The Gunpowder Plot – a fool proof plan that wasn’t!

Let’s make history fun, this was a plan that the conspirators, pictured above, thought was fool proof, unfortunately it wasn’t!

The Church of Egland had been formed 80 years before, but the conspirators were not happy, they wanted to bring the Catholic religion back to England, and it was obvious to them that James 1, the new king from Scotland wasn’t going to do that. 

So they realised that to change the religion, they had to kill the government as well, and that meant blowing up the House of Lords as well.  It was that simple!  

They therefore came up with a plan was to blow up the House of Lords, when the king, the Lords and the Commons were all in the chamber, starting a revolution that would bring the Catholic religion back to England.

They learnt that a cellar directly under the House of Lords was for rent, amazing isn’t it, and that the tenant was moving out. One of the conspirators, Thomas Percy, rented it. They filled it with gunpowder and waited for the state opening of Parliament as everyone would be there. And then, bang!!!

However, it all went wrong, as personal feelings got in the way, it wasn’t foolproof!

Someone warned a friend not to go and it blew the plot!

Our satallite site Educational Musical has a musical telling this story The Gunpowder Plot -Remember, Remember the 5th of November  where you can read two pages of script and hear two two of the songs, then downlaod the show immediatly.

Let your children enjoy themselves and make

History Fun.

10 questions on this subject:

1. 1. 1. What was the main goal of the conspirators mentioned in the blog?
      2. Why were the conspirators unhappy with the Church of England?
      3. Who was the new king that the conspirators believed would not bring back the Catholic religion to England?
      4. What was the conspirators’ plan to change the religion in England?
      5. What significant event were the conspirators planning to target with their plot?
      6. How did the conspirators gain access to a location under the House of Lords?
      7. Who among the conspirators rented the cellar under the House of Lords?
      8. What did the conspirators fill the rented cellar with?
      9. What personal action led to the failure of the conspirators’ plan?
      10. How was the plot ultimately uncovered?

More information:

https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/guy-fawkes-and-the-gunpowder-plot/#gs.ovxuj7

https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/gunpowder-plot 

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/gunpowder-plot/

© Tony Dalton