Description

ST 56 NW BARROW GURNEY C.P. BARROW COURT LANE (west side)

3/5 Barrow Court
13.lO.52
G.V. II*

Country house, now in several ownerships. Originally a Benedictine nunnery
converted for residential purposes c.1538, rebuilt c.1545, altered and extended
c.1602 and further altered and extended in 1882. Squared and coursed rubble with
freestone dressings, slate roofs to main block, pantiles to subsidiary ranges and
ashlar stacks. E shaped central block of c.1545 with c.1602 L shaped range to
the west and further C17 range to the north east. 2 storeys and attics.
Largely symmetrical east front with 3 and 4-light mullioned and transomed windows
with hoodmoulds and small leaded pane casements under flush relieving arches.
4th bay to the right has two 6-light windows and all attic windows are set within
gables. Similar 2-light mullioned windows in C17 range much renewed in 1882.
Doorcase to porch in central projection has Ionic pilasters with masks, a
segmental pediment open and broken by a cartouche and 2 reclining figures.
Moulded Tudor arch to porch, C19 plank and batten door to inner doorway. 5-light
canted oriel to west range. Ball finials to gable ends, tall ashlar stacks and
central open cupola with fish-scale base and conical lead cap. Interior. The
interior was extensively restored and renewed in 1882 but several early C17
features survive: a panelled Parlour off the Great Hall with rich arabesque
patterned ceiling and decorative frieze; a grand Jacobean staircase with fine
plaster ceiling in style a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance motifs with a central
pendant and intricate cusped rib patterning; a similar plaster ribbed ceiling in
the Great Chamber or Solar above the Great Hall and contemporary chimney piece and
overmantel; a second, minor, staircase giving onto the Long Gallery; the Ilex
Room has a chimney and overmantel supported by figures of Justice and Mercy.
The Great Hall was remodelled in 1882 but some sections of the Screens Passage may
date from the early C17. The other notable late C19 interior is the Chapel above
the porch which has contemporary woodwork and Kempe glass. (J. Collinson,
History of Somerset, 1791; Country Life, 18 January 1902; W.J. Robinson, West
Country Manors, 1930; R. Cooke, West Country Houses, 1957; N. Pevsner, The
Buildings of England : North Somerset and Bristol, 1958).

Listing NGR: ST5143068437

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Barrow Court at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q15074166

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5