of 1674 as previously assumed.

Lunch was a splendid buffet in the marquee with delicious savoury pastries and sandwiches accompanied by Somerset apple juice after which members had a chance to stroll round the grounds.

The final speaker was Julian Orbach who is currently researching and writing the revised Pevsner for South and West Somerset. Barrington was the first great house acquired by the National Trust but it was the Lyles who invested in creating the buildings, gardens and estate we see today. We heard the history of Col. Arthur Lyle son and grandson of sugar refiners but with a passion for collecting ancient woodwork. That collection now decorates the shell of Barrington Court but the provenance of the pieces is unknown and much of the work is good 20th century copying of original pieces. An important element of the Lyle period was the creation of a model estate with farmhouse, manager's house, cottages, farm buildings and garden buildings.

We were then taken on short tours of the house to see some of the features discussed in the talks and introduced into the Court by the Strodes and Lyles before being refreshed with coffee and home-made shortbread.

After tea and homemade cakes there was a discussion session chaired by Andrew Butcher comprising the three speakers, Richard Higgs and Jane Gallagher of the National Trust and Mary Siraut. There were questions and comments from the floor on landed families and coats of arms. Then much discussion on the future of Barrington court of which the Trust took full possession only in January 2009 and the possibility of future work with SANHS. People offered ideas for use of the house including son et lumiere, display of crafts, removing plasterwork to see archaeology of building, study of mason’s marks on building, dendro-dating the roof, arts use, gallery space, exhibitions of arts and crafts, engagement with community and learning days for skills.

The proceedings were brought to a close with thanks to the National Trust and others for organising such a successful day.

 For more about Barrington and the house and its owners see volume four of the Victoria County History of Somerset. Also visit the new Victoria County History Explore site later this year which will include an illustrated guide to the history of Barrington Court.