Vintage Vixen

With another glorious Spring day forecast we decided to dust off our National Trust cards and head to Coughton Court, a hour's drive away from home. Although we'd visited the estate before, it was during lockdown when only the gardens had been open.

The Coughton Estate has been owned by the same family for twenty-one generations. The Throckmortons, originally from Worcestershire, came to Coughton in 1409, on the marriage of John Throckmorton to the heiress Eleanor Spiney. The Throckmortons gradually increased in wealth and power through the fifteenth century, by service to the Earls of Warwick, to the Crown and by marrying the daughters of wealthy families. In the 1480s Robert Throckmorton (c. 1451 – 1519) was knighted after supporting Henry VII. With a knighthood and plenty of money, all Sir Robert needed was a smart new country house. Building began at Coughton in the early 1500s, but Sir Robert did not see it completed, dying on pilgrimage to Rome in 1519.

Sir Robert Throckmorton

Sir Robert’s son, Sir George (c. 1489 – 1552) entered royal service and was also an MP. In 1512, he married Katherine Vaux, half-aunt to Henry VIII's sixth - and surviving - wife, Katherine Parr. Sir George and Lady Throckmorton remained resolutely Catholic in the face of Henry VIII’s reformation, resisting the annulment of Katharine of Aragon’s marriage. Sir George was apparently the author of the remark that Henry should not marry Anne Boleyn because ‘it is thought that you (Henry VIII) have meddled with both the mother and the sister.’ Following this rather dangerous discussion with Henry, Sir George retired but his open sympathy with the Pilgrimage of Grace earned him arrest, although not execution.

There was scaffolding up when we visited so here's a photo I took back in July 2020.

After George's death in 1552, Coughton passed to his eldest son, Robert. The family were practicing Catholics and the house contained a priest hole, believed to have been designed by Nicholas Owen, a Jesuit brother, later tortured to death in the Tower of London.

The priest hole at Coughton

Coughton holds a place in English history for its roles in both the Throckmorton Plot of 1583, a failed attempt to murder Queen Elizabeth and, most famously, the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 after some of the conspirators rode directly there after the plot's discovery. The resident at the time, the politician Sir Arthur Throckmorton (1557 - 1626) was the cousin of four of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, and cousin to the wife of a fifth.

Unlike the rest of the family, another of George's sons, Sir Nicholas (1515 - 1571), embraced Protestantism. He was appointed ambassador to France by Elizabeth I, becoming personally acquainted with Mary, Queen of Scots and, on his return to England, he was appointed Elizabeth's envoy to her. Having recently seen this excellent film based on her life, we were very excited to see Mary, Queen of Scots' nightdress on display.

Sir Nicholas Throckmorton

Sir Nicholas’ wife was Anne Carew, and, amongst their 13 children was Bess, who became a maid-of-honour to Elizabeth I, but also lost favour, and was thrown into the Tower for marrying Sir Walter Raleigh without royal consent.

Bess Throckmorton by Sir William Seger

The gatehouse at Coughton was built in 1536, using stones from the ruins of nearby abbeys at Bordesley & Evesham following the Dissolution of the Monasteries Act in 1536. Geoffrey Tyack described the gatehouse as a dazzling monument to family pride, and the angle turrets, large expanses of window and battlemented skyline combine to give an impression of chivalrous splendour.

The windows in the Great Hall date back to 1549 and bear the arms of Queen Catherine Parr.

How sad, this poor lady isn't identified in the portrait and was just referred to as "wife"...charming!

A fleece & Gore-Tex free zone! I was the only National Trust visitor dressed like a 19th Century cowgirl.

The gardens were pretty bare, certainly not the riot of colour we'd seen during previous visits.

There's two churches within the estate. The Church of St Peter at Coughton dates from the late 15th century, originally Catholic but became Anglican following the Reformation.

This bench was given to Clare Throckmorton, a previous resident of Coughton Court, on her 80th birthday in 2015.

St Peter's, St Paul's & St Elizabeth's Church is Catholic and was built between 1851 and 1853.

One of tombstones commemorates a Knight of St Sylvester, a distinction awarded by the Pope, recipients of which were given the privilege of riding a horse inside St Peter's in Rome.

Coughton Estate has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1946. The Throckmorton family, however, hold a 300-year lease and situation is reassessed every ten years and controversially, following the hall's £3.3million conservation work, paid for by the National Trust, the family have decided that they want it back and from June 2026, Coughton Court will no longer be part of the National Trust's portfolio. We were oblivious to this news during our visit and actually spoke to the current resident Magnus Birch Throckmorton when we were there, I don't think I'd have been quite as friendly if I'd known.

So, if you're a National Trust member now could be your last chance to visit!