Cothay Manor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cothay Manor |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Medieval |
| Town or city | Stawley, near Wellington |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 50°59′01″N 3°18′17″W / 50.9837°N 3.3048°W |
| Completed | c1480 |
Cothay Manor is a very old and beautiful house with amazing gardens in Stawley, near Wellington, Somerset, England. It's a special type of building called a "Grade I listed" medieval house. This means it's one of the most important historic buildings in the country.
The manor grounds are huge, covering nearly 40 acres. They include charming cottages, other buildings, stables, and 12 acres of stunning gardens. The main house itself is from the Middle Ages, built around 1480. Its gate pillars and the wall at the north entrance are also protected as "Grade II listed" features.
In the early 1300s, a family called de Cothay owned the land. Later, the Bluett family took over. They also owned another important manor nearby called manor of Holcombe Rogus in Devon.
Cothay Manor is known for being a very well-preserved collection of buildings from before 1500. Long ago, the rent for the land around the manor was quite unusual. It was a pair of silver spurs and a rose. To celebrate the end of the Cousins' Wars, a red rose (for Lancashire) and a white rose (for Yorkshire) were planted on the terrace. This was done by Richard Bluett, who was the lord of the manor at that time.
In 1927, a historian named Christopher Hussey wrote in Country Life magazine that Cothay Manor was "the most perfect small 15th‐century country house that survives in the Kingdom." This shows how special it is!
Recent History of Cothay Manor
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In 1925, a man named Lt-Col Reginald Cooper bought Cothay Manor. He was a good friend of Sir Harold Nicolson, who owned the famous Sissinghurst Castle Garden. Both were also friends with Major Lawrence Waterbury Johnston, who created Hidcote Manor Garden.
Reginald Cooper worked hard to restore the house and its gatehouse. He wanted to keep their original medieval look and feel. Sir Harold Nicolson's diaries show that these garden-loving friends often shared ideas. For example, Reggie advised Harold on the length of his bowling green. Cooper even moved the River Tone to protect his favorite pine trees from washing away!
Sissinghurst Garden was designed in 1932. Because of the shared ideas and similar beauty, some garden writers have called Cothay the "Sissinghurst of the West Country."
From 1937 to 1947, Sir Francis Cook, 4th Baronet owned the property. He kept many valuable pieces from his famous art collection there during World War II. After the war, the art was moved. Later, Edward du Cann, a MP for Taunton, owned the property.
In 1993, Alastair and Mary-Anne Robb bought Cothay Manor. Mary-Anne's great-grandmother was a plant explorer. A plant called Euphorbia amygdaloides 'var. robbiae' is named after her. It was even nicknamed "Mrs Robb's Bonnet" because she supposedly hid it in her hat to get it through customs!
When the Robbs bought Cothay, the whole property and gardens needed a lot of work. They completely rebuilt the gardens, following Reginald Cooper's original design. They also added new areas, like a bog garden and an Arboretum (a collection of different trees). They even planted a wild flower meadow.
In 2003, a book called "England’s Thousand Best Houses" by Simon Jenkins gave Cothay four out of five stars. He praised its "authentic medieval interiors" as being "of incomparable value."
Cothay Manor on TV
In 2008 and 2009, Cothay Manor was featured on a Channel 4 TV show called Country House Rescue. The show was presented by hotelier Ruth Watson. In the first episode, the owners, the Robbs, talked about how expensive it was to run the manor. They also faced a large tax bill. Ruth Watson gave them advice on how to earn more money from visitors.
In a later episode, the Robbs said they had used some of Watson's advice. But they also came up with their own new ideas that had "a little bit more soul, spirit and meaning." After Alastair Robb passed away in 2015, his family continued to own the property.
A book called "The English Country House Garden: Traditional Retreats to Contemporary Masterpieces" by George Plumptre also shared a lot about Cothay's history. It described the gardens and arboretum as they looked in 2013.
In 2018, Cothay Manor was used as a filming location for the movie Dolittle (2020). This film stars Robert Downey Jr. as a doctor who can talk to animals!
In June 2020, Country Life magazine published new details about the manor. It described the "medieval rooms" like the Great Hall, Great Chamber, Winter Parlour, Gold Room, Guest Chamber, and a tiny chapel called the Oratory. The article also mentioned that the manor complex is very large, with private areas for the Robb family and other parts that are rented out.
In early June 2020, Cothay Manor was put up for sale for £5 million. It was sold in October 2020 to new owners for £5.25 million.
See also
- List of country houses in the United Kingdom
