“Remember, remember The fifth of November Gunpower, treason and plot I see no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot”

It is likely that you do remember the fifth of November, considering Guy Fawkes - or Bonfire - Night is a key fixture in the English autumn calendar.

Dating back over 400 years, the uniquely English festivity continues to be celebrated and taught in schools across the country, marking the enduring promise of remembrance for what Guy Fawkes and his fellow plotters did on November 5, 1605.

The ‘Gunpowder Plot’ comprised 36 barrels of gunpowder hidden behind a pile of firewood in a storeroom beneath Westminster, intended to be used to blow up the Houses of Parliament, King James I and his council.

Here’s where you can celebrate Guy Fawkes Night in and around Chichester. Photo: Chuttersnap (free to use under Unsplash License).

placeholder image — Here’s where you can celebrate Guy Fawkes Night in and around Chichester. Photo: Chuttersnap (free to use under Unsplash License).

To cut a long story short, the plot became what it did because there were religious tensions between Catholics and Protestants. James I, a Protestant king with Catholic sympathies, had signed a peace treaty with Spain - meaning the European nation could never invade England and reinstate Catholicism.

For Catholics, this was a terrible turn of events. And so, on May 20, 1604, a group of devout believers met at a pub in London and plotted to blow up the king and Parliament.

The group were ultimately caught, with Guy Fawkes tortured into confessing. Despite the famous image of a Guy Fawkes on a bonfire, the real person was not actually burned. Instead, the tradition has changed over time and grown into what it is today.

Although it may seem rather archaic now, we continue to celebrate the fifth of November because the original Act which enforced special church services marking Parliament’s survival of the plot has transformed into great displays of fireworks and warming bonfires - perhaps more an excuse to gather together on a cold November night.

Here’s where you can celebrate Guy Fawkes Night in and around Chichester:

Midhurst Rother College