 A terrestrial globe was discovered in Lord Leconfield 's library at Petworth House in Petworth , West Sussex , in July 1949 . According to the tradition of the Wyndham family , who are descended from Henry Percy , the 9th Earl of Northumberland , the globe belonged to Sir Walter Raleigh , who gave it to Northumberland when they were imprisoned together in the Tower of London . Northumberland , known as the " Wizard Earl " for his interest in scientific and alchemical experiments and his library , was suspected of being involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 because his relative Thomas Percy was among the conspirators . James I imprisoned Raleigh in the Tower for his supposed involvement in the Main Plot . Although the theory is supported by circumstantial evidence , a number of entries in Northumberland 's accounts relating to the mending of globes , one dating back to 1596 , suggest that the Molyneux globe may have belonged to him from the beginning and was not Raleigh 's . The globe , however , almost certainly spent many years in the Tower before its transfer to Petworth House , where Northumberland was confined upon his release in 1621 . 
