Coombe Abbey

He was on his way from Leicester to Coventry, pursuing his enemy the Earl of Warwick in the Wars of the Roses and he rested awhile at Coombe.

[4] The cloister lay to the north of the (now demolished) church and its garth forms the present courtyard.

[5] The lower part of the east range of buildings also remains, including the fine doorway and flanking windows of the chapter house, dated to the 1180s.

In 1581 it came into the possession of Sir John Harington of Exton and he converted the abbey into one of the most substantial houses in the county.

When James VI of Scotland became King of England, Harington used his ancestry to win favour.

Elizabeth's favourite childhood companion was Ann Dudley, a niece of Lord Harington, and with her, she formed a lasting friendship.

As the plotters marched to Coombe, Lord Harington received word of the rising that morning and had sent Elizabeth to Sir Thomas Holcroft into the walled city of Coventry.

The Mayor and nine other citizens mounted guard, drawing bows, pikes and other weapons from the city armoury for this purpose.

[11] In 1662, Elizabeth died and left William Craven her collection of Stuart Family paintings which included pictures by such masters as Rubens, Van Dyck and Honthorst.

This sheet of water is 1.5 miles long, covers 90 acres and forms an L shape or ‘dog-leg’ that makes it appear endless.

[14] He designed also seven other buildings on the estate with his son in law Henry Holland one of which was the boathouse which survives today.

The hexagonal tower with a domed roof was inspired by King Louis XIV's Royal Menagerie at the Palace of Versailles.

[16] The excavation of the moat involved the destruction of the foundations of the abbey church, largely without archaeological record.