2022
Guy Fawkes is perhaps the most infamous of the plotters, but the conspiracy to assassinate protestant King James I of England, was something of a family affair, with the Catesby and Tresham cousins at its heart too. Today, the places where gunpowder plotters lived and worshipped, reflect the passion they and their families had for their Catholicism. They went to great lengths to practice and celebrate their forbidden faith – even creating buildings in secret code.
Headquarters of the Gunpowder Plot – Ashby St Ledgers
Tucked away in the Northamptonshire countryside, the small village of Ashby St Ledgers seems a picture of tranquillity – but looks can be deceiving!. The gatehouse, a little timber-framed room, at the manor house next to the church, was a key location for the gunpowder plotters who, under the leadership of Robert Catesby, planned to blow up the English Parliament in 1605 (now remembered by “Guy Fawkes night" each 5 November).
Ashby St Ledgers manor house – google maps link https://goo.gl/maps/xHv2qVkfmiB2
Church of St Leodegarius – google maps link https://goo.gl/maps/MQouRCHAh7C2
The Triangular Lodge at Rushton
In a quiet corner of the Northamptonshire countryside, this unique, triangular building, was designed by Sir Thomas Tresham, father of gunpowder plotter, Francis Tresham. Sir Thomas, who had spent several years in prison for being a Catholic, had it built in the 1590s, just a few years before the gunpowder plot was hatched. From its triangular shape to its three floors, trefoil windows and inscriptions, this building is full of references to the forbidden Catholic faith that mattered so much to the Tresham family. And if anyone would wonder who built it, the daring Sir Thomas even included a pun on his nickname “Tres” in the inscriptions on the entrance “Tres Testimonoium Dant” (“There are three that give witness.”).
The ingenious design is also apparent when you step inside the much plainer interior and see how the windows create religious shapes of light!
Triangular Lodge google maps link https://goo.gl/maps/hDvD1TnLhTu
Lyveden New Beild, Northamptonshire
The Triangular Lodge was not Sir Thomas Tresham’s only building full of code. Never finished, Lyveden New Beild was a secret house being built not far from the family’s main house, in the period immediately before the gunpowder plot was discovered – also the year of Sir Thomas Tresham’s death, 1605. From a cross-shaped floor plan to structure and décor, this building is full of secret indicators of his Catholic faith – 3 floors, 3 rooms on each floor in the south portion of the cross, and the facades decorated with religious symbols. When Sir Thomas Tresham died, Lyveden was inherited by his son, Francis Tresham. Francis was imprisoned in the Tower of London when the gunpowder plot was discovered, and he died soon afterwards. The building was never completed.
Lyveden New Beild google maps link: https://goo.gl/maps/pCVorknW2G32
And finally…
Stoke Dry
There’s been long-standing claims that the “parvis” – a private room for a priest – over the porch entrance, not a place anyone else would expect to ever access, was used by the gun powder plotters for some of their planning meetings. Although there’s no proof for this, the church was associated with gunpowder plotter Everard Digby. He was executed for his part in the gunpowder plot. There are memorials to several members of his family in the church.
Everard Digby’s links to the church are not the only aspect of its history to have sparked intrigue and speculation. This is an early church with parts dating back to around the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066. In the Digby family’s chapel are wall paintings dating back to the 13th Century. Nothing unusual about having wall paintings – or even that they show the death of a saint. What is unusual is the detail of the people with bows and arrows that they depict. What the excitement has been about for many years now, is that they seem to show people dressed in ways identified with particular tribes of American Indians - but date from the period before Columbus “discovered” America. There’s still no proof of a connection. So is it just coincidence? The mystery continues, and in recent years, archaeologists have established connections between Vikings with some parts of the Americas.
Stoke Dry church google maps link: https://goo.gl/maps/wbbh2spYp712
