#9354, William James BARRY

William Barry was High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1912. He was the 4th son of Sir Francis Tress Barry, 1st Bt. (1825-1907) MP by his wife Sarah Douglas Herron.

William James purchased Great Witchingham Hall in Norfolk, a recently remodelled Tudor house, in 1902 and lived there until his death.  His son, Lt. Col. Gerald Barry (1896-1977) found the house in poor condition after the neglect of maintenance during the Second World War, and sold it in 1955 to the entrepreneur Bernard Matthews (Died 2010) whose turkey farming business is still operated from the house.

Sir Francis' fifth and youngest son, Col.Stanley Leonard Barry (1873-1943) was a career soldier who retired from the army in 1921.  His first wife died in 1924 and when he remarried in 1927 it was to Mrs. Laline Hohler, who inherited Long Crendon Manor (Bucks) from her first husband's family and restored it with the help of Philip Tilden.  Col. and Mrs Barry continued to live at Long Crendon Manor, but in 1928 he bought the ruins of the manor house at Hampton Gay which had been built by his ancestor in the 1580s.  It is not clear whether it was ever hid intention to restore it or merely to conserve and preserve the ruins, but in fact nothing was done about a restoration.  After his death the property passed to his only daughter, the Hon. Jeanne Mc Donnell, who sold it in 1975, and despite several subsequent schemes for restoration the ruins have continued gently to decay.

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The Barry family built the manor house in the 16th century. It has an E-shaped plan with gabled wings and a battlemented central porch. Its Elizabethan form remained unaltered until the 19th century, including original Elizabethan panelling in its principal rooms, but in 1809 it was reported to be in a neglected state. In the 1880s the house was divided into two tenements but in 1887 it was gutted by fire. It has never been restored and remains an ivy-clad ruin. It is a Grade II listed building and a scheduled monument. Early in the 21st century English Heritage placed the manor house ruins on its register of historic buildings at risk, listing its priority as "A" and its condition as "very bad".