Coombe Abbey

Coombe Abbey, view of the buildings from the main drive.

Coombe Abbey in the early 18th century from Kip and Knyff's Britannia Illustrata.

Coombe Abbey in 1797, painted by Maria Johnson.

Coombe Abbey is a hotel which has been developed from an historic grade I listed building and former country house. It is located roughly midway between Coventry and Brinklow in the countryside of Warwickshire, England. The house's original grounds are now a country park known as Coombe Country Park and run by Coventry City Council.

History

Coombe Abbey was founded as a monastery in the 12th century. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century it became royal property.

Elizabeth of Bohemia, the daughter of king James I, was educated there in the early 17th century. Had the Gunpowder Plot succeeded she was to have been abducted from Coombe Abbey and proclaimed as Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1682, the West Wing was added by architect Captain William Winde, who also designed Buckingham House, which later became Buckingham Palace. In 1771, Lancelot 'Capability' Brown redesigned the gardens, incorporating the Coombe Pool lake.

For successive generations Coombe Abbey was owned by the Earls of Craven, in whose possession the estate remained until 1923.

In November 1964 Coventry City Council bought Coombe Abbey with 150 acres (0.61 km²) of land. The park was opened to the public in 1966.

• Coombe Abbey Country Park
• 
  The main entrance to Coombe Abbey and the park
• 
  The West Wing, lake and gardens.

TV and film

Coombe Abbey was used as the outside of the Mayor's house in the 2009 film Nativity!, starring Martin Freeman

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in Coventry

External links

• Coombe Abbey hotel website
• Online edition of a 1961 book called The Story of Combe Abbey - includes updates and "then and now" photographs
• Information about the park from Coventry City Council