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The Throckmorton family proper begins to emerge in the late 14th

century.Thomas Throckmorton was constable of Elmley Castle 1404 to 1406. His son Sir John was sub Treasurer of England to Henry V, and an executor of the will of Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick. In 1415 he held the manor from the Bishop of Worcester at a fee farm rent. Sir John married Eleanor, heiress of the spineys, who brought him Coughton Court near Alcester, the present seat of the family. He died in 1445 and is buried at Fladbury,where he and his wife are commemorated by a fine brass on an alter tomb under the West tower. The son Thomas Throckmorton Esquire was Steward of the Bishop’s estates(1459-1470), a lawyer, MP twice and a JP and Sheriff of Warwickshire.

In 1500 Thomas’s son Sir Robert, was in possession of the manor of Throckmorton, and from this period dates the building of Court Farm.

The Throckmortons now had land in many counties  besides Warwick and Worcester. Sir George was esquire of the body to King Henry VIII and became a knight of the Shire, marrying a kinswoman of Queen Katherine Parr, who gave him eight sons and seven daughters. It is one of his sons Sir Nicholas who is perhaps the best known member of the family. A brilliant lawyer and politician, favourite of King Edward VI, he talked himself out of the tower in the reign of Queen Mary, and rose to be Ambassador to France under Queen Elizabeth. He became a friend of Mary, Queen of Scots, but was detested by the Queen Mother Catherine de medici. He is buried in the City of London in the church of St Katherine Cree; and it was probably through his friendship with Sir Thomas Greham that the family name was given to Throgmorton Street, financial heart of London and site of the Stock Exchange. His daughter bess, is famous for her secret marriage to Sir Walter Raleigh, which incurred the Queens displeasure and landed both of them in the Tower.

       The Throckmorton Family History.

Sir Robert Throckmorton’s son Sir  Francis Throckmorton born in the troubled times of the mid 17th Century is known to have visited his mother Lady Throckmorton at the Court in Throckmorton. During these years the Worcester countryside was recovering from the civil war and re-adjusting to the end of the Protectorate.

In 1989 Throckmorton themed it’s fete on this period for a number of years on the moated island behind the church which is believed to be the location of the original Manor house.

Coughton Court.

Throckmorton Arms

Sir Robert Throckmorton right

Sir Francis Throckmorton above

Coughton Court has been home to the Throckmortons, one of the UK’s oldest Catholic families, since the early fifteenth century.

2009 marked the 600th anniversary of the family’s residence at Coughton Court. The family was very prominent in Tudor times and later were instigators of Catholic emancipation.

Through its rich and varied history, the house has witnessed some of the most defining moments in British history – from the court of Henry VIII to the Gunpowder plot of 1605.

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