Abutting on to the old House of Lords stand some houses with an entrance from the narrow passage, one of which has been leased to Percy, and has a small garden on the riverside.
It was here that the Gunpowder Plot conspirators led by Guy Fawkes brought their barrels of gunpowder, to be afterwards safely stored under the cellar of the House of Lords, Henry the Third's, and perhaps Edward the Confessor's, old kitchen.
The house had a river frontage, and a narrow, deserted passage to the stairs. Hence the powder could be brought to it at night in a barge, and landed without fear of any one being about.
The famous letter to Lord Monteagle fortunately averted what would have been one of the most horrible tragedies in history.
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