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House was 'perfect place' to hatch Gunpowder Plot

BBC Studios Lucy Worsley standing outside Ashby Manor, St Ledgers. She is wearing a dark coat, light shirt, is smiling and looking at the camera. She is standing in front of a historic house, with bricks and a large number of windows, the house behind is blurred. Lucy has blond chin length hair, with a side parting, and a clip to the left. BBC Studios
Lucy Worsley delved into the motivations and mindsets of the plotters

The house where the Gunpowder Plot was hatched was the "perfect place" for the conspirators to meet, according to historian and TV presenter Lucy Worsley.

For her latest BBC Two series, Lucy Worsley Investigates, she visited the Manor House at Ashby St Ledgers, Northamptonshire, where the conspiracy took shape.

The plan, which came close to blowing up the Houses of Parliament on 5 November 1605, was hatched by a group of radical Catholic conspirators at the family home of leading plotter Robert Catesby.

"Visiting it, I could really see why it was a great place to meet," said Worsley.

BBC Studios The actor Caz Paul playing Robert Gatesby, he has long shoulder length dark curly hair and is in a dark room. He is looking away from the camera.BBC Studios
Robert Catesby's role in the Gunpowder Plot is explained in the new TV programme

The foiling of the plot is celebrated every year on Bonfire Night.

Worsley said visiting the manor's Gatehouse helped her understand why the plotters chose it as their meeting place.

"What was fascinating about going to Catesby's home at Ashby St Ledgers was being in the room where the project initiation meeting happened," she said.

"Catesby's mum was living in the big house and he wanted to protect her from any knowledge of what was going on.

"The Gatehouse is right on this corner of the road, so you can look out of two different windows to see if anyone's coming. It's the perfect place for doing a plot."

BBC Studios Lucy Worsley standing outside Ashby Manor, St Ledgers. She is holding a black bag, and wearing a dark coat, brown boots, is smiling and looking at the camera. She is standing between two wooden gates, brick columns, with a historical house behind her, with stone bricks and a large number of windows. BBC Studios
Lucy Worsley visits the rooms where the plotters secretly met

She said working on the programme, The Gunpowder Plot, allowed her to see the events "through 21st Century eyes".

  • 1573 - Robert Catesby is born
  • 1603 - Thomas Percy visits Catesby at Ashby St Ledgers
  • November 4 1605 - the Gunpowder Plot is foiled
  • November 8 1605 - Catesby is shot dead at Holbeche House, in Kingswinford, Dudley
BBC Studios Three actors portraying Guy Fawkes, Thomas Wintour, and Robert Catesby. They are dressed in historical dark clothing, in a room, with a window, which is dark. They all look tense and serious. BBC Studios
The Gunpowder Plotters: Guy Fawkes (Gregor Davidson), Thomas Wintour (Andy Noble) and Robert Catesby (Caz Paul)

The events of 1605 had taken place in a time of "religion, extremism and violence", she explained.

But Worsley stressed that Guy Fawkes, the man most closely associated with the plot, "was only the hired help; he wasn't part of the core plotters".

She said: "The burning of Guy Fawkes was mandated by the government because everyone was supposed to celebrate the fact he was caught and the plot had been foiled."

After Fawkes was captured, he did give the names of Catesby and others involved, she added.

Series two of Lucy Worsley Investigates is broadcast on BBC Two on Fridays at 21:00 GMT.

You can also watch it via the BBC iPlayer.

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