Part 1 of our busy
weekend began with Coughton Court and Iron Bridge.
Coughton Court was a
journey that took us about 30 minutes outside Stratford upon Avon. Coughton
Court is a traditional country home from the 1400s. It was owned by a wealthy
Catholic family named the Throckmortons who eventually used the house as a secret
catholic worship space. It was quite a beautiful house and the carriage gate
was much like a castle. In the North wing members of the family still live
there and therefor you cannot tour. Photos and relics from the family are
displayed through the gate house and south wing. Personally I would find this
creepy if I lived there but everyone who worked there seemed to be very
invested in the lives of the Throckmortons. After lunch we walked to the
gardens which included a playground and a small pen of sheep. This was right up
my alley since we were able to feed and pet the sheep!!
Leading into the beautiful gardens
The Carriage gate
View from the top of the tower!
For the Queen's Jubilee a compass was installed to show where all the major sites are and how far
The Priest hole to hide the Catholic priest if the royal army came.
The original stain glass windows with the coat of arms from various family members
Relics from the war era
The lady's bedroom-- people use to sleep sitting up as they feared the devil would get to them if they were lying down
Coffee Please!
The old Catholic chapel inside the house after the ban on Catholicism was lifted but churches were not allowed to be built
Sheep!!
The sheep just love me!
Colin and Ava found it amusing that I could still fit in the swing
Selfie Central
Next it was off to Iron
Bridge. The Iron Bridge is located in Coalbrookdale and it is the birth place
of the Industrial Revolution. After the Revolution the town became almost abandoned
and recently it was made anew by the IronBridge Gorge Museum Trust and has
since become a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The town is a quaint little town
that has 10 museums all about the late 1800s early 1900s when the spot was a
huge place for Iron and China. In Iron Bridge was where they discovered the
best way to heat iron so that it does not become brittle. It is also home to
rare clay that is used to make beautiful china.
Our first stop was to the Iron museum. It showed where the iron was found and the makeup of the land.
Record flooding heights. One year it made it all the way up to the red line!
Model of the town and buildings that would have been standing
Critters that are found in and around the waters
The next stop was to the bridge itself as we walked over it, around it, and then under it to view its beauty. The arches in the bridge are semicircles and on sunny days you can see the complete circle through the reflection in the water.
Built in 1779 just three years after the declaration of Independence was signed!
This is the hill that the iron and coal had to go up and down in order to reach the river. A track was eventually put in to get cargo containers up and down the hill
After a nice rest at a
local hostel, it was up and off to the next museum. This one is of the large
furnace that was used to extract the iron from the iron ore.
The furnace where the iron was extracted from the iron ore
We then headed up the
very large hill to the Darby house where the man who discovered the best way to
heat iron and general manager of the iron company lived. The houses were quite
interesting and we even got to play dress up!
Our English professor Peter decided to make an appearance and play dress up too!
After the houses we went
to the Enginuity museum. By far my favorite, probably because it was the
children's museum! We were able to play with hands on demonstrations of how the
hydroelectric power worked the different types of electricity, and even the
science into building an arch.
The Olympic Torch!!
We went back to the
hostel for lunch and then were off to the china museum. Here is where the large
kilns were and where the clay was shaped into beautiful pieces through
sculpting and casting.
Then it was back home to
get ready for our adventure tomorrow... Harry Potter Extravaganza!!
