16th May 2010. The courtyard of Coughton Court – pronounced ‘Coten’, or ‘Coton’ – a National Trust property between Birmingham and Evesham. We have started to visit some of these lately as our leisure time has, thankfully, increased.

This is the entrance and the range of buildings on the right. A visit to http://www.coughtoncourt.co.uk will tell you all you need to know about this historic house. Suffice it to say that it has been the ancestral home of the Throckmorton family for 600 years! As they were Roman Catholics, the family underwent many persecutions during and after the Reformation.

Formerly, it was not permitted to take photographs inside National Trust properties; but this year, as an experiment, it has been allowed, but not using flash. ‘Good behaviour’ on the part of photographers may allow the privilege to remain in place. (Note added, December 2019: it is indeed still in place; the superb performance of modern cameras in low-light conditions has probably helped!) Above you see a precious relic: a shift, reputed to be that worn by Mary, Queen of Scots, at her execution, on 8th February 1587. The date embroidered looks more like 13th Feb. It’s kept in a glass case in dim light, lest it fade. There is another, later visit to this house on the site.