Why the Gunpowder Plot myth is wrong

HATCHING THE PLOT:

It is generally accepted that the Plot was first conceived by Robert Catesby in late February 1604. It was initiated on 20 May 1604 at an inn called the Duck & Drake in the Strand district of London, where five conspirators swore an oath of secrecy. There are traditions that the Plot was refined during the summer of 1604 at Catesby's mother's home in Ashby-St-Legers near Rugby.

CONCLUSION: There is not a shred of evidence that Guy Fawkes, or any other plotter ever came to Yateley, or that the Plot was hatched here.

STORAGE OF THE GUNPOWDER:

Before the gunpowder reached the coal cellars in the parliament building, the barrels were stored at Robert Catesby's house in Lambeth. Initially about 20 barrels were ferryed across the Thames, but about 16 more were added on 20 July 1605. After the arrest of Guy Fawkes during the night of 4th/5th November, the barrels were removed to the Tower of London, where they were found to be wet and the constituents separated.

The Monteagle gunpowder myth conjectures that the gunpowder was stored in the cellars of the house on its wayt from Bristol to London.

CONCLUSION: There is no evidence in the offical papers at The National Archives that the plotters imported gunpowder through Bristol, nor any evidence that the gunpowder was stored here.

RECEIPT OF THE ANONYMOUS LETTER:

On 26 Oct 1605 Lord Monteagle arranged a dinner party at one of his houses in London -- which he had not visited for several months -- if at all. It appears his wife had recently inherited it from her father. This house was in Hoxton, conveniently a short horse-ride from the palace in Whitehall. Whilst Lord Monteagle was seated at dinner with his guests one of his servants happened to be in the street outside the house. He was handed the anonymous letter by a tall dark stranger. Without opening the letter Lord Monteagle handed it to his secretary, Thomas Ward, to read out loud, so that everyone seated at dinner heard the contents. Monteagle then left the dinner table and rode directly to Whitehall where he handed the letter to the four most prominent members of the Privy Council, who happened to be having dinner together. The letter consisted of a easily decoded riddle that parliament was going to be blown up.

A photograph of the anonymous letter, with the Public Record Office rubber stamp on the back, used to hang framed in the porch of Monteagle House, and many people became convinced that Lord Monteagle had received the letter whilst living here in Yateley.

CONCLUSION: Lord Monteagle received the anonymous letter in Hoxton, just north of the City of London, not at Monteagle House

VERDICT: There is not a shred of evidence directly connecting Monteagle House or Yateley with the Gunpowder Plot. The only evidence for a connection with Lord Monteagle is the house's name.

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