2-889-590 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Catesby Hall - Gateway, Ashby St. Leger, 1850. Manor house in the village of Ashby St Ledgers, Northamptonshire, famous as a location for the planning of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. 'The house formerly belonged to Sir William Catesby, one of the three favourites who ruled the kingdom under Richard III...William Catesby was beheaded at Leicester'. One of his successors, Robert Catesby, was '...the contriver of the Gunpowder Plot...After his death, the estate was forfeited, and granted by the Crown to the family of Irving. It was subsequently sold to the family of Janson, who, in 1703, sold the property to the Ashleys, in whose descendant, Lady Senhouse, the present possession is vested. Our Illustration...shows the gateway, with the room over, in which the Conspirators met; and it is to this day, by the villagers of the neighbourhood, called "the Plot Room".' From "Illustrated London News", 1850.