Barrington Court, nr Ilminster, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

Early 20th-century formal gardens designed by J E Forbes and partly adapted and planted to a scheme by Gertrude Jekyll.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Barrington Court is situated about 3.5 kilometres north-east of Ilminster. The roughly 32 hectare site comprises about 4 hectares of formal gardens and pleasure grounds, together with about 28 hectares of park and other land. The site is adjoined to the north, east, and south by agricultural land, from which it is separated by a variety of fences and hedges; to the west it adjoins gardens and orchards associated with properties in the village of Barrington. The site is generally level, with a slight rise towards the south-east boundary allowing views across the park to woodland on the higher ground.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

Country Life, 16 (17 September 1904), pp 414-17; 63 (17 March 1928), pp 370-7; (24 March 1928), pp 404-12

G Jekyll, Colour in the Flower Garden (1908)

N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: South and West Somerset (1958), pp 82-3

Victoria History of the County of Somerset IV, (1978), pp 113-16

Barrington Court, guidebook, (National Trust 1997, revised 2000)

J Bond, Somerset Parks and Gardens (1998), pp 54, 57, 133, 138-9, 146

Maps

C Saxton, Map of Somerset, 1575

OS 6" to 1 mile: 2nd edition published 1904

Archival items

J E Forbes, Garden Plan, Barrington Court, Somerset for Lieut Col A Arthur Lyle, 1917 (private collection)
 

Description written: August 2002

Edited: September 2004