Volunteer opportunities at Coughton Court

Volunteers painting the iron fence at Coughton Court, Warwickshire — Help care for this special place | © National Trust Images/Bill Alloway

An imposing Tudor house full of Catholic treasures and set in beautiful gardens, Coughton Court is a family home with many stories to tell. The volunteer team play a vital role in caring for Coughton and bringing those stories to life. Find out more about how you can join the team and make a difference.

Join our team

The National Trust offers access to a flexible and rewarding volunteering experience where you can share your knowledge or learn new skills, meet interesting people and help to create new ideas and shape our future plans.

Coughton Court relies on the generous people who offer their time in any way they can to look after this historic estate and bring the stories to life for everyone who visits.

We've got lots of exciting roles available from the New Year including Food and Beverage Volunteers, House Volunteers and new for 2025, Roof Experience Volunteers.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer opportunities will be listed here or search National Trust Volunteering website.

Food & Beverage Volunteer

• Meet and greet visitors when they enter the café with a warm smile.
• Help with queue management and direct visitors.
• When visitors leave say goodbye and thank them for their visit.
• Undertake tasks ranging from clearing tables and serving food.
• Use your smile and customer service skills to engage with visitors, share knowledge of the estate and generally enhance their visit
• Have a strong working knowledge of our menu and sharing this with visitors.
• Playing your part to continue our work looking after special places
• Learning and developing a range of skills such as food safety, barista and exceptional service
• There’s also potential to get involved with the Food & Beverage events calendar.

More details and application form can be found here or ring 01789 400777

How to apply!

Interested in finding out more about volunteering at Coughton Court? Pop in and speak to a member of the team, give us a call on 01789 400777 or email coughtoncourt@nationaltrust.org.uk to find out more. You can also find our current vacancies and an application form on the National Trust myvolunteering website

What our volunteers say

Lizzie

Lizzie, a room volunteer, says her role is great for fuelling her interest in Tudor History. She started by visiting Coughton Court, fell in love with the place and then joined as a volunteer.

As a bonus she also meets lots of nice people, visitors, volunteers and staff who are all appreciative of her time and the information she shares.

Why join us?

There are lots of reasons to join us; making the move to volunteer could be the best decision you ever make.

Become part of a friendly and dedicated team
Meet people from all walks of life and forge new friendships
Utilise your existing skills and learn new ones
Strengthen your CV and help to develop your career
Enjoy the great outdoors
Learn about the history of this special place.
Contribute your time, energy and skills towards a worthwhile charitable cause.
Make a difference and welcome everyone to enjoy Coughton Court.

Coughton Volunteers

The volunteer team play a vital role in caring for Coughton and bringing the stories of the Throckmorton family to life.

Volunteer in the garden at Coughton Court, Warwickshire — Volunteer in the garden at Coughton Court | © National Trust/Abi Cole

Volunteer Bill

I started volunteering at Easter 2012. My first task was to go out into the garden and take some photos of the white garden and upload them onto the website. Now one of the favourite parts of my job has been my morning walk around the gardens, having a chat to the gardeners and seeing what is new guided by what they are proud of at the moment. One of my proudest moments was seeing one of my photos on the front of the National Trust Gardens calendar. The other great fun job was being Father Christmas during the Christmas Fayre’s. I had some great elves to help me. You cannot really prepare yourself for every gift that a child wants but I enjoyed sending them away happy even if I couldn’t promise them what they asked for. I have one of the best volunteering jobs in the National Trust and look forward to coming in every week.

Volunteer Jenny

When I arrived at the doors of Coughton Court in September 1987 little did I think I’d still be volunteering there 36 years later. My family bought me National Trust membership and Coughton were asking for volunteers as they were desperately short! I loved history in general and Coughton Court in particular. In those days the house opened 2-6pm so it fitted in with my own working day. I went down to the house and was asked when I could start. I did, that afternoon! After Mrs Clare Maclaren Throckmorton inherited the lease in 1990 and began to run Coughton Court, she kept on National Trust volunteers and so I continued. I’ve got so much from volunteering, from friends I’ve made, to the staff and meeting our wonderful visitors who make it all worthwhile. It has given me so much and I hope I have given something back in return.

Volunteer Bob

I first came to Coughton Court in 2008 as a visitor. It was a wet day with hardly any people about – but I fell in love with the place, the history and the stories fascinated me. I retired from work the following year and already knew what I wanted to do to fill the void left by not working anymore – be a volunteer at Coughton. Over the years, I’ve been a room guide, have taken “Taster Tours” and ordinary tours around the house, have hosted school parties and even helped once in Visitor Reception. These days you’ll find me in the Catholic Church giving talks which are generally on the Gunpowder Plot. What do I enjoy most about volunteering at Coughton? Engaging with our visitors and sharing with them the stories and the history. I find that some visitors hadn’t heard of the Throckmortons before their visit so I try to make sure that they go away realising what an important family they were in their day. I still enjoy it as much as I did on the day I started.

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A volunteer talks to two visitors about the paintings in the Saloon at Coughton Court, Warwickshire. — Help our visitors have a great day out | © National Trust Images/Chris Lacey

Volunteer speaking with visitors in mobility scooters on Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset

Volunteer with us

Search for live volunteering opportunities, or register your interest with Coughton Court

Search volunteering opportunities at Coughton Court

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Room guide and visitors in the Hall at Treasurer's House, York

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Frequently asked questions on volunteering

These frequently asked questions should give you all you need to know about who can volunteer, what it involves and how to apply.

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The history of Coughton Court

Twenty-one generations of the Throckmorton family have lived at Coughton since 1409. Over six centuries there are many stories to tell, including that of the gunpowder plot. The family were related to the key conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, an effort to end the persecution of Catholics. The ringleader of the Gunpowder Plot was Robert Catesby, a charismatic and forceful character, and the son of Sir William Catesby and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Throckmorton of Coughton Court.