Birthplace of Britain’s most infamous terrorist?
The United States gets out the fireworks to celebrate its independence. Indian pyrotechnics are launched as part of the festival of light. But Britain’s fireworks night has altogether darker origins, as it commemorates the capture – and subsequent torture and execution – of a former York resident.
Guido Fawkes was only one of the five-strong gang who planned to blow up the London Houses of Parliament in 1605, but he is the best remembered. As a military man, it was Guy who brought the gunpowder to the Gunpowder Plot.
Info
Address 25 High Petergate, York YO1 7HP, +44 (0)1904 466674, www.guyfawkesinnyork.com, reservations@guyfawkesinnyork.com | Public Transport 10-minute walk from York Railway Station. Closest bus stop: Exhibition Square | Tip You can meet Guy Fawkes on a trip around York Dungeon on Clifford Street. Don’t be too alarmed by his unlit fuse …
This was a time when English Catholics had been ruthlessly suppressed by the nation’s Protestant rulers. Guy was recruited into a Catholic conspiracy to assassinate the Protestant king, James I, during the opening of Parliament on November 5. The plotters stuffed barrels of gunpowder into a House of Lords undercroft. But acting on a tip-off, the authorities searched the building and discovered Guy carrying a box of matches and the explosives hidden under firewood. He was tortured for days and later executed opposite the building he had hoped to destroy in Westminster.
Interestingly, Guido was born and raised a Protestant in York, only converting to Catholicism after the death of his father. But where was he born? One suggestion is a room in a building behind what is now Guy Fawkes Inn on High Petergate. You can even stay here in one of the inn’s 13 en-suite bedrooms. Others claim nearby Stonegate as a more likely birthplace. One thing is certain: he was baptised in St Michael-le-Belfrey, directly opposite the pub – you’ll find a copy of the register inside the church.
Whatever the truth, a trip to the Guy Fawkes Inn is well worth it: fitted with gas-fired lamps and wood floors this historic three-storey former townhouse dating from 1700 is full of charm and character – and serves cracking real ale.
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