In 1907 the National Trust was still in its infancy, having only been founded 12 years before by the philanthropists, Miss Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley.
Barrington Court was the first large country house of its kind to be purchased by the Trust. It soon became clear that the project was a little too ambitious for such a fledgling organisation.
A fall from grace
© National Trust / Barrington Court
Barrington Court in 1907 was a dilapidated shell of a building, used by its tenant farmer as a storage space for cider barrels and chickens. In some parts of the building the floors and ceilings had completely gone. The cellars were visible and a fireplace on the first floor was literally hanging from the wall, the room it once heated had disappeared completely.
From grandeur to farmyard
© National Trust / Barrington Court
The grounds around the Court House were an assortment of broken-down farm buildings and animal pens. Next to the Court House the 17th-century stable block was run down and overgrown. Behind this, in the area now occupied by the walled gardens, cattle and pigs were kept. The once grand estate of Barrington Court had been reduced to a farmyard.
An unbelievable wreck
© National Trust / Barrington Court
The interior of the Court House was in such a shocking state that only the west wing was habitable. Today, the Long Gallery, with its extensive views of the surrounding countryside, is hard to imagine as it was in 1907. Most of its internal walls were missing and the roof joists were visible. This was the case throughout the house; original wooden wall panelling, floorboards, beams and many decorative features had vanished. There are few records revealing why or what happened to them.
A mammoth task
© National Trust / Barrington Court
An extensive refurbishment was needed throughout Barrington Court. In collaboration with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings we began work on some of the finials, windows and walls. However the project soon became too expensive for us to support alone. The architect J Edwin Forbes suggested the property to Colonel Arthur Lyle as an ideal place to house his vast collection of wooden panelling and other decorative items.
The Court today
After 20 years of housing the collections of Stuart Interiors, the Court House is now empty.
In December 2008, Stuart Interiors cleared their showrooms of reproduction furniture and left the rooms empty. Now all the rooms hold are memories spanning over 500 years.
Even though the house is empty, you can explore and learn about its history through our exhibition "Echoes of History". With period music playing and voice recordings relating the chapters of it's history, the Court House comes to life. There's also the chance for you to leave your comments as to what the house should be used for in the future.
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