IT is a beautiful Tudor country house that used to belong to the National Trust and is famous for its links to the Gunpowder Plot, but people often pronounce the name incorrectly.
Coughton Court, near Alcester, is a popular destination for people from Worcester, and who better to ask how to pronounce the name correctly than the ancestral family with deep ties to the country house?
WISE: A guide to pronounce Coughton Court is long overdue and there are no ‘coughs’ or ‘cows’ involved (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)
It’s not ‘Coffton’
Since I’ve lived in Worcester, I’ve heard the name of the former National Trust-owned property pronounced ‘Coffton’ and ‘Cowton’ but both, I’m reliably informed, are incorrect.
When we met Magnus Birch Throckmorton, who, with his wife Imogen, has taken on the day-to-day running of Coughton Court, we asked him how it should be pronounced.
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How to pronounce Coughton Court
His family have lived at Coughton Court since 1409 so if anyone should know, it’s him. He even gave a helpful way to remember the correct way – ‘coat on’ as in ‘put your coat on.’
The family’s history at the property dates back to when John Throckmorton married Eleanor de spiney.
They were given half the manor of Coughton in Warwickshire in 1409 and, in 1449, their son, Thomas Throckmorton, bought the other half of the manor from Eleanor’s nephew, John Tracy.
In 1946, in special provision under the National Trust Act, the estate of Coughton was transferred to the Trust. In accordance with the order by the judge the house was leased back to the family over a 300 year turn.
Although the family took over stewardship of Coughton Court in February this year, it remains in the ownership of the National Trust.