Possible explanation of the Yateley Myth

Although he never owned Monteagle House, the possibility that Lord Monteagle may have used the house cannot be ruled out. There is good evidence to suggest that he may well have found its location very convenient before, during, or after the Essex Rebellion, but before Queen Elizabeth died.

Because the only thing which most people know about Lord Monteagle is the anonymous letter, which revealed the Gunpowder Plot, it is not surprising that a legend that he was once linked with Monteagle House, has been transmuted over recent years into myths concerning Yateley and the Gunpowder Plot. Until research by the Yateley Society in the last 10 years it was thought that Yateley was a rural backwater where nothing much had ever happened, so it is not surprising that people feel a collective need to attach the village to a well-known national event. It is not surprising too that teachers, local histories and official guide books have quoted secondary sources, assuming them to have been properly researched, and not checking primary sources for themselves.

The only evidence that Lord Monteagle had any association with Monteagle House is the name of the property, and that could be just a coincidence. However the fact that the property was so named only 150 years after the event and the Lord Monteagle connection is found in print less than 200 years later, at a time when oral memories were sustained much longer than now, leads me to believe there is probably some interesting lhistory to be discovered.

If we can ever prove that Lord Monteagle did use Monteagle House, and if we can get to the bottom of why he did use it, the truth may well turn out to be very much more interesting than any Gunpowder Plot myth. I think the Essex Rebellion is likely to be the key.

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