Things to see and do in the garden at Barrington Court

Bustalls (the old calf pens) at Barrington Court, Somerset. | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

The formal garden areas form a small part of the mosaic of garden and estate land at Barrington Court. A bridge leads you over the moat and through a carved and weathered oak door to the beautiful walled garden. The spaces here are arranged as a series of connected individual garden 'rooms', each with its own theme or focus. The famous garden designer, Gertrude Jekyll, was consulted on the layout and best planting schemes for these areas.

The Rose and Iris Garden

The Rose Garden was replanted in the 1990s following Jekyll's original scheme. Renovation of the rose beds took place during 2017 and they are now firmly established, with the fantastic floral displays of Rosa 'Felicia', 'Cornelia' and ' Penelope' (to name but a few) at their height in the summer. These were originally bred in the early 1900s by rosarian and clergyman, the Rev. Joseph Pemberton.

The White Garden

This garden originally featured colourful roses and paeonies but in the 1980s the planting scheme was redesigned by Andrew Lyle and the head gardener into what you see today. Set off by tall, beautiful stone walls this is a garden that unashamedly celebrates the colour white in all its understated and quiet perfection.

The Lily Garden

The largest of the gardens and the first to be planted, the Lily Garden remains closest of all to Gertude Jekyll’s designs for Barrington Court, with planting that is rich and changing through the seasons. The planting follows Jekyll’s rainbow spectrum, with an intricate combination of fine detail and bold sweeps of colour.

The South Lawn

The lawn that extends out from the south side of Court and Strode House to the ha-ha is not part of the walled garden. The Lyles' intention was to keep it as a simple, sweeping lawn with views out over the parkland, making it an ideal spot for a picnic.

The Kitchen Garden

Traditionally the kitchen garden was the larder of any country house and this one, created in 1921, was an integral part of the estate feeding generations of the Lyle family. Today the walls are still covered in beautifully trained fruit of all shapes and sizes including apples, pears, nectarines and cherries.

Key features in Barrington Court's garden

The herbaceous border

The herbaceous borders that run down the orchard side of the Kitchen Garden are full of colour starting with blossoms in the spring, all through summer and heading into autumn when the asters and michaelmas daisies look especially joyful.