BARRINGTON Court received a blast from the past when it welcomed the descendents of one of its most famous families this week.

Three generations of the Strode family visited the National Trust property yesterday.

The Strodes, who hail from Texas and Virginia in the United States, are the distant relations of Shepton Mallet clothier William Strode, who bought Barrington Court in 1520.

In 1597, four Strode children attempted to emigrate to America, fearing a catholic invasion in England.

William’s grandson, Edward, a strict Puritan, and his wife died at sea, but his two orphaned offspring settled in the southern states.

The present-day Strode family discovered the link after stumbling across the book, In Search of the Strode Orphans, by historian David McMurtry.

Peggy Strode, who lives in Surrey with husband Mike and children Margaret and Bryan, said: “If it wasn’t for the book we wouldn’t know anything about our history.

“It’s a wonderful estate and especially nice for the kids to see – most children never get the chance to find out where they’ve come from.”

The family received a guided tour of Barrington Court before 14-year-old Bryan, the 10th great-grandson of William Strode, presented a signed copy of Dr McMurtry’s book to archivist Del Wiggins.

Del said: “We are incredibly grateful to the Strodes for acquiring this book for us – it’s going to be of immense help to us in our house archives.

“Our volunteers have recently formed a historical group and the text will get our first meeting off to a marvellous start.”