The Gunpowder SPOT! Gatehouse of manor where Guy Fawkes met gang which plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 appears on Airbnb for £300-a-night
- Fawkes was part of group led by Robert Catesby who planned to kill King James I
- Gatehouse is part of Ashby Manor in Ashby St Ledgers, Northamptonshire
It was the most famous attempt to assassinate a King and his courtiers in history.
In what became known as the Gunpowder Plot, Catholic conspirators led by Robert Catesby fatefully planned to kill James I by blowing up Parliament in 1605.
Now, those with a taste for reliving history can sleep in the gatehouse of Catesby's manor, where he met with failed assassin Guy Fawkes and other conspirators as they planned the mass murder.
The three-bed property, available for £300-a-night, is just yards from the room in the ten-bed Ashby Manor, where the men met in the days leading up to November 5, 1605.
The manor was the ancestral home of the Catesby family from 1375 until 1611.
Described as the 'perfect country getaway' on Airbnb, the gatehouse in the village of Ashby St Ledgers, Northamptonshire, boasts two double bedrooms and another sleeping area with three single beds.
Those with a taste for reliving history can rent the gatehouse of the manor where the Gunpowder Plot was planned in 1605. Above: The property in Ashby St Ledger,
In what became known as the Gunpowder Plot, Catholic conspirators led by Robert Catesby (depicted above with Guy Fawkes and other plooters) fatefully planned to kill James I by blowing up Parliament in 1605
The listing on Airbnb reads: 'Offered for the first time in its history to guests, The Gatehouse at Ashby Manor House is one of the most intriguing houses in England.
'From 1375 to 1611 it [the manor] was the home of the Catesby family. In 1605 Robert Catesby & his fellow conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, gathered in the Manor's Plot Room next to the gatehouse.
'There they conspired to assassinate King James I & his courtiers by blowing up the Houses of Parliament in one of England's most notorious acts of treason, the Gunpowder Plot.'
Fawkes was famously caught on the evening of November 4 after an anonymous letter revealed the plot to the authorities.
He was found guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder in the basement of the House of Lords.
The intention had been to detonate them during the State Opening of Parliament the following day
The three-bed property, available for £300 a night, is just yards from the room in the ten-bed Ashby Manor House where the men met in the days leading up to November 5, 1605
One of the plush double bedrooms in the gatehouse of Ashby Manor. It is available to rent from £300 a night
Another room has three single beds and is described as being perfect for children
Catesby's ten-bed manor is believed to date from the mid-16th century and was later enlarged by famed architect Sir Edward Lutyens in the early part of the 20th century. Above: The gate house's bathroom
The kitchen of the gatehouse is seen above. The property also boasts a private back garden
The living room of the gate house. The property is ideal for anyone with a taste for history
The plot was hatched by Catesby and others after it had become clear that King James I, who came to power in 1603, was going to continue the persecution of Catholics carried out by his predecessor Queen Elizabeth I.
After Fawkes's arrest, Catesby and the other plotters fled the 80 miles from London back to Ashby St Ledgers in seven hours.
Catesby died two days later in a shootout as he attempted to resist arrest at Holbeach House in Staffordshire.
His head was later cut off and taken to London, where it was stuck on the roof of Parliament.
Fawkes and fellow conspirators Thomas Wintour, Ambrose Rookwood and Robert Keyes were hanged, drawn and quartered in the Old Palace Yard, opposite Parliament at Westminster.
Along with the original gatehouse, the 32-acre estate boasts barns and dovecotes. Above
Fawkes's death came after he was subjected to three months of interrogation and torture.
His signature on the confession he made on November 9 was barely legible, demonstrating the impact of the torture.
Catesby's ten-bed manor is believed to date from the mid-16th century and was later enlarged by famed architect Sir Edward Lutyens in the early part of the 20th century.
Along with the original gatehouse, the estate boasts barns and dovecotes. In 2015, it came up for sale for £19million.
Guy Fawkes Inn
Sit by the fire, where you can conspire: The conspiracy lounge in the Guy Fawkes Inn
Traditional Guy Fawkes Bonfire Night Celebration
Participants parade through the town during the annual Bonfire Night festivities in Lewes, Britain
Bonfire societies parade through the streets
The event in Lewes not only marks the tale of Guy Fawkes and the uncovering of the Gunpowder Plot on November 5 1605, but also commemorates the burning of 17 Protestant martyrs in the town's High Street in the 16th century. To mark their demise, 17 burning crosses are traditionally carried through the town
Shops were boarded up
The event marks Guy Fawkes Night and the uncovering of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and commemorates the memory of seventeen Protestant martyrs from the town who were burned at the stake
A number of local societies now pick a prominent celebrity or politician to be placed on top of the bonfire
Bonfire Night - formally known as Guy Fawkes Night - marks the failed gunpowder plot to blow up Parliament.
It takes its name from Guy Fawkes - the ringleader of the Catholic plot designed to assassinate the Protestant King James I and replace him with a Catholic.
The plot failed, the conspirators were discovered and they were all hanged, drawn and quartered.
Londoners celebrated James I surviving the murder attempt by lighting bonfires around the city, and within months Guy Fawkes Night was established.
It has been celebrated each year ever since, with communities marking it with fireworks and lighting bonfires which they burn a Guy on.
US President Joe Biden has also attracted the ire of bonfire societies
Locals in Lewis, East Sussex marched through the town
Bonfire night marks the capture of Guy Fawkes, a Roman Catholic mercenary who planned to blow up parliament
The Lewes bonfire is regarded as the largest in the country each November 5
Another of the effigies featured an illuminated Covid-19 model with a black death plague mask
Who is Guy Fawkes and what is Bonfire Night?
Bonfire Night is held on November 5 every year in the UK, and commemorates the failed 'Gunpowder Plot' of 1605 - when Fawkes and a mob of co-conspirators attempted to blow up the House of Lords in London to kill King James I.
The group wanted to take out the Protestant ruler and replace him with a Catholic head of state.
Fawkes managed to smuggle a staggering 36 barrels of into a cellar of the building that is home to the British Parliament. It would have been enough to level the entire palace.
But the plan was stopped when a letter was sent on November 4 warning William Parker, the 4th Baron Monteagle, to stay away from the building the next day.
As a result of the tip-off, Westminster Palace was searched, and Fawkes was found just moments before he was able to bring the house to the ground with what would have been a devastating explosion.
Although Fawkes was not the mastermind of the plot - that infamous honor belongs to Robert Catesby - he is the man most remembered and associated with the would-be assassination.
In addition to burning effigies of Fawkes on Bonfire Night, people in the UK also set off fireworks and parade through the streets.
Masks of Fawkes' face are also commonly worn, and in recent years they have been adopted as a symbol by the online hacking group, Anonymous. They were also featured in the 2006 film, V for Vendetta.
What is the Gunpowder Plot?
The Gunpowder Plot refers to the 1605 plot by Catholic zealots to blow up Parliament in order to assassinate King James I and overthrow Protestant rule.
Although Guy Fawkes is the most famous conspirator, he was by no means the one who conceived the plan.
Fawkes was drafted in by Thomas Wintour, the cousin of the plot’s mastermind Lord Robert Catesby. Fawkes distinguished himself in military matters during the 80 Years War, where he fought on the side of Catholic Spain against the Protestant Dutch, and developed an intimate knowledge of gunpowder and explosives—which were crucial to the plot.
After the initial meeting in May 1604, where Catesby, Fawkes, Wintour and Thomases Percy and Wright swore an oath of loyalty, the final tally of conspirators grew to 13 by March 1605.
The conspirators rented a basement storeroom in the Palace of Westminster, to which 36 barrels of gunpowder were transported. The plot was supposed to be executed months before the final 5th November date, but Parliament continued to be delayed, forcing the conspirators to wait.
Despite being the most famous conspirator, Guy Fawkes was not the mastermind of the plot
Crucially, the plot remained secret all that time, until late October 1605, when the nobleman Lord Monteagle received an unsigned letter that read: ‘My lord, out of the love I bear to some of your friends, I have a care of your preservation, therefore I would advise you as you tender your life to devise some excuse to shift of your attendance at this parliament . . . for though there be no appearance of any stir, yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow.’
Monteagle passed the letter to King James’s spymaster Robert Cecil and at midnight on 5th November, Guy Fawkes was discovered in the storeroom holding long fuses and matches after a second search of the Palaces.
Giving his name as John Johnson, Fawkes was tortured for two days straight before he broke and revealed the details of the plot. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered alive in January 1606—the standard punishment for those convicted of treason.
However, he defied his sentence by jumping from the gallows and snapping his neck. On principle, his corpse was hanged, drawn and quartered anyway.
Some ten per cent of young Britons believe Guido Fawkes was a fictional character while seven per cent believed he is responsible for the invention of fireworks
Fawkes has long been seen as the lead villain in the Catholic conspiracy group, who wanted to blow up King James I of England while he sat on his throne during the opening of Parliament
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes and his fellow co-conspirators were sentenced to death and were hung, drawn and quartered
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