Overview

This is a treat, a very interesting visit to an historical hotel, with afternoon tea, and a view only from hotel grounds of the wonderful gardens built by Capability Brown, to see the gardens you will need to go out of hotel grounds and walk up to Coombe visitor centre, it’s not far, but worthy of any explorer. OUR HISTORY LESSON FOR YOU. The history of this ancient abbey is very interesting reading telling us that the land of this area in 1066 was once owned by an Anglo-Saxon man, named Harding, until it was captured by King William 1st during 1086 , when the doomsday book had been written, then the grounds became known as the Manor of Smitham, which had 720 acres of land and woodland. 84 years later, the history of Coombe Abbey really begins, when the land was given by a Richard de Camville, of Didleton castle, to Cistercian monks, who then sent out a party of monks to the land, and while they lived at that time in wooden houses, they set about building a monastery, guided by one “Martin” who would become the first Abbot of the new Abbey, which opened in 1150, and became known as the Abbey of Cumbe. The small lovely part of a section of the Cloisters you see today, were built in 1509. At this time, sheep farming was the main occupation of the area, but following years of bad weather and cold winters which ruined the harvest seasons and resulted in 7 years of hardship for the people, and although the monks gained a reputation of giving generously to the poor, the wool trade suffered badly for many years. The monks held the Abbey up until 1539, until the dissolution of the monasteries, when the Abbey and its land were surrendered to Dr John London, who played a large role in the work of helping King Henry 8th dispose many monasteries around the country, sent out to do so by Oliver Cromwell. The Abbey soon came into the hands of King Henry 8th. In 1581 Sir John Harington, bought Coombe Abbey, and using much of the old ruins around the estate, built a new house for himself, which now includes much of the original structures we see today. His family is said to have owned much of estates in Rutland during the 1500’s, and this families wealth helped him to become a member of parliament for Rutland in 1571. He was the keeper of Kenilworth castle from 1588 to 1590. Then in July 1603 he was made guardian of King James 1st daughter, Princess Elizabeth, who lived at Coombe Abbey for five years. During her time here she had an aviary built, and kept a small farm area for miniature breeds of cattle and sheep. In 1605, Guy Fawkes planned to kidnap the Princess Elizabeth, who was still living here. Everyone knows of the gunpowder plot and 5th of November, but what about Elizabeth ? Guy Fawkes and others intended to kill the king and all male heirs, and place the kidnapped princess as a puppet queen and reintroduce the catholic faith to England. The plot of course failed. But the high cost of now looking after young Elizabeth almost ruined John Harington, so in thanks he was given the licence to mint the first copper farthings. Time passed by, and a Sir William Craven (1548-1618) an English merchant Taylor, became Lord Mayor of London in 1610, and he became one of the richest men of his day. He married Elizabeth Whitmore in 1597, and they had five children. He died in 1618 and his will was openly read in court on July 29th 1618, leaving his wealth to his wife Elizabeth, who became a very wealthy businesswoman. He was buried at St Andrew Undershaft on 11th August 1618. Following his death his wife Elizabeth continued to run her husbands affairs, the wool trade he had built up, and his money-lending business. She invested her money in buying land, which included Coombe Abbey when she bought the estate for £36000.00 in 1622. Elizabeth Craven died in 1624, and today (bedroom 137 in the hotel is named “Lady Craven” and is decorated in traditional furnishings of her days ) a fascinating bedroom to stay in. Her son William 1st Earl of Craven, inherited her fortune, and over the years the family line made considerable changes to the Abbey. In 1634 William gained a licence from King Charles 1st to enclose 650 acres of the land in Coombe to turn it into a parkland, and it is thought to be how Coombe country park was created. A West wing was added in 1677, and during the Craven families charge of Coombe Abbey, they set about developing the grounds of the estate. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ A SHORT HISTORY OF THE GROUNDS IN PART TWO. Many other alterations took place now over the forthcoming years, and with the help and direction of a William Nesfield (1835-1888) an English architect, parts of the North wing and East wing were pulled down and rebuilt around 1862-1865 and integrated a gothic design. He is considered one of the most original of the Victorian architects, and in his honour one of the hotels bedrooms has been named “The Nesfield” which has a king size bed with canopy, a raised window seating area, and a spiral staircase that takes you up to a double-ended bath with a walk in shower and steam room, and this is furnished in reds, golds, and soft browns, and the room takes in two floor levels with plenty of room to unwind and enjoy your historical break. Coombe Abbey remained in the Craven family for almost 300 years, up into 1921. When the last of the Craven family who owned the estate, Lord Craven, died in 1921, the countess decided to sell the estate, and a builder named John Grey bought the house and grounds in 1923. He paid £38.000 and immediately set about adding his own designs to the house, and demolished much of the house that William Winde, a godson of one of the Lord Cravens had built during 1680’s, and then reduced the roof-line further in the 1920’s , while also demolishing most of William Nesfield Victorian gothic part of the abbey. He also sold off 218 acres of woodland and parkland to a syndicate of 8 local businessmen. During 1934 discussions took place between Coventry corporation, Rugby council, and Warwickshire county council to see if one day they could buy the Abbey and parkland and use it as a public open space. Plans now moved ahead with the Abbey, for in 1938, a plan was put in place by Coventry corporation for a 21 year option to buy the Abbey if it became available. The present owner at that time though now leased the Abbey to General Electric company (GEC) as their training centre in 1952. Things moved on though as in 1958 the corporation bought parts of the estate, Coombe pool and woodland. Just two years later the Abbey gained a Grade 1 listed building, and other buildings received Grade 11 listings. During 1964, the GEC company terminated their lease and moved training facilities nearby, and right away Coventry council bought the Abbey and grounds of 150 acres for £35.000. This just left the Deer park to be bought later on, and in 1974 the last 88 acres of the Deer park and woodlands were finally bought, and later on this new part would be converted into the visitor centre and open grassland where special events could be held, and it opened in 1993. The Abbey now went through a period of alterations, and would be redeveloped as part of a “No Ordinary Hotel “ group, and on February 17th 1995 the new Coombe Abbey Hotel was opened, which at first had 63 bedrooms, the Cloisters restaurant, Chapter house Bar, a private dining room and conference centre, but alterations continued and in 1999, 20 more bedrooms in the East wing were added. During 2004 Coventry council entered a landlord / tenant agreement with Nn Ordinar Hotel group. However, expansions continued, and in 2009 they opened a further 40 bedrooms, before deciding to buy out the hotels £6.5 million pound bank dept in 2013, and became the hotels mortgage provider, giving another £370.000 to modify the hotel yet again. All our history of Coombe Abbey Hotel May now allow you to enjoy visiting this medieval Abbey full of confidence that you will have an exciting and interesting visit, and hopefully a short break in one of its historical rooms, while wandering through its open green parkland. So with our notes and review below, step back in time to an interesting historical trip for our recommended visit to Coombe Abbey Hotel. and grounds. REMEMBER, ITS FREE ENTRY TO VISITOR CENTRE, THE GARDENS, AND HOTEL. JUST PAY YOUR CAR PARK TICKET AS YOU DEPART, just £2.50 in 2022. ================================================================= OUR REVIEW Just on the outskirts of Coventry, off the A36, we arrived at the gate and driveway for Coombe Abbey (photo 1) a wide open green landscaped area, and drove on ahead to the second car park area, signed for Hotel use (photo 2) We parked up and collected our parking ticket from the machine, and pushed the wheelchair on a level path towards the Hotel (photo 3) and crossed the Moat to the delightful garden display (photo 4) and over to our right we could see the entrance for reception (photo 5). It has a level doorway to get into hotel and straight ahead for the reception desk (photo 6) dark and imposing, but welcoming. The main way towards hotels facilities lay ahead, with toilets over to the right, but here begins the tour that a disabled chair user has to take, because the main passage for public to use to see hotel is along a corridor which has a step to get up, no good for disabled, so we had to follow receptionist as she led us over to the left (photo 7) and along a red carpeted passage with no doubt historical figure headlining the passage (photo 8). We then went through the push door ahead, your carer will be needed to help you, then doubling back on ourselves we reached the corridor at its other end from the reception desk (9) where an able bodied visitor may sit and wait to be called forward for their afternoon tea call. From here you may go out into the garden area (photo 10) a delightful place to sit and enjoy the fresh air as you slowly sip your chosen cool and pleasant drink, and overlook the hotel that awaits your return one day to enjoy an overnight stay next time. Opposite stands the garden restaurant, with the only door that a disabled person can use to get into the restaurant itself, (photo 11) and having booked afternoon tea, You enter a truly lovely well appointed conservatory restaurant (photo 12) where the tables have just been laid ready for guest to enter with you to enjoy the rest of the day (photo 13) and the last table is laid ready to call us all forward (14) Afternoon tea is a treat we all love, and today we have decided to try a savoury afternoon tea, they call it the Monks afternoon tea, (photo 14) with a warm tasty cheese scone freshly baked a few minutes ago, with a small selection of cheese, fruit and relish, very nice. (Photo 15). All other guests seem to have chosen the sweet afternoon tea, and it looked delightful, perhaps that will be our choice next time ? Just inside lies the bar, with enough room for the wheelchair to stand while we had tea, and then sat here for our drinks to arrive (photo 16). Departing the restaurant after our very enjoyable visit, we moved throughout the hotels attractive and historical rooms to find the disabled toilet (photo 17) which turned out to be basic, but very clean, with a grab rail just in case, small but decent enough with room for chair inside if needed (photo 18) and then passing under the alcove and it’s old furnishings (photo 19) we prepared to continue our visit to Coombe Abbey Hotel. YOU CAN READ THIS PART TWO ON OUR NEXT REVIEW. OUR FINAL THOUGHTS Well worth a visit, it’s old, it’s charming, they have done it in keeping with the age of the building, very nicely done. All it’s furnishings and everything made it look authentic. Afternoon tea was very nice, well served in delightful settings. We do highly recommend visiting, any difficulty with getting around will not inconvenience you, so give it a try.

Transport & Parking

As you arrive at the main driveway that seems to go on and on, offering pleasant exciting views towards the hotel ahead, you will pass two car parks. The first car park to your right is what you can take if you would like to visit the Coombe Country Park visitor centre, and a delightful walk around the beautiful gardens created by Capability Brown. A charge of £2.00 is made for parking, paid at ticket machines in car park, which accepts card payments. The next and main car park is for your hotel visit, and a short distance from hotels entrance, but it is a delightful little walk, passing wild flower fields, a lovely and well kept moat, and a delightful garden setting as you enter the hotel.

Access

Sadly, this is not really a disabled friendly hotel, although you will see almost everything needed to see, but it just takes a bit of an effort to follow the route from reception desk and around the very interesting historical rooms to reach the garden afternoon tea room, but it is well worth the effort we must say, so we have just dropped the marks offered for that reason only, but do give it a try, you will enjoy the hotel. A ramp passage is available as and when needed, so do not worry, and there a a lot of seating places as you move around to help you relax and view each area. We did not notice any signs directing you around, and my husband did get lost a couple of times as he investigated this very interesting building, but that only added to the delight of the historical building, and you can get around outside to see the garden areas that belong to the hotel itself, although Capability gardens can only be seen over the top of the hedges, (as our photo in part two will show), but still worthy of an effort.

Toilets

There is a so called disabled toilet available, although this is just basic, small, but with grab rail and pull cord, but we doubt if you will get your wheelchair inside, so keep this in mind.

Staff

Willing, hard working, but just down to earth, to busy really to offer full support, although the young lady on reception desk was more than willing, and kindly escorted us around the hotel to reach the delightful garden afternoon tea room.

Photos