Black Country's Gunpowder Plot house will be added to 'at risk' register after concerns raised for future
The Black Country house where the ring leaders of the Gunpowder Plot made their last stand will be added to Historic England's Heritage at Risk register, the organisation has said.
Concerns have been growing about the future of Holbeche House in Wall Heath, near Dudley, since a nursing home which occupied the building closed a year ago.
The 423-year-old house, the home of Gunpowder Plotter Stephen Lyttelton, is where the remaining members of the gang retreated after their failed attempt to blow up Parliament on November 5, 1605. The house was surrounded by 200 men led by Sheriff Richard Walsh.
During their flight, the plotters' gunpowder had become sodden with rain, and there was an explosion when they tried to dry it in front of the fire.
Ring leader Robert Catesby was fatally wounded, and most of the other plotters were either killed or wounded in the ensuing fight. Some walls at Holbeche House have holes from muskets used in the storming of the house.
