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When in 1603 James VI of Scotland became James I of England, Catholics in England briefly hoped their position might improve. Although James was himself Protestant, he was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, regarded as a martyr by English Catholics. James was aware of anti-Catholic feeling in England, and he therefore retained laws against Catholics and, in 1604, expelled Catholic priests from the country. A group of Catholic men: Thomas Percy, Jack Wright, John Winter and Guy Fawkes, under the leadership of Robert Catesby, planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 5 November, the day of the opening ceremony, when lords, bishops, the king and the heir to the throne would all be assembled there. The plot was discovered and the gunpowder removed the previous evening; as word spread, people across London lit bonfires to celebrate the plot's failure. Guy Fawkes, having been tortured on the rack, suffered the penalty for treason: hanging, drawing and quartering.
Particularly noticeable is the reduction in the number of courts baron recorded in this roll compared with the earlier rolls. The only business recorded at these meetings of the court baron is the transfer of copyhold land. It is clear that the open field system is still in operation; the description of lands surrendered indicates that the lands are scattered and defined by those lands lying adjacent. There are some closes mentioned and two references to lands recently taken from the lord's waste (the commons). This will have been done by agreement, and it suggests some pressure on available land. It is also clear that the growing of hemp was widespread at this time. A total of 80 people in the manor were presented at the autumn court leet for improper soaking of hemp, and a hempyard is mentioned in the lands surrendered by Thomas Lund on 22 October. This land transfer was, incidentally, inaccurately described in the record of that court, and the transfer was redone, this time clearly, at a court held on 31 December. Two land transfers in the roll demonstrate subletting, and that of Thomas Lund provides maintenance for life for his parents.
Aside from those soaking hemp, other offenders listed at the courts leet included, as in the past, those who acted against, or failed to act in accordance with, penalties that had been enjoined in order to regulate the use of the open fields and commons. Among them was Widow Lewes, who was amerced 4d for taking a faggot of wood from the hedges, a common offence when fuel was limited. Others were amerced for taking enclosed wood. Affrays continued to be presented, and in some cases more detail is recorded. In Dalton, John Hurst, having been involved in a fight with Thomas Tagg, boxed the ear of the constable who attempted to restore order. In Greasbrough Lawrence Foster attacked the constable there, and John Knopp failed to keep order in his own house. Harthill had a number of men amerced for playing an illicit game called "globands". An offence that dominated earlier rolls was brewing against the assize; this does not appear in the 1605 roll.