Crucifix linked to Gunpowder Plot goes on display in York

The crucifix was found in a priest hole where Father Edward Oldcorne was hiding following the failed Gunpowder Plot in 1605

A 400-year-old crucifix linked to the Gunpowder Plot has gone on display in a York convent.

The cross was owned by Catholic priest Father Edward Oldcorne, who was friends with Guy Fawkes and some of the other plotters.

He was arrested in 1605 after the failed attempt to blow up Parliament and kill King James I.

Oldcorne was later executed, despite no evidence linking him to the assassination attempt.

The crucifix was found after troops discovered the Jesuit hiding inside a priest hole at Hindlip Hall - a stately home in Worcestershire.

It is now on display at the Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre.

'Historic event'

Sister Patricia Harriss described the cross housed in a wooden case as "one of the most remarkable items in our possession."

"Today, Bonfire Night is a celebration with fireworks but in 1605 it was an event that had a profound effect on Catholics and shocked the whole country," she said.

"This crucifix, now more than 400 years old, was hidden in the priest's hole with Blessed Edward Oldcorne and would have offered him comfort in his final days.

"It is incredible that it has survived and can now be used to tell the story of these men and of this extraordinary historic event that has such strong links to the city of York."

Father Oldcorne was hung, drawn and quartered in 1606 in a crackdown on the Catholic faith in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot.

He was beatified, the first step to becoming a saint, by the Vatican in 1929.

The Jesuit priest had attended St Peter's School in York, alongside Fawkes and fellow plotters Christopher and John Wright.

The school has a ban on the burning of guys on Bonfire Night after a former headmaster declared that it should not burn effigies of former pupils.

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