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 a 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. The Abbey is mentioned on British History online where it states that: " Odo's son Robert (de Boskerville) in 1279 granted to the abbey of Combe his tenement and fee in Harbury and Chesterton, which included the homage and service of Gilbert le Harpour for 2 hides in Chesterton"

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 it was also used for filming the pilot of The Wrong Funeral in 2013

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coombe Abbey.

• Grade I listed buildings in Coventry

References

External links

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

Monasteries in Warwickshire
Augustinian	Arbury Priory Atherstone Austin Friary Holywell Cell Kenilworth Abbey Maxstoke Priory Studley Priory Thelsford Priory Warwick St Sepulchre Priory
Benedictine	Alcester Abbey Alvecote Priory Atherstone Priory Bretford Priory Monks Kirby Priory Nuneaton Priory Oldbury Priory Polesworth Abbey Warmington Priory Wolston Priory Wootton Wawen Priory Wroxall Priory
Cistercian	Cawston Grange Coombe Abbey Holywell Cell Merevale Abbey Pinley Priory Stoneleigh Abbey
Dominican	Warwick Blackfriars
Knights Hospitaller	Grafton Preceptory Warwick Preceptory
Knights Templar	Warwick Preceptory
Trinitarian	Thelsford Priory
Independent Houses	Stratford-on-Avon Monastery

Coordinates: 52°24′38″N 1°25′14″W / 52.41056°N 1.42056°W / 52.41056; -1.42056