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 the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England. History Spaxton was part of the hundred of Cannington. The modern parish includes the ancient parishes of Aisholt and Charl ...

, west of Bridgwater,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. It was designated 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 ...

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 Baroque 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 pleasure grounds included an " archery glade". A racing stables is maintained within the estate run by

Kevin Bishop Kevin Brian Bishop (born 18 June 1980) is a British actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his roles as Jim Hawkins in ''Muppet Treasure Island'', Stupid Brian in ''My Family'', and Nigel Norman Fletcher in the 2016 revival of ''Porr ...

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 from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

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