Thomas Tresham was the father of Francis Tresham, who was one of the gunpowder plotters, and like his son Thomas was a Catholic at a time when persecution by the Protestant authorities was commonplace. Rather than resorting to gunpowder, however, Thomas Tresham expressed his Catholic faith in the design and decoration of two buildings Triangular Lodge and Lyveden New Bield in Northamptonshire. Every aspect of these buildings, from their shape and proportions to their window design and exterior decoration is a secret expression of the Catholic faith whilst Triangular Lodge also bears cryptic inscriptions, some of which have yet to be decoded.

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