Visiting the house at Coughton Court

Blue Drawing Room 

The Blue Drawing Room is on the first floor of the gatehouse, the oldest surviving part of Coughton Court. When new in the 1530s, it would have been one of the most important rooms in the house. Following the roofing project the Blue Drawing Room has been restored to it's former glory. It has been re-opened and is now being used for a Gunpowder plot display which is full of information about the plot and the part that Coughton Court played in it.

Legend has it that on the 6 November 1605 Lady Digby who was the young wife of Gunpowder Plot collaborator, Sir Everard along with two Jesuit priests, Fathers Garnet and Tesimond and Nicholas Owen, the man who built the priest hole in the tower, sat in this room waiting to hear the outcome of the conspiracy. 

Yellow Drawing Room

Newly opened this year after being closed since 2019 when water poured through the ceiling during a storm.  This room will highlight Mrs. Throckmorton and how she shaped Coughton Court including the house and garden we see today. 

The Tower Room

The room has been designed to reflect its history as a space that would have been used by the family to practice their religion. With the priest hole situated in this room already, we want to focus on these features.

We have created stained glass on Perspex from reference images from both churches. Additionally, we are including Tudor church music and frankincense in order to draw on as many senses as possible to evoke feelings of calm and reflection. 

By dressing the room in this way, we hope visitors can use this space to reflect on how significant the Catholic faith was to the Throckmorton’s, the lengths they sought to defend their faith and the dangers of them doing so. 

The Roof

From the top of the Gatehouse you get superb views of the house's complex roofscape and the surrounding countryside beyond.

To the West, the avenue of limes adds a focus to the landscape. It leads the eye to the Ridgeway over which the Gunpowder Plotters fled as they attempted to escape.

Eastwards the garden leads the eye from the central courtyard to the River Arrow and the gently rolling hills  of the ancient Forest of Arden beyond.

The South view is of Westminster Pool and the family's two places of worship  with the North looking over the Tudor kitchens and the grand 18th-century stableyard.

Tapestry Suite  

The Tapestry Suite is part of the extension added to the main house by Sir Francis Throckmorton (2nd Baronet) during the late 1600s. Sir Francis inherited Coughton when he was just 9 years old.  

In the Bedroom look out for the huge wardrobe known as an armoire, made from walnut during the 1600s, the half tester bed, made from mahogany dating to the Victorian period and the tapestry fragments. 

The large gouache paintings displayed in the Dressing Room were painted about 1794 by the Swiss artist Abraham-Louis-Rodolphe Ducros (1748–1810) for Sir John Acton. 

This year you will also get the chance to see the Bedroom Store, a newly opened room.  We are highlighting how we look after our collections or why they might end up being stored. 

Panelled Dining Room 

This winter we have removed the false ceiling put in during the 1950’s to reveal an Edwardian ceiling, which has been concealed by plasterboard for 70 years.  

In Elizabethan times, this was probably the great chamber, the principal first-floor reception room, where the Throckmorton's would have entertained important guests. 

The room is thought to have become the Dining Room in the early nineteenth century, which cannot have been popular with the household staff, as the kitchen was almost 100 metres away at the opposite corner of the building. Look out for the sixteenth century paneling. 

Catholic relics in the Tribune 

This room embodies the Throckmorton family’s journey from danger to triumph. Throughout the 1500s and 1600s, the Catholic relics that can be seen here would have been hidden away from public view. Their discovery would have put their owners’ lives at certain risk.

With Catholic Emancipation in 1829, the family were at last free to display their beliefs and their treasures openly, for all to see. 

Saloon

During January 2025 a leak was discovered, when we had water pouring through the ceiling.  You can see the damage and staining on the ceiling and you might see repair work being carried out on your visit.

In the Tudor house this was the great hall, where the whole household would have gathered to eat or be entertained on special occasions. It served as a covert chapel between 1688, when the east wing was ransacked, and 1855, when the Catholic chapel in the park was completed. 

The portraits are largely of nineteenth and twentieth century Throckmorton's including Sir John Throckmorton. This room is still used for family celebrations and is also used by the National Trust for functions. 

Lady Lilian’s Sitting Room 

Currently closed due to storage of the Saloon furniture and painting collection.  Later in the season this will open with the Saloon Chandeliers being hung here.