Private School News

‘The Gunpowder Treason Martyrs’ (Wed 4th November 2009)

A Presentation at Bilton Grange Preparatory School on Wednesday, 4th November at 7:00 p.m.(Ticketed event)

It is known that Sir Everard Digby was lodging in Dunchurch while the Gunpowder plot unfolded while Robert Catesby, the charismatic leader of the plotters, had properties at both Lapworth and Ashby St. Legers.

The Gunpowder Plotters also stayed at the Red Lion Inn (now a private residence called ‘Guy Fawkes House’) in Dunchurch awaiting news of Guy Fawkes’s success at blowing up the Houses of Parliament.

Some villagers say that the very first ‘Guy Fawkes Peal’ was rung in 1605 at St Peter’s Church, Dunchurch, to drown the sound of the hooves of the Militia horses when they were coming to arrest the conspirators.

The plot involved many members of respected and wealthy Catholic families spread across the West Midlands. From their bases here, families such as the Wintours, Throckmortons and Treshams stored large amounts of arms, armour, ammunition and horses from which to launch the rebellion to return England to its Catholic past.

Unravelling the mystery of the Dunchurch connection with the Gunpowder Plot will be Mrs Jan Graffius, the Stonyhurst College Curator. Her Presentation, ‘The Gunpowder Treason Martyrs’ will take place in the Ravenscroft Hall at Bilton Grange on Wednesday, 4th November at 7:00 p.m.

Blessed Edward Oldcorne or Oldcorn (b. 1561; executed 7 April1606) was an English Jesuit priest. He was known to people who knew of the Gunpowder Plot to destroy the Parliament of England and kill King James I, and, although his involvement is unclear, he was caught up in the subsequent investigation. He is a Catholic martyr, and was beatified in 1929.
Mrs Jan Graffius will be bringing with here a small, silver, eye-shaped locket with an inscription identifying its contents as the right eye of Blessed Edward Oldcorne, executed in 1606 for supposed involvement in the Gunpowder Plot. This object, both ordinary and startlingly out of the ordinary, tells a powerful story that cuts across the centuries to our own times.

The Presentation has already attracted much press interest and is expected to be oversubscribed.
If you would like to attend (tickets are free), please contact Mr Jonathan Hewat at Bilton Grange – jhewat@biltongrange.co.uk or telephone 01788 818 249