Coughton Court

Coughton Court holds a unique and sinister place in English history as the gathering point for the families of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators. On November 5th, 1605, while Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators prepared to blow up the Houses of Parliament, their wives and children waited anxiously at Coughton Court—the home of the Throckmorton family, deeply involved in the Catholic conspiracy. When news arrived of the plot’s failure, panic ensued. The women fled into the night, and the men faced execution, torture, and ruin.

The traumatic events of that fateful night have left a paranormal imprint on Coughton Court. The most frequently reported ghost is a woman in Jacobean dress, seen wringing her hands and pacing near the gatehouse tower—believed to be one of the conspirators’ wives awaiting news that never came. Witnesses describe her expression as one of profound anguish and fear. She appears most often around November 5th, the anniversary of the plot’s discovery, sometimes accompanied by the sound of horses galloping up to the house and agitated voices calling out.

The tower room where the families gathered is considered particularly active. Visitors report overwhelming feelings of dread and anxiety, sudden cold drafts, and the sensation of being watched. Some have heard phantom weeping and whispered prayers. Staff members have experienced objects moving on their own and doors slamming shut with great force. The ghost of a man in 17th-century clothing has also been seen in the house’s priest hole, thought to be Father Henry Garnet, a Jesuit who was executed for his knowledge of the plot. Coughton Court’s ghosts remain trapped in those desperate hours when history turned against them.