Tuesday, February 3, 2009

My Adventure Continues...

Now I have stayed in some pretty cool hotels, but this one takes the cake! Here is a breif history of the place, and by brief, I mean the past 1,859 years that it has been around. I will post more pictures later tonight.

Our History
1150 Cistercian monks founded Coombe Abbey (then known as The Abbey of Cumbe)
1539 The stone-built Cloisters, which exist today, were constructed.
1540 During the dissolution of the monasteries, Coombe Abbey and its lands were surrendered to Dr. London who was sent by Thomas Cromwell. The Abbey and its possessions then belonged to King Henry VIII.
1581 John Harrington acquired Coombe and built a new house, incorporating parts of the Abbey building.
1603 Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I, came to live and be educated at Coombe Abbey.
1622 Elizabeth Craven, widow of Sir William Craven, (Lord Mayor of London from 1610 - 1611, one of the richest men in his day), purchased Coombe Abbey and the Craven family remained as owners of Coombe Abbey for 300 years.
1634 William, son of Sir William Craven became Baron Craven of Hampstead Marshall, Berkshire and obtained a license from Charles I to enclose 650 acres of land at Coombe to Make a Park, this is thought to be the origin of Coombe Abbey Park.
1682 A West Wing (overlooking the gardens today) was added to the house, the architect being Captain William Winde, who also designed Buckingham House which later became Buckingham Palace.
1771 Lancelot 'Capability' Brown was employed to re-design the gardens and surrounding land at Coombe.
1817 The indoor 'Real' Tennis Court was built, know today as the Courthouse.
1861-5 William Eden Nesfield was emplyed to make alterations to the house in 'Gothic Revival' style. The east wing and part of the north wing of the Abbey were demolished and rebuilt in the new style (a picture of alterations to the east wing today can be seen on the wall opposite the guest lift). Servants accommodation, a stable block and a new coach house were also built during this time.
William Andrew Nesfield (father of Eden Nesfield) landscaped the gardens on the south and west side of the abbey constructing the moat and canal leading to the lake. During this time William Miller, Head Gardener to Lord Craven was given the responsibility of designing and planting the north and east gardens and the kitchen garden was created which became renowned locally for the exotic fruits grown in its hot houses. Today sadly we can only see the outer walls.
1907 Countess Cornelia Craven instigated the introduction of electric lighting to Coombe Abbey.
1923 The auction of the Coombe Esate resulted in a Coventry builder, John Grat buying the Abbey and its grounds.
1939-45 The conifer plantations known as the Wrautums were removed to provide pit-propts during the war, leaving the large field area as we see it today.
1950 John Gray leased Coombe Abbey to the General Electric Company as a residential training centre.
1964 Coventry City Council purchased Coombe Abbey and its estate of 150 acres.
1992 The development to restore Coombe Abbey into a 'No Ordinary' hotel began. Building work also began on a new visitor centre facility, children's adventure playground and a themed dining venue.
1993 Coombe Abbey's Visitor Centre opened, followed by the opening of the Abbeygate - the new venue for Coombe Abbey's award winning Mediaeval banquets.
1994 Coombe Abbey - No Ordinary Hotel opened with 63 bedrooms, Cloisters Restaurant, Chapter House Bar, Private Dining Room, Conference and Banqueting facilities on the 17th February 1995.

1 comment:

MollieJoy said...

Be on the lookout for ghosts!