Great Barrington is a village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

, now in the parish of Barrington, in the

Cotswold The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jura ...

district of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. It lies in the north bank of the

River Windrush The River Windrush is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Winchcombe in Gloucestershire and flows south east for via Burford and Witney to meet the Thames at Newbridge in Oxfordshire. The river gives its name to ...

, west of the town of

Burford Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeast of Che ...

, Oxfordshire. In 1931 the parish had a population of 330.

History

The toponym is recorded in the Domesday Book as ''Bernintone''. It is derived from a man named Beorn, and so means "settlement of or connected with Beorn". In the middle ages the manor and village of Great Barrington was held by

Llanthony Priory Llanthony Priory ( cy, Priordy Llanddewi Nant Hodni) is a partly ruined former Augustinian priory in the secluded Vale of Ewyas, a steep-sided once-glaciated valley within the Black Mountains area of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Mo ...

, which retained it until the

Dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

. From 1553 to 1735 the manor was held by the Bray family. In 1720

Edmund Bray Edmund Bray (1686–1725) of Barrington Park, Gloucestershire was a British politician who sat in the English House of Commons from 1701 to 1708 and in the British House of Commons from 1720 to 1722. Bray was baptized on 7 September 1678, a you ...

(1686–1725) inherited the estate from his older brother

William Bray (MP) William Bray (1682–1720), of Barrington Park, Gloucestershire was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1720. Bray was the second son of Reginald Bray of Barrington Park and his wife Jane Rainton, d ...

(1682–1720). Edmund Bray's son Reginald sold the estate in 1734 to

Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot, (168514 February 1737) was a British lawyer and politician. He was Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain from 1733 to 1737. Life Talbot was the eldest son of William Talbot, Bishop of Durham, a descendant ...

, the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

, for the use of his son William Talbot, also later 1st

Baron Dynevor Baron Dinevor, of Dinevor in the County of Carmarthen (usually spelt Dynevor or Dinefwr), is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created on 17 October 1780 for William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, with remainder to his daughter, Lady C ...

, and William's wife, Mary de Cardonnel. Between 1736 and 1738 Charles Talbot built Barrington Park, a country house in the

Palladian style Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

, now a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. William's daughter

Cecil de Cardonnel, 2nd Baroness Dynevor Cecil de Cardonnel, 2nd Baroness Dynevor (July 1735 – 14 March 1793) was a Welsh peeress. She was the daughter of William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot. Her mother was the daughter and heir of Adam de Cardonnel, British Secretary of War. Under ...

, who married George Rice inherited the newly rebuilt Barrington Park. The house and estate has remained in the hands of Charles Talbot's descendants (since 1869 the Wingfield family) to the present day. The village of Great Barrington, and Barrington Park itself, fell into increasing disrepair during the 1960s and 70s under the owner, Charles Wingfield. Following a planning application to the Cotswold District Council in 2011, the main house was completely restored by architects Inskip+Jenkins, including the two wings designed by

John Macvicar Anderson John Macvicar Anderson (11 July 1835, Glasgow – 9 June 1915, London) was a Scottish architect. He was born in Glasgow in 1835, the son of John Anderson, merchant and the nephew of architect William Burn and his wife, Eliza Macvicar. He was ...

in the 1880s. The ancient parish of Great Barrington extended south-west of the village and included the western part of the village of Little Barrington. In 1866 the parish became a

, but on 1 April 1935 the civil parish was abolished and merged with the parish of Little Barrington to form the civil parish of Barrington. Despite its geographical position in Gloucestershire, part of the parish of Great Barrington formed an exclave of Berkshire until 1844.

Church

St Mary's church in Great Barrington is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, built in the late 12th century and restored in 1880 by

Francis Penrose Francis Cranmer Penrose FRS (29 October 1817 – 15 February 1903) was an English architect, archaeologist, astronomer and sportsman rower. He served as Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral, and as President of the Royal Institute of ...

. At the west end of the church there is a monument to

. There are numerous monuments in the chancel to the Talbot family, including a sculpture by

Joseph Nollekens Joseph Nollekens R.A. (11 August 1737 – 23 April 1823) was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. Life Nollekens was born on 11 August 1737 at 28 Dean Street, Soho, London, ...

of Mary, Countess Talbot (d.1787), the estranged wife of Earl Talbot."St Mary's, Great Barrington"
The Windrush Benefice. Accessed 17 March 2020. Their great-grandson,

George Rice-Trevor, 4th Baron Dynevor George Rice-Trevor, 4th Baron Dynevor (5 August 1795 – 7 October 1869) was a British politician and peer. Early life He was the son of George Talbot Rice, 3rd Baron Dynevor. Dynevor matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford 13 October 1812; he ...

is also buried there.

Famous people

Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton PC (August 1648 – 12 April 1715) was an English nobleman and politician. A man of great charm and political ability, he was also notorious for his debauched lifestyle. Background He was the son o ...

, created a scandal in 1682 when, during a drunken rampage, he desecrated the church at Great Barrington. Although he became a leading figure in Government, he was never allowed to forget the episode.

References

External links

{{Commons category inline Villages in Gloucestershire Cotswold District Former civil parishes in Gloucestershire

History

Church

Famous people

See also

References

External links