About National Trust - Coughton Court
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National Trust - Coughton Court Description
One house, one family, one faith. Coughton has been home to the Throckmorton family for 600 years. Facing persecution for their Catholic faith, they were willing to risk everything – involving themselves in political intrigue and the infamous Gunpowder Plot.
Explore a grand home with a wealth of stories waiting to be discovered from amongst the family portraits and fresh flowers. Make yourself at home by the Saloon fire, climb up to the tower roof or marvel at the Throckmorton's Catholic treasures.
Take a stroll through the family gardens, designed by Chelsea Gold medallist, Christina Williams and her mother Mrs Clare Throckmorton or enjoy an adventure out in the parkland.
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Reviews
The front and rear doors are being repainted here. This does not happen very often and we have to open them to do it. The view through them when open is a very rare sight.
We are surrounded by beautiful countryside here at Coughton that was once part of the great Forest of Arden - come and explore on your next visit!
Hanging above the fireplace in the yellow drawing room you’ll find this week’s #littlepieceofhistory a portrait of Anne Carew. She was the mother of Bess Throckmorton, who had secretly married the courtier and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. This created quite a scandal and they encountered the wrath of Elizabeth I!
We have a fruit and vegetable table outside the vegetable garden here with an honesty box. Get here early for the best choice.
Baddesley Clinton is closed today due to water loss! Keep an eye on their social media channels for updates!
The bog garden has been cleared now. The next stage is to wait to see what plants/weeds come up naturally then deciding which ones to keep and which to get rid of before starting to replant and turn into a bog again.
'Rear of the Year' was discussed on the news this morning. Our version is 'Hips of the Year'. Which hips are your favourite?
We've been blowing away the cobwebs today here at Coughton! You can almost see the carriages riding through into the inner courtyard!
This week’s #littlepieceofhistory highlights a family divided! At the bottom of the staircase we have portraits of two brothers, one a Catholic who endured religious persecution during Elizabeth I’s reign and the other a Protestant who was arrested during the reign of Mary I. Their chats round the dinner table must have been pretty awkward!
It's our volunteer open day tomorrow from 3pm! Come and have a chat and a tour of the house and join us for a BBQ! Learn all about the fantastic volunteer opportunities we have here at Coughton!
http://ow.ly/1iRe30llOr2
Don't forget it's our volunteer open day this Sunday from 3pm! Pop along for a chat with our staff and volunteer team, a tour of the house and a BBQ! http://ow.ly/uA1130llMUw
We have been trying out some wild art here today with things just lying around on the ground. Can you work out what they are?
Looking for somewhere special to enjoy a lovely cream tea during afternoon tea week? We've got delicious scones topped with jam and cream and perfectly brewed tea! Would be a shame not to right? #afternoonteaweek
We've also asked some of our staff and volunteers what their favourite room or object is and why and this room happens to be Anna's, our Visitor Experience Officer's, favourite - here's why!
'The Front Hall of Coughton Court is my favourite part of the property with its impressive double doors, intricate ceiling and stone interior. The beautiful orange and red stained glass windows are especially spectacular, on a sunny day I am always mesmerised by the atmosphere that is created when the light shines through them.'
What's your favourite?
We have lots of objects here at Coughton with fascinating stories so we thought every Sunday we’d share a different objects story.
First up is the longcase clock which rings both the Westminster and Whittington chimes. It was a twenty first birthday present to Sir Robert, the 11th Baronet. Anybody else receive a longcase clock for their twenty first? #littlepieceofhistory
Tonight's performance of The Hound of the Baskerville's is still planned to go ahead as scheduled! Please bring a raincoat and wrap up warm!
Join us for our volunteer open day on Sunday 19 August! We are looking for volunteers in a variety of roles to become part of our warm and friendly team. We are holding a volunteer open day on Sunday 19 August from 3pm, so pop along for a chat with our staff and volunteer team and a tour. There will be a short presentation every 30 minutes and we will be offering house tours from around 3.40pm. Prospective volunteers attending the presentation and/or signing up for a house tour will receive a voucher for a complimentary burger from the sizzling BBQ. http://ow.ly/2EUw30llMqA
We have a well stocked second-hand bookshop here at Coughton, if you're still looking for a few summer books to read by the pool, pop in and have a browse! #bookloversday
Today is international cats day. Our two resident cats are both enjoying their day. One of them, Fizz, shown in the photos is new to Coughton and is still settling in. We look forward to seeing him wandering around soon. There are still copies of the 'Cats of the National Trust' book for sale in our shop and you can even take a toy cat home. They can be found in the sale until the end of the month.
Went to the annual fete today our first time here. Beautiful place well looked after. The wood trail and gardens where lovely to walk seen some new flowers & animals first time any of my family had evet seen grasshoppers in the wild as there where 100s and my son learnt about guy fawkes on a fun way. My son also took part in the sports day which made his week as hes sports day was cancelled at school this year �� definitely go again 🖒
We had a lovely afternoon at Coughton Court . The Story teller was excellent and added humour kept us entertained whilst giving the facts. The Gardens are lovely with lots to look at . My Jacket potato could have done with been hotter though. The queue for the outside drinks and ice cream was rather long so we did not bother. The Volunteers are lovely and so kind and helpful - Lovely afternoon
Thank you for such a wonderful, insightful and memorable day. I learned so much about the Gunpowder Plot & Throckmorton family. You've done a fantastic job in keeping the house so close to the original. Very friendly and well-informed staff to help with any questions. I've seen a few of the criticisms - we visited the house on a Sunday (early afternoon) and had just 10 minutes to wait to be able to go into the house. The gardens are well looked after, and most important, everyone was having fun.
Such a lovely, friendly and helpful team today when we went to do the Easter hunt. Despite the weather they all remained cheery and had set up a lovely trail. Many thanks
Lovely woodland and riverside walks. Stunning gardens and orchard. Immaculate and very beautiful grounds. Super restaurant and little second hand bookshop - very well stocked. Very interesting talk about the house and the links of the Throckmorton family to the gunpowder plot. House itself is interesting. You can picnic in designated areas. Very enjoyable day out for all the family.
Lovely time today, the volunteers are helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. Beautiful place to visit.
Lovely family day out, plenty to do with the children � defo recommend and will 100% be coming back.
Having lived in Warwickshire for 10 years I cannot believe I've only just visited the magnificent Coughton Court. The house and gardens are exceptional. The guides in the house were very knowledgable and friendly. The gardens were extremely well maintained, not a weed in sight. The collection of plants and display of architectural exhibits were amazing. I particularly enjoyed the duo of pleached lime avenues and the quartet of standard wisteria trees. The river walk is magical and my daughter and I imagined fairies hiding here and there. I cannot wait to visit again. 5/8/2017.
Great place and great surroundings with a proud heritage - definitely a must see. The gardens are amazing and you are able to go to the top to get views from above. Also there's a jigsaw puzzle you can attempt in one of the rooms on the way up! The ice-cream shop in the entrance is also definitely worth a visit!
During the heatwave just weeks ago, I was meant to be visiting Chatsworth House for the day but whilst on the road in a very hot car and busy motorway, we decided to scrap the idea and visit whichever historical place was nearest to us and it was this place :)
Sometimes a plan b can be such a blessing because this historical property was such a quirky and very memorable experience! Besides the hot weather and enormous ques for the ice cream, I really enjoyed myself and learnt quite alot about this house whilst there. The painting room was absolutely magnificent and so inspiring.
Highly recommend and I would love to visit this place again one day! :)
Been on our to visit list since we joined NT snd as we love on the door step we had no excuse
A lovely start to our NT adventures views were stunning , the gardens were as fragrant as they are beautiful.
Lessons letnt on the house and the 3D viewed were a great insight. My beloved worked on the electric upgrades within the court around 26 years ago. He had great please in seeing his work there or not as the case may be as it is all hidden so well.
Thank you for a splendid afternoon we will be back to see what we did not have time to see.
A friend and I visited here for the first time today and we weren't disappointed. What a beautiful place. We spent ages in the house chatting with the volunteers who are so knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. Thank you.
Visited 29 July 2017. The people were very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. Beautiful home with an amazing blend of old and new belongings. The gardens and grounds are exceptional. We loved the orchard and the walled garden almost as much as the house. The talks about the house, with 600 years in 15 minutes is astonishing. The lady, Mary, was so clear and friendly and knowledgeable. It ended up being 45 minutes without us even noticing!! Made our day �. The food in the stables cafe, we had cakes, tikka sandwich, broccoli and Stilton soup and a cream tea, were delicious. The staff were young, very keen and very friendly!! We would highly recommend this place as both family or adults Day out. Our son, aged 18, came with is and really enjoyed the day !!
Amazing place full of intrigue- if those walls could talk....you could feel the history not just from the displays but from the panelled walls, stone and wooden floors. My 7 year old son and I walked the gunpowder plot in the grounds which was great fun to get out in the open air after a rainy Wednesday morning!! The welcome guides at the entrance were very knowledgeable and also a lovely knowledgeable lady in the upstairs room with the priest hole and the 3D graffics. Another NT find very well presented and allowed to be itself😀
The only reason this hasn't got 4 stars is because the signage for the pedestrian path to the house from the road is non-existent, and it looks as though it's impassable due to red barriers across the cattle grid! So we ended up going the long way round via the coach entrance, and only found out the pedestrian path was in use on our way out. Otherwise it was lovely!
Lovely building full of character; but only a small portion open to the public as the rest is occupied. Knowledgeable, friendly staff. We didn’t have young children with us but it was nice to see families making use of the dressing-up clothes provided. The gardens are pleasant. Enjoyed the visit and will return on a dry day to enjoy the walks. Very welcoming staff in the tea room and the coffee was excellent.
Friendly staff - not very good at clearing tables early afternoon in the cafe. In the house - No warning that it's 4 floors to the top - I managed to second.... overshoes to be worn by visitors but not NT staff who traipse straight in from the same gravel garden paths! Too much of house given over to donor family but what there is is very interesting and the stewards well informed.
Don’t go to egg hunt today - they have had so much rain that they have closed everything down, a bit disappointing really as once you’ve done the short egg hunt there isn’t anything else to do.
All grass areas shut.
Shame re the weather
Not dog friendly - Looked nice from the outside. Travelling with the dog, and there are no dogs allowed in gardens, tea room etc etc, so couldn't get past the entrance. Not even well behaved ones on leads with responsible owners.
Went to the annual fete today our first time here. Beautiful place well looked after. The wood trail and gardens where lovely to walk seen some new flowers & animals first time any of my family had evet seen grasshoppers in the wild as there where 100s and my son learnt about guy fawkes on a fun way. My son also took part in the sports day which made his week as hes sports day was cancelled at school this year �� definitely go again 🖒
We had a lovely afternoon at Coughton Court . The Story teller was excellent and added humour kept us entertained whilst giving the facts. The Gardens are lovely with lots to look at . My Jacket potato could have done with been hotter though. The queue for the outside drinks and ice cream was rather long so we did not bother. The Volunteers are lovely and so kind and helpful - Lovely afternoon
Thank you for such a wonderful, insightful and memorable day. I learned so much about the Gunpowder Plot & Throckmorton family. You've done a fantastic job in keeping the house so close to the original. Very friendly and well-informed staff to help with any questions. I've seen a few of the criticisms - we visited the house on a Sunday (early afternoon) and had just 10 minutes to wait to be able to go into the house. The gardens are well looked after, and most important, everyone was having fun.
Such a lovely, friendly and helpful team today when we went to do the Easter hunt. Despite the weather they all remained cheery and had set up a lovely trail. Many thanks
Lovely woodland and riverside walks. Stunning gardens and orchard. Immaculate and very beautiful grounds. Super restaurant and little second hand bookshop - very well stocked. Very interesting talk about the house and the links of the Throckmorton family to the gunpowder plot. House itself is interesting. You can picnic in designated areas. Very enjoyable day out for all the family.
Lovely time today, the volunteers are helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. Beautiful place to visit.
Lovely family day out, plenty to do with the children � defo recommend and will 100% be coming back.
Having lived in Warwickshire for 10 years I cannot believe I've only just visited the magnificent Coughton Court. The house and gardens are exceptional. The guides in the house were very knowledgable and friendly. The gardens were extremely well maintained, not a weed in sight. The collection of plants and display of architectural exhibits were amazing. I particularly enjoyed the duo of pleached lime avenues and the quartet of standard wisteria trees. The river walk is magical and my daughter and I imagined fairies hiding here and there. I cannot wait to visit again. 5/8/2017.
Great place and great surroundings with a proud heritage - definitely a must see. The gardens are amazing and you are able to go to the top to get views from above. Also there's a jigsaw puzzle you can attempt in one of the rooms on the way up! The ice-cream shop in the entrance is also definitely worth a visit!
During the heatwave just weeks ago, I was meant to be visiting Chatsworth House for the day but whilst on the road in a very hot car and busy motorway, we decided to scrap the idea and visit whichever historical place was nearest to us and it was this place :)
Sometimes a plan b can be such a blessing because this historical property was such a quirky and very memorable experience! Besides the hot weather and enormous ques for the ice cream, I really enjoyed myself and learnt quite alot about this house whilst there. The painting room was absolutely magnificent and so inspiring.
Highly recommend and I would love to visit this place again one day! :)
Been on our to visit list since we joined NT snd as we love on the door step we had no excuse
A lovely start to our NT adventures views were stunning , the gardens were as fragrant as they are beautiful.
Lessons letnt on the house and the 3D viewed were a great insight. My beloved worked on the electric upgrades within the court around 26 years ago. He had great please in seeing his work there or not as the case may be as it is all hidden so well.
Thank you for a splendid afternoon we will be back to see what we did not have time to see.
A friend and I visited here for the first time today and we weren't disappointed. What a beautiful place. We spent ages in the house chatting with the volunteers who are so knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. Thank you.
Visited 29 July 2017. The people were very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. Beautiful home with an amazing blend of old and new belongings. The gardens and grounds are exceptional. We loved the orchard and the walled garden almost as much as the house. The talks about the house, with 600 years in 15 minutes is astonishing. The lady, Mary, was so clear and friendly and knowledgeable. It ended up being 45 minutes without us even noticing!! Made our day �. The food in the stables cafe, we had cakes, tikka sandwich, broccoli and Stilton soup and a cream tea, were delicious. The staff were young, very keen and very friendly!! We would highly recommend this place as both family or adults Day out. Our son, aged 18, came with is and really enjoyed the day !!
Amazing place full of intrigue- if those walls could talk....you could feel the history not just from the displays but from the panelled walls, stone and wooden floors. My 7 year old son and I walked the gunpowder plot in the grounds which was great fun to get out in the open air after a rainy Wednesday morning!! The welcome guides at the entrance were very knowledgeable and also a lovely knowledgeable lady in the upstairs room with the priest hole and the 3D graffics. Another NT find very well presented and allowed to be itself😀
The only reason this hasn't got 4 stars is because the signage for the pedestrian path to the house from the road is non-existent, and it looks as though it's impassable due to red barriers across the cattle grid! So we ended up going the long way round via the coach entrance, and only found out the pedestrian path was in use on our way out. Otherwise it was lovely!
Lovely building full of character; but only a small portion open to the public as the rest is occupied. Knowledgeable, friendly staff. We didn’t have young children with us but it was nice to see families making use of the dressing-up clothes provided. The gardens are pleasant. Enjoyed the visit and will return on a dry day to enjoy the walks. Very welcoming staff in the tea room and the coffee was excellent.
Friendly staff - not very good at clearing tables early afternoon in the cafe. In the house - No warning that it's 4 floors to the top - I managed to second.... overshoes to be worn by visitors but not NT staff who traipse straight in from the same gravel garden paths! Too much of house given over to donor family but what there is is very interesting and the stewards well informed.
Don’t go to egg hunt today - they have had so much rain that they have closed everything down, a bit disappointing really as once you’ve done the short egg hunt there isn’t anything else to do.
All grass areas shut.
Shame re the weather
Not dog friendly - Looked nice from the outside. Travelling with the dog, and there are no dogs allowed in gardens, tea room etc etc, so couldn't get past the entrance. Not even well behaved ones on leads with responsible owners.