COUGHTON Court will open its door for the new season this weekend and it promises to be an explosive year for the stately home.

The National Trust property - still home to ancestral owners the Throckmorton family - will be at the heart of celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot.

The treasonous plan was hatched at the court in 1605 by Sir Thomas Throckmorton's nephew Robert Catesby and a new interactive exhibition will be unveiled later in the year to mark the celebrations.

Coughton Court's Clare Throckmorton said: "Bonfire Night is a national celebration but is firmly rooted in the Midlands.

"It was a terrible and bloody time which changed English history forever but we are proud of our heritage and will be spending the year commemorating the event."

Channel 4 historian David Starkey will visit Coughton Court to unveil the Gunpowder Plot exhibition on Thursday, April 21.

Other anniversary highlights include an historical re-enactment of the tale in June and in July, visitors can enjoy a talk by Father Abbot of Douai Abbey called The Gunpowder Plot in Prints.

Coughton Court will play host to the York Waits in October with Gunpowder Plot entertainers and Tudor music.

A grand firework extravaganza, complete with gala dinner, has been pencilled in for November to complete anniversary celebrations.

And visitors will also be able to admire an ancient ceremonial cloak, back at Coughton Court after undergoing a £25,000 preservation project.

The 500-year old cope has been displayed in the house since the 1950s but its condition was seriously deteriorating.

A special stand has also been made to display the purple cloak, worn at church services by priests and thought to have been worked on by Catherine of Aragon.