Coughton Court () is an English Tudor

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

, situated on the main road between Studley and

Alcester Alcester () is a market town and civil parish of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England, approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Redditc ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. It is 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 ...

. The house has a long

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

façade directly facing the main road, at the centre of which is the Tudor Gatehouse, dating from after 1536; this has hexagonal turrets and

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found pro ...

s in the

English Renaissance The English Renaissance was a Cultural movement, cultural and Art movement, artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginni ...

style. The Gatehouse is the oldest part of the house and is flanked by later wings, in the

Strawberry Hill Gothic Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "#Strawb ...

style, popularised by

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

History

The Coughton estate has been owned by the Throckmorton family since 1409. The estate was acquired through marriage to the De Spinney family.Peter Marshall. ''Catholic Gentry in English Society: The Throckmortons of Coughton from Reformation to Emancipation,'' Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., Nov 17, 2009
''Google eBook''
/ref> Coughton was rebuilt by Sir George Throckmorton, the first son of Sir Robert Throckmorton of Coughton Court by Catherine Marrow, daughter of William Marrow of London. The great gatehouse was dedicated to King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

by Throckmorton, a favourite of the King who spent most of his life rebuilding Coughton.''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558,'' ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982. Article
''THROCKMORTON, Sir George (by 1489-1552), of Coughton, Warws.''
/ref> Throckmorton would become notorious due to his almost fatal involvement in the divorce between King Henry and his first wife

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

. He favoured the queen and was against the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. In 1549, when he was planning the windows in the great hall, he asked his son Nicholas to obtain from the heralds the correct

tricking Tricking is a method for indicating the tinctures (colours) used in a coat of arms by means of text abbreviations written directly on the illustration. Tricking and hatching are the two primary methods employed in the system of heraldry to show c ...

(colour abbreviations) of the arms of his ancestors' wives and his own cousin and niece by marriage Queen

Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...

(see gallery drawing). The costly

recusancy Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

(refusal to attend Anglican Church services) of his eldest son,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, and his heirs restricted later rebuilding, so that much of the house still stands largely as he left it. After Throckmorton's death in 1552, Coughton passed to his eldest son, Robert. The family were practicing

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and so the house at one time contained a

priest hole A priest hole is a hiding place for a priest built into many of the principal Catholic houses of England, Wales and Ireland during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law. When Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558, there were se ...

, a hiding place for priests during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law in England, from the beginning of the reign of

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

. The Hall also holds a place in English history for its roles in both the Throckmorton Plot of 1583 to murder Queen Elizabeth, and the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sought ...

of 1605, although the Throckmorton family were themselves only indirectly implicated in the latter, when some of the Gunpowder conspirators rode directly there after its discovery. The house has been in the ownership of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

since 1946. The family, however, hold a 300-year lease and previously managed the property on behalf of the Trust. In 2007, however, the house reverted to management by the National Trust. The management of the property is renewed every 10 years. The family tenant was

Clare McLaren-Throckmorton Elizabeth Clare McLaren-Throckmorton (née d'Abreu; 18 August 1935 – 31 October 2017), known professionally as Clare Tritton, QC, was a British barrister and descendant of the Throckmorton baronets. She was the tenant of the Throckmorton f ...

, known professionally as Clare Tritton QC, until she died on 31 October 2017. The house, which is open to the public all year round, is set in extensive grounds including a walled formal garden, a river and a lake.

Architecture

The gatehouse at Coughton was built at the earliest in 1536, as it is built of stones which came from

Bordesley Abbey Bordesley Abbey was a 12th-century Cistercian abbey near the town of Redditch, in Worcestershire, England. The abbey's foundation was an act of Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, who gave the monks of Garendon Abbey in Leicestershire some ...

and

Evesham Abbey Evesham Abbey was founded by Saint Egwin at Evesham in Worcestershire, England between 700 and 710 following an alleged vision of the Virgin Mary by a swineherd by the name of Eof. According to the monastic history, Evesham came through the No ...

(both in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

) after the Dissolution of the Monasteries Act in 1536. As with other Tudor houses, it was built around a courtyard, with the gatehouse used for deliveries and coaches to travel through to the courtyard. The courtyard was closed on all four sides until 1651, when Parliamentary soldiers burnt the fourth (east) wing, along with many of the Throckmorton's family papers, during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. After the Roman Catholic Relief Act was passed in 1829, the Throckmorton family were able to afford large-scale building works, allowing them to remodel the west front.

In popular culture

The house was used as a filming location for the BBC One series ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

'' in the episode ''The Mask of the Demon''.

Gallery

Coughtoncourtmorris edited.jpg, Coughton Court in the late 19th century Coughton Court east view.jpg, Coughton Court courtyard Coughton Court gatehouse - geograph.org.uk - 1362441.jpg, Coughton Court gatehouse Coughton Court - geograph.org.uk - 51904.jpg, Coughton Court facade Wenceslas Hollar - Coughton (Throckmorton).jpg, Armorials depicted in windows of Coughton Court, by

Wenceslaus Hollar Wenceslaus Hollar (23 July 1607 – 25 March 1677) was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian graphic artist of the 17th century, who spent much of his life in England. He is known to German speakers as ; and to Czech speakers as . He is particu ...

(d. 1677) Coughton Courtyard 2017.jpg, Old Buildings in Coughton Courtyard Coughton Court lake.jpg, The lake Coughton Court bog garden.jpg, The bog garden

References

* * ''Coughton Court'' (1979) Booklet for National Trust by J Lees-Milne. *{{cite news, title=Six centuries in the same house, url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/6138802/Six-centuries-in-the-same-house.html, newspaper=The Daily Telegraph, date=5 September 2009

External links