Barford Park is a Georgian country house and park to the south of

Spaxton Spaxton is a small village and civil parish on the Quantocks in Somerset, South West England. History The name of Spaxton may originate from "Spakr", a Dane who settled in the area in about the 9th century. An alternative derivation is that it ...

, west of

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It was designated a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

on 29 March 1963. The name "Barford" comes from owners of the land, who had a house on the site in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Building

The current red brick house was built as a two-storey farmhouse, but the front was built in 1710 for the Jeanes family, and another storey and

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wings were added in the mid 18th century. The building was restored in the late 20th century by the Stancombs. The floorplan is symmetrical around a main block with two wings. The main bock is two storeys high with an attic and five bays, while the wings are each single storey. In 2013 the house was put up for sale with an asking price of £1,650,000. The new owners carried out extensive renovation works. The park consisted of around in 1837, with a walled kitchen garden to the north of the house. The

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

pleasure grounds included an "

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

glade". A racing stables is maintained within the estate run by

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Ownership

The estate was certainly owned by the Barford family by 1253, who kept ownership until at least 1810, at which point Anne Barford, the sole heir married John Evered. The estate remained with the Evered family and in the early 20th century, the building was owned by John Guy Courtney Evered, who inherited it from his father and died in 1931 shortly after his 100th birthday. Evered had fought in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

and was the "oldest living Etonian" at the time of his death. Barford House was bought by the Stamcomb family in 1953, who owned the house until 2012.

References

{{Authority control Houses completed in 1710 Country houses in Somerset Georgian architecture in England Grade II* listed buildings in Sedgemoor Grade II* listed houses in Somerset 1710 establishments in England