November 2010 meeting

The Throckmortons and the Gunpowder Plot

Bidford church hall was packed for the November meeting to hear Anne Fox on Coughton Court, the Throckmorton family and the Gunpowder Plot. She sketched the plot from its inception in 1603 to the fiasco of its failure in 1605, and the gruesome revenge wrought on the conspirators in the months that followed. 

Nothing was overlooked:- the events that leading to the plot, problems that complicated the recruitment process, fateful delays in the opening of Parliament and the incompetence of the plotters. Every detail was painted in, and the inevitable outcome graphically described.

The story is familiar, but Anne Fox pinpointed it to the local great catholic houses in Warwickshire and Worcestershire.   A second major theme was of the intrepid catholic priest Father Garnett and master priest-hole architect Nicholas Owen, who like the conspirators - came to a hideous end, but managed to make a lasting impact on Coughton Court.

This heady cocktail led to many questions, including the fate of the Throckmortons and the other families involved. While many were executed like the conspirators, the Throckmorton family managed to establish protestant credentials, and in the fullness of time to revert to its traditional faith, and retain the family seat.