Flood Relief for Coughton Court

Coughton Court is situated between Redditch and Alcester, with the 25 acre grounds  boarded by the Cain Brook and River Arrow. It is home to the Throckmorton family who have recently celebrated 600 years residence at the Court. In 1946 the Throckmorton’s gifted the Court to the National Trust with a 300 year residence lease for the family. Since 1992 the gardens have been developed by Clare McLaren-Throckmorton and her daughter, a well known landscape gardener. Since reaching maturity this garden has been given the Award of Garden Excellence in 2006 and a Gilt Medal by the National Daffodil Society. This estate was devastated in the July 2007 floods. This month marks the two year anniversary of the flood and offers an opportunity to reflect on what has happened since.

The flood event of the 20th July 2007 damaged the main house, the shop, stable block and gardens. Vegetation and silt were carried and subsequently deposited by the Cain Brook and River Arrow throughout the property. The main house was flooded both by surface water entering from the front and by groundwater rising through the floors. Following the water receding, a mammoth task of drying out floors and restoring the gardens and buildings commenced in order to open once again to the public.

Thoughts quickly turned to reducing the likelihood of such damage occurring at Coughton Court again. Haycock were asked to review the flood water movements and offer solutions to protect the property. The damage and movement of water during the event were investigated in order to allow an accurate model to be created. LiDAR data were used alongside survey information to create an accurate map of land and channel detail. This information combined with flow data from the Environment Agency allowed a model to be made that mapped how water moved during the floods and provided detail such as water depth.

Haycock explored a number of possible flood alleviation schemes using the base model of the flood, through changing land levels and adding defences. A solution to alleviate the flood risk that is sympathetic with the historic landscape has been proposed by Haycock. Designs have been submitted for planning permission and we await the decision. Haycock believes that this scheme will protect this special building with its many original features, defending a family home and an historic treasure.