THE P RTAL
June 2012 Page 10
Coughton Court a visit by Eliza Treblecock
Many of the Tudor houses visited in this series are out of the way places : houseshidden when they were built and hidden still . Many of them are so hidden that , if you did not know there were there , you would not know how to find them . Such are Harvington Hall or Baddesley Clinton : not so Coughton Court . ( pronounced coat ’ un ). It sits right beside the A435 , the main road from Studley to Alcester , and is plainly visible from the main road .
Throckmorton family
Yet the Throckmorton family have lived here since the house was built in the1530s . Previously a manor house stood on the site , but it fell into the Throckmorton family ’ s hands and has remained so ever since . A staunch Catholic family , they have had their trials during the years .
Gunpowder Plot
Indeed , in one room in the house the plotters of the Gunpowder Plot had arranged to meet after the explosion to plan their next move . Of course it all went wrong and they met in the Blue Drawing Room to discuss the failure of the plot . Theroom today is much as it was then , yet has a happy atmosphere ; quite a contrast with the events that took place there so many years ago .
Holbeach House
Many of the plotters were captured at once , but some escaped to Coughton and fled towards Wales . At Holbeach House , their gunpowder had got wet in the rain . To dry it out they placed it before an open fire ! Of course it exploded and alerted the authorities who came and either arrested them or killed them .
In that Blue Drawing Room that fateful day were Fr Garnett ( the Jesuit leader in England and opposed to the plot ); Nicholas Owen , and seven members of the Throckmorton family with the Vaux sisters .( For more information about these people read “ The Hunted Priest ” by John Gerrard published by Penguin Books .)
Priest ’ s hide
Hidden at Coughton Court is a double Priest ’ s hide . Double in the sense that there is one hide hidden behind another . A cunning device so that when the Persuivants found the first they would think they had
found an empty one ; only for the priest to be hidden in the second , and more concealed , hide . This one was so well constructed and hidden that it was not re-discovered until 1850 . It is not known for certain
who hid here , but given the family ’ s involvement in the Gunpowder Plot and their ardent Catholicism during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I , is seems unlikely that the hide remained unused . It would be an uncomfortable experience being in the Hide .
cramped space
The cramped space would make the limbs ache . If one had food and drink one had to be careful about the noise of eating and drinking . Going to the toilet would be a major problem , not only because of noise again , but any tell-tale smell would give the game away ! It could be that one was hidden for a matter of hours , or even days , and all the time the Persuivants were looking , measuring , tapping the walls for a cavity . Uncomfortable and frightening it certainly was . Yet many a brave priest used the hides and was grateful to Nicholas Owen for constructing them .
Even their construction was difficult . Just because the owners of the house were Catholics did not mean