Coughton Court

Although my battery ran out, I was able to get some nice photos of this magnificent Catholic Recusent home, which is still the property of the Throckmorton family, but open to the National Trust visitors.The house is built around a sixteenth century gate tower, with handsome tudor timberwork surrounding it. Visitors are able to follow the history of the Throckmorton family, seeing two priest hides and being able to scale the tower and look out over spectacular Warwickshire countryside. We also enjoyed the intricate gardens which have been arranged by the daughter of Mrs McLaren-Throckmorton, the present owner of the estate.

During the seventeenth century when Catholicism was illegal in this country, the house was ransacked and searched several times, but they were not able to discover the Mass Cabinet; a late 17th Century Anglo-Dutch veneered cabinet which opens to reveal an altar recess which hides away a tabernacle and alcoves for liturgical vessels.

We will undoubtedly return to this focus of Catholic devotion, and learn more about our faith through this historical testament to the ingenuity and determination of its local population. Since the Catholic emancipation a church has been built for Catholic Worship, now separate from its neighbouring 'Anglican' parish church. Up until the recent departure of Fr Paul Chavasse, Latin Mass was said regularly here, and I hope and pray it will soon return, and that the Throckmortons can once again be a locus of traditional Latin worship in this part of the country.