[MR] Priest Holes

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1581, Jesuit Robert Campion and two other Catholics were
put to death on Tyburn Hill for treason. Nasty stuff upon which I won't
comment further, but this story led me to contemplate another aspect of the
struggles of recusant Catholics in Elizabethan England: priest holes.

Priest holes were secret chambers built into Catholic homes. They allowed
traveling priests a hide-out during if the house was raided by "priest
hunters". Most were closet-sized blind passages, but a few led to actual
escape routes from the house. Some included a false room in which some
minor valuables were kept to confuse searchers, with a second secret refuge
beyond the "treasure" room. There were also hidden chapels with an altar
and were large enough for several believers to attend mass. Harvington Hall
in Worcestershire has seven priest holes, probably some sort of record.

Many of these secret rooms were designed by a lay-Jesuit brother named
Nicholas Owen. Owen was captured after the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, and
died under torture.

Wikipedia has an interesting page on priest holes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole .

Agecroft Hall in Richmond, Virginia has a replica priest hole which is
shown during their tour. The owners, the of the Hall, the Dauntesey
family, are thought to have included recusant Catholics. There likely was
at least one priest hole in the original building, though it was lost when
the structure was torn down and the best parts sent to America. Thus the
reproduction priest hole is not unreasonable:
http://www.agecrofthall.com/View.aspx?page=visit/collections/objectofthemonth/november2015askthepast
.

Of course this is a shameless plug for Agecroft Hall, but I hope you will
all forgive that.

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge