Tags: Judy Dean 2014 EOS7D knautia macedonica scabious red garden Coughton Court
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Where the gunpowder plot was hatched!
The Coughton estate has been owned by the Throckmorton family since 1409. The estate was acquired through marriage.[2] 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.[2] The great gatehouse at Coughton was dedicated to King Henry VIII by Throckmorton, a favorite of the King.[2] Throckmorton would become notorious due to his almost fatal involvement in the divorce between King Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.[2] Throckmorton favoured the queen and was against the Reformation. Throckmorton spent most of his life rebuilding Coughton.[3] 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 (colour abbreviations) of the arms of his ancestors' wives and his own cousin and niece by marriage Queen Catherine Parr[3] (see gallery drawing). The costly recusancy (refusal to attend Anglican Church services) of Robert Throckmorton and his heirs kept down later rebuilding, so that much of the house still stands largely as he left it.[3]
After Throckmorton's death in 1552, Coughton passed to his eldest son, Robert. Robert Throckmorton and his family were practicing Catholics therefore the house at one time contained a priest hole, a hiding place for priests during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law in England, from the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The Hall also holds a place in English history for its roles in both the Throckmorton Plot of 1583 to murder Queen Elizabeth I of England, and the Gunpowder Plot 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.
Tags: Judy Dean 2014 EOS7D Coughton Court Warwickshire doors gunpowder plot
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Tags: Judy Dean 2014 EOS7D Coughton Court
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Tags: Judy Dean 2014 EOS7D Coughton Court
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Tags: Judy Dean 2014 EOS7D Coughton Court tower selective colour from the roof sky
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