James I / The Gunpowder Plot
7 Coughton Court Warwickshire
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/coughton-courtCoughton Court is a stately Tudor house
currently owned by the National Trust butstill inhabited by the Throckmorton family
who have resided here since 1409. The
Throckmortons are said to be the oldest
Catholic family in England and unusually
they have managed to keep hold of many
of their religious treasures, some of which
are now on display.
In 1605, the court was being rented by
Sir Everard Digby, one of the gunpowder
plotters. On 6 November, he was on the
move with Catesby when word got to the
house of Fawkes’s arrest. Among those
assembled there were Digby’s wife and
Henry Garnett, England’s leading Jesuit.
Garnett had known of the plot and had
advised against it, but all the same
he found himself implicated and a
wanted man.
Garnett left Coughton in late
November, ending up in Hindlip Hall near
Worcester. There he was captured on 27
January 1606, as part of a round-up of
Jesuits, and taken to the Tower of London.6 The Tower of London London
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondonIt was William the Conqueror who
started work on London’s famous tower
in the late 11th century. Over its history
it has held numerous celebrity
prisoners such as Walter Ralegh,
Thomas More and the Kray twins.
One of the most notorious inmates was
Guy Fawkes who arrived here shortly
after he had been caught with the
barrels of gunpowder.
Initially Fawkes refused to betray his
fellow conspirators but after a few
days he relented and provided his
interrogators with the information they
wanted. James I had personally
authorised the use of “the gentler
tortures” and an examination of
Fawkes’s signature on his first and
second confessions suggests he had
been badly shaken by the experience.
Other plotters who were
subsequently rounded up also found
themselves in the Tower. Here they
languished while awaiting trial. Francis
Tresham sickened and died in
December before he could take the
stand. Eight others, including Fawkes,
went on trial on 27 January 1606,
charged with high treason.
Guilty verdicts were announced for
the eight men and the executions were
carried out on 30 and 31 January at St
Paul’s Churchyard and Old Palace Yard,
Westminster. As befitted traitors,
Fawkes and his colleagues were hung,
drawn and quartered.
The remains of the plotters were
attached to spikes on London Bridge as
a stark warning to future conspirators.THE GUNPOWDER PLOT:
9 PLACES TO EXPLORE
Guy Fawkes was just
one of the Tower’s
well-known prisoners
ALAMY, DREAMSTIME5 The Palace of Westminster London
http://www.parliament.ukThe initial group of conspirators
numbered five, but by October 1605
it had grown to 13. The last to be
recruited was Francis Tresham, a
wealthy Catholic gentleman. Tresham,
though, was far from convinced by the
plan and tried to persuade the plotters
to abandon it. Many believe that it was
he who sent the letter to his brother-in-
law, Lord Monteagle, warning him that
something was afoot.
Monteagle took the note to Robert
Cecil, the secretary of state. Cecil
oversaw a powerful intelligence
network and it is possible that he knew
of the plot already. In fact, theories
persist that he himself had penned the
letter in order to test Monteagle’s
loyalty. One of the plotters, Thomas
Winter, got wind of the Monteagle letter
and told Catesby the news, but the
ringleader refused to be dissuaded
from the plan.
Cecil took the message to King
James, but nothing was done with the
initially. Then, on 4 November, the Earl
of Suffolk made an inspection of the
vaults. There they found Fawkes,
together with a great deal of firewood
that was covering the gunpowder. King
James ordered a second search at
midnight. This time Fawkes wasarrested and the hidden gunpowder
barrels discovered.
The Houses of Parliament were
saved. In 1834, a great fire destroyed
most of the buildings, except for
Westminster Hall. Charles Barry
redesigned the Palace of Westminster
in the following decades and it is now
open to visitors.Westminster Hall
was the only part of
the Houses of
Parliament to survive
the fire in 1834Coughton Court was rented by Sir
Everard Digby, one of the plotters