discoverbritainmag.com 77THE INSIDERFacts, figures and stories about England’s most eccentric Catholic folly
DAVEPORTER/IANDAGNALL/ALAMY/ENGLISHHERITAGEPHOTOLIBRARYRUSHTON TRIANGULAR LODGE
3
The number of floors in the
Rushton Triangular Lodge3
The number of rooms on
each floor of the lodge3
The number of gargoyles
on each side of the lodge33
The number of letters in each
Biblical inscription on the gables33.3
The length (in feet) of each
side of the lodgeIN NUMBERS
DID YOU KNOW?
A Latin inscription on the lodge’s
front entrance reads: Tres Testimonium
Dant (“Three bears witness”). As well
as being a Biblical quotation from
St John’s Gospel, it is also a pun on
Sir Thomas Tresham’s name. His wife
nicknamed him Good Tres.B
orn in 1543, Sir Thomas Tresham
was a rich, well-read and
ambitious man. His grandfather
had left him great wealth,
he studied law at the Middle Temple, and
he was knighted aged just 32. He was also
a strict Catholic, something that would
define his life and legacy.
Sir Thomas was arrested in 1581 for
harbouring a Catholic priest and imprisoned
for many years. He racked up thousands
of pounds of fines for refusing to attend
Church of England services. His eldest son
Francis was one of the Gunpowder Plot
conspirators who attempted to blow up
the Houses of Parliament in 1605 (in fact,
the young Tresham is widely thought to belong, are inscribed under the gables,
including Quis separabit nos a charitate
Christi? (“Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ?”) from Romans 8:35.
Catholic symbols adorn the sides too,
including a candelabra and the hand of God.
While most of the lodge is a clear
statement of Sir Thomas’s beliefs, there
are several elements that have confused
experts. The numbers 1580, 1595, 1626,
1641, 3509 and 3898 are carved in the
gables, while 5555 is inscribed above the
door (though some think it reads 3333).
We’ll perhaps never know the significance
of these digits, but they add to the
mysterious pull of this curious structure.
http://www.english-heritage.org.ukresponsible for its failure, after he wrote to
Lord Monteagle warning him to stay away).
A more lasting expression of Sir Thomas’s
faith is, however, the Rushton Triangular
Lodge, which he designed during his long
imprisonment. It was built around the
corner from his family seat of Rushton Hall,
just outside Kettering in Northamptonshire.
Many features of this eccentric folly are
connected to Roman Catholicism with the
number three – symbolic of the Holy Trinity- dominating the design. The floorplan is a
perfect equilateral triangle, there are three
windows on each of the three, 33-foot sides,
and the trefoil – three interlocking circles,
a Tresham family emblem – is repeatedly
used throughout. Latin texts, each 33 letters
STRANGE
BUT TRUE
Despite the triangular outer
shape and Sir Thomas’s
obsession with the number
three, the main rooms on each
floor of the lodge are in fact
hexagonal. However, this does
leave three smaller triangles in
each corner, two of which are
rooms and the third houses a
spiral staircase.077_DB_Insider_AprMay20.indd 77 25/02/2020 14:59discoverbritainmag.com 77THE INSIDERFacts, figures and stories about England’s most eccentric Catholic folly
DAVE PORTER/IAN DAGNALL/ALAMY/ENGLISH HERITAGE PHOTO LIBRARY
RUSHTON TRIANGULAR LODGE
3
The number of floors in the
Rushton Triangular Lodge3
The number of rooms on
each floor of the lodge3
The number of gargoyles
on each side of the lodge33
The number of letters in each
Biblical inscription on the gables33.3
The length (in feet) of each
side of the lodgeINNUMBERS
DID YOU KNOW?
A Latin inscription on the lodge’s
front entrance reads: Tres Testimonium
Dant (“Three bears witness”). As well
as being a Biblical quotation from
St John’s Gospel, it is also a pun on
Sir Thomas Tresham’s name. His wife
nicknamed him Good Tres.B
orn in 1543, Sir Thomas Tresham
was a rich, well-read and
ambitious man. His grandfather
had left him great wealth,
he studied law at the Middle Temple, and
he was knighted aged just 32. He was also
a strict Catholic, something that would
define his life and legacy.
Sir Thomas was arrested in 1581 for
harbouring a Catholic priest and imprisoned
for many years. He racked up thousands
of pounds of fines for refusing to attend
Church of England services. His eldest son
Francis was one of the Gunpowder Plot
conspirators who attempted to blow up
the Houses of Parliament in 1605 (in fact,
the young Tresham is widely thought to belong, are inscribed under the gables,
including Quis separabit nos a charitate
Christi? (“Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ?”) from Romans 8:35.
Catholic symbols adorn the sides too,
including a candelabra and the hand of God.
While most of the lodge is a clear
statement of Sir Thomas’s beliefs, there
are several elements that have confused
experts. The numbers 1580, 1595, 1626,
1641, 3509 and 3898 are carved in the
gables, while 5555 is inscribed above the
door (though some think it reads 3333).
We’ll perhaps never know the significance
of these digits, but they add to the
mysterious pull of this curious structure.
http://www.english-heritage.org.ukresponsible for its failure, after he wrote to
Lord Monteagle warning him to stay away).
A more lasting expression of Sir Thomas’s
faith is, however, the Rushton Triangular
Lodge, which he designed during his long
imprisonment. It was built around the
corner from his family seat of Rushton Hall,
just outside Kettering in Northamptonshire.
Many features of this eccentric folly are
connected to Roman Catholicism with the
number three – symbolic of the Holy Trinity- dominating the design. The floorplan is a
perfect equilateral triangle, there are three
windows on each of the three, 33-foot sides,
and the trefoil – three interlocking circles,
a Tresham family emblem – is repeatedly
used throughout. Latin texts, each 33 letters
STRANGE
BUT TRUE
Despite the triangular outer
shape and Sir Thomas’s
obsession with the number
three, the main rooms on each
floor of the lodge are in fact
hexagonal. However, this does
leave three smaller triangles in
each corner, two of which are
rooms and the third houses a
spiral staircase.