Travelling with Nick: Croome Court at Christmas

The current Croome Court was built in the mid 18th Century, it was essentially a re-modelling of an existing redbrick house. The work was commissioned by the 6th Earl of Coventry and undertaken by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown although he he hadn't earned this sobriquet at that time because this was his first commission.

The Coventry family first came to prominence in the late 16th and early 17th Centuries through Thomas Coventry, Baron Coventry. He was a prominent lawyer, politician and judge. He was 'Lord Keeper of the Great Seal' for fifteen years (1625 -40) under King Charles 1st. An ancestor, John Coventry had been Lord Mayor of the City of London during the reign of King Henry VI.

Thomas amassed great wealth via his Governmental offices and laid the foundation of the Coventry family's future success. It must be assumed that the original user of the name Coventry hailed from the city of that name in the English Midlands. However, the ennobled family had no connection with that City their main centre of activity and influence was in Worcestershire.

So that is a synopsis of the history of the Earls of Coventry who owned Croome Court until 1949 when it was sold to a developer. It had a series of owners since then but non were able to stop the deterioration of the buildings and loss of landscape features,

Around 2007 Croome court was purchased by the National Trust and since then that charity has been slowly but successfully returning Croome to something approaching its former glory.

My wife and I like to visit a 'great house' around this time of year to see how they have been decorated for Christmas. Last year we visited both Doddington and Charlcote.

We loved our visit to Croome, in some ways it was understated, it wasn't 'in your face' which we liked. The staff were both friendly and knowledgeable. It would be a good place to visit in the spring and summer months to enjoy a walk around the parkland.

Here are some photos from our visit -