Where did the Gunpowder Plot conspirators meet in 1604 to swear secrecy over their plan?

The Gunpowder Plot conspirators met at the Duck and Drake tavern in London to swear secrecy over their plan.

The meeting took place in May 1604, when Robert Catesby, Thomas Wintour, John Wright and Guy Fawkes formalised the conspiracy. They gathered in a private room at the Duck and Drake, a tavern in the Strand area of London.

The conspirators reportedly took an oath of secrecy before attending Mass celebrated by the Jesuit priest John Gerard. The meeting marked the transition from general Catholic discontent to a specific plan to destroy the House of Lords at the state opening of Parliament.

The tavern is sometimes confused with other famous London inns and theatres associated with the early Stuart period. The plotters’ later activities involved rented properties near Westminster, but the Duck and Drake was the setting of their early oath and planning meeting.