Arriving back from along stay in France can be very disconcerting. Moving from a super quiet environment to the go go atmosphere of southern UK is a shock to the system. So after a week of bravely coping we decide that the peace and quiet of Somerset is just what the medical staff at the asylum ordered. We head for the Mason’s Arms at Odcombe, near to Yeovil, in Somerset just over the border from Dorset. A pleasant pub, great small scale facilities and a flat pitch with hook-up.
The drive to Somerset is hampered at first by mucho traffic heading for the west. We divert and take a very pleasant run through East Dorset. Weather gloomy but dry as we pitch. Short stroll, read some Bosch then up to the pub for a great meal.
Sunday, sun shining but chilly first thing. Time to get value from our National Trust membership. There are loads of NT properties in this area – but we decide to visit Lytes Carey Manor and Barrington Court. These turn out to be two very different properties although both had “benefited” from the NT, not a hair out of place, presentation. The volunteer guides at both were very
helpful and sometimes knowledgeable.
The star of Lytes Carey Manor is definitely the garden. Mostly human scale, even in the Autumn there was plenty to see.
In the main room, standing by the fireplace are two wooden figures, each about 3 feet tall. Seemingly it was bad luck to sit down 13 people to dinner, so these “dummies” were used to make up the numbers.
Barrington Court (main building) is largely empty of furniture – and this made it a different sort of experience. It was possible to enjoy the scale of the rooms and the extraordinary lengths (and expense) that Colonel Abraham Arthur Lyle went to restore the building . He rescued wood panelling and features from all over the UK and installed them into the house. So, to some extent the house is a a bit of a romantic’s idea of Old England, but the craftsmanship of the
original makers of the panel and of Lyle and his team is astonishing. The main entrance is an example of the lengths he went to to achieve a seamless appearance. The doorway was dismantled and rebuilt to accommodate a beautiful carved oak door reckoned to be 14th century, recovered from a monastery in the north.
Much of the atmospheric “Wolf Hall” was filmed here, and examples of the clothing used for this BBC drama were strategically situated in the appropriate rooms.