Fawkes and Warwickshire plotters

Until 1959 it was illegal not to celebrate Bonfire Night in the UK

Remember, remember the fifth of November. The tradition of Bonfire Night probably won't be lost having already survived over 400 years.

Even now there are still fireworks parties and bonfires are lit with guys.

The story of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot is one of the most famous of all time.

Everyone knows the tale of how Fawkes and his gang attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament, but many forget its Warwickshire origins.

The story begins with John Harington - the then occupant of Coombe Abbey - and Robert Catesby's attempts to kidnap a princess from the abbey itself.

The story begins

Harington was something of a social climber and went out of his way to make friends with King James I after the death of Queen Elizabeth.

FIREWORKS FACTS The first Bonfire Night celebration took place a year later, when an effigy of Guy Fawkes was burned on a pyre, leading to today's tradition of placing a guy on a bonfire Celebrating the plot's thwarting is done for fun now but until 1959 it was illegal not to celebrate Bonfire Night in the UK! Catherine Wheels are named after St Catherine, who was put to death on a spiked wheel Coloured fireworks were introduced in the 1800s

Such good friends did the now Lord Harington and the King become, that Coombe was chosen as the home of the young Princess Elizabeth and she was charged into the care of the new Baron.

As the princess grew up in the beautiful house and gardens at Coombe, she could not be aware of the unrest that was unfolding around the country as English catholics - hoping that James I would be more understanding of their faith than Elizabeth I had been - began to realise they were nowhere nearer getting what they wanted.

Robert Catesby of Lapworth began to hatch an audacious plan to do away with the King and his sons, and kidnap the then heir to the throne so Elizabeth could be indoctrinated in the ways of the catholic faith and re-introduce it to the country. But how would he do away with the King?

Guy Fawkes comes on board

Catesby gathered a group of soldiers, gentlemen and believers to carry out the plot with him and one of them was Guy Fawkes, who had become renowned across Europe for his single-mindedness and excellent fighting skills.

Guy - known as Guido, a name he affected while in the Netherlands - was joined by Thomas and Robert Winter and Thomas's Percy and Wright - and the gang set about formulating a plan to blow up Parliament with gunpowder stored underneath it.

The gang leased a building near the Houses of Parliament, which belonged to Henry Ferrers of Baddesley Clinton and began digging a tunnel from the building to the House.

John Grant, lord of the manor of Northbrook, which included Clopton House, Stratford, was brought on board and he supplied weapons and arms to the cause - as well as being put in charge of the kidnap of Princess Elizabeth.

The plotters' luck had an extraordinary upsurge when the cellars underneath the Houses of Parliament went on the market and they moved in quickly - along with 36 barrels of gunpowder.

More meetings - with yet more members added to the gang - were taking place in the area, including at the Bull Inn in Coventry and the White Lion at Dunchurch.

Meanwhile in London, Guy Fawkes was in the cellar, guarding the disguised barrels of gunpowder and waiting for the nod to strike the match.

Hung, drawn and quartered

The end to the plan was nigh when Lord Mounteagle received an anonymous note warning him not to sit in Parliament on 5 November and he showed it to the King.

Soon, the authorities were on the case of the plotters but they had no idea and pressed ahead with their plans.

Fawkes was captured under the Houses of Parliament on 5 November, 1605

In the early hours of 5 November, the cellars were stormed and Guy "Guido" Fawkes was captured and imprisoned.

Catesby and the rest of the gang escaped - some, including Catesby - were caught at Holbeche House, Staffordshire, and killed and the rest were delivered to London for torture, trial and execution.

The conspirators and Guy Fawkes were hung, drawn and quartered at a public execution in St Paul's Churchyard. Reports of the event suggest that Fawkes was so weak through torture and illness, he struggled to make it up the ladder to the gallows.