Why we should 'burn Roberts, not Guys' on Bonfire Night

Think of the Gunpowder Plot and you probably picture Guy Fawkes and barrels of explosives beneath the Houses of Parliament.

But Northamptonshire?

The county played a central but often overlooked part of the story, according to Tudor and medieval historian Dr Elizabeth Norton.

She says that while Guy Fawkes, from York, became the plot's "poster boy" after being caught in the cellars beneath Parliament, there is much more to the story.

"[Northamptonshire] is absolutely key. The plot was developed in the county and a lot of the plotters come from Northamptonshire," she says.

"We burn Guys on the bonfire but we should be burning Roberts for Robert Catesby, who was the architect of the plot."

Catesby lived at Ashby St Ledgers, near Daventry.

"Catesby recruits the plotters, often from his own family, and very much drives it forward," the historian says.

"I think Guy Fawkes gets all the attention because he's captured and he's interrogated and executed.

"It has led to York getting more attention than Northamptonshire.

"There are so many places in Northamptonshire you can go and visit that have an association."

Andrew Roberts, a curator at English Heritage, says the 1605 plot was rooted in religious turmoil in the country at the time.

"It's a plot to blow up both the Protestant government in Parliament and King James by a group of Catholics, many of whom are from Northamptonshire," he says.

Roberts explains that an anonymous letter leading to the plot's discovery could have been written by Francis Tresham, who lived at Rushton Hall, near Rothwell.

The letter was sent to Catholic peer Lord Monteagle, warning him to stay away from the State Opening of Parliament.

"Tresham seems very anxious about the fact that some of his friends and family might be harmed or killed in the plot," says Roberts.

"The letter is anonymous but it's most likely to be [written by] Francis Tresham because Lord Monteagle is his brother-in-law.

"Lord Monteagle takes [the letter] to Robert Cecil, the Secretary of State, who then investigates and eventually uncovers the plot just in the nick of time."

Roberts says that Tresham died of natural causes in the Tower of London and was declared a traitor after his death.

"His body is beheaded and his head is put on public display alongside Robert Catesby in Northampton," he says.

The plot is said to have been hatched in the gatehouse of the Manor House at Ashby St Ledgers, then owned by the Catesby family.

Historian and TV presenter Lucy Worsley has described it as the "perfect place" for the conspirators to meet.

Today it is owned by Nova Guest and her husband Henry. She says the house became one of the places from which the plotters attempted to gather the resources they needed after the conspiracy had been discovered.

Details of those present at the house on 5 November 1605 after the plot's failure are well documented, she says, because conspirator Robert Wintour described the events after his capture.

"While Lady Catesby was inside preparing to sit down to supper, her son and several of the most wanted men in England were waiting outside [the house] on horseback knowing that the conspiracy had failed," she says.

"It is an extraordinary image."

Three days later, on 8 November, Catesby was killed in a gun battle with government forces at Holbeche House, Dudley.

Charles Lister, property manager at Boughton House, near Kettering, says the celebrations we know today as Bonfire Night also have strong ties to Northamptonshire.

Lister says Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton, had the idea to officially mark the failed plot through an Act of Parliament known as the Observance of 5 November Act.

"Lord [Edward] Montagu stands up in Parliament to say there should be an annual celebration," explains Lister.

"Rather than the celebrations we have today, he's more [concerned] about having prayers about the actual possible atrocity that could have happened.

"He's also very conscious that many of the great families of Northamptonshire were involved in the plot and he wants to differentiate himself from them."

Lister believes we wouldn't mark 5 November today had Montagu not proposed the Act.

"I think it was quite a forward-thinking thing to do," he says.

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