The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-01-31
sEcRET ROOMS OF ENGLAND.
nondon Daily Many

Owen who devoted the greater part o.
a. life to constructing hiding places
for Prosecuted priests
The places were called priests holes
ana were made In various ways 9Th
the greatest skill n ingenuity. I'm the
principal Catholic houses all over Eax-
n
As Allan Fea shows In his very Iute--
esung book on THE Secret Rooms Of
England no precedents were allowed
tn HAS h choice NJ hiding hole IN
those who designed them. for the mo-c
remarkable the place the less lIkeIih.,od
fhere was OF its being discovered. one
Rouse would have its secret room In q
chimney. entered from the hearthstone.
though cases are recorded In which a
chimney pot unsullied by smoke has led
TO the detection OF the prey: nothe
would utilize a sliding or nc
ture. like that one In Lyme Hall. Chas-
hire: an innocent~iooking settle" would
prove the entrance Tn a hole. or n fai.e
hoor would accommodate refugees.
AT UPTON Court a curious place for
concealment exists In one OF the gables
close TO the ceiling.
IL Is triangular In shape. and IL OPEN
et oy a spring bolt that can b un-
iatched oS pulling a string which runs
through a tiny hole pierced I'm the
framework OF the door OF the adfoin-
ING room. The door Of the hiding Mac.
swings upon n pivot. and externally In
tn.ckly covered with plaster. so as to
resemble the rest of the wall. and Is So
SOLO mat when sounded there is no
hollow sound from the cavity behind
where. no doute. the cruclfx and sa-
cred vessels were secreted.
NOT Tor OF. In an upp garnet. Is n
hiding place In the thickness af the
wall. large enough TO contain y INA
upright Like the other the
door or entrance forms part OF the plas-
ter vail. Again. In one OF the passage
OF this curious old mansion are further
evidences OF the hardships to which Ro-
man priests were subjected a tran In
The floor. which can only be opened by
pulling up what exteriorly appears to
be the head OF one Of the nails of the
flooring: by raising this a spring is re-
leased and a trap door opened revealing
= large hole with n narrow ladder lead
ing down into IL. When this , irK
place was discovered in 1850 it's contents
were significant. viz: n cFucifix and two
ancient ~petronels.
ON the occasion that mass was 10 he
celebrated in these secret chapels IL was
customary to inform the ~neighborhood
bv some such understood signs as the
hanging out Of linen TO dry on the
hedges hard by.
The narrow escape OF some OF the
pIl SCtuttu pliSSNS WOulu MI EeNeTaI
volumes. and for thrilling excitement
that Of Father B1ount as Scotney Cas-
tie. the old house OF the Darralls on the
borders of Kent and Sussex. is 4 good
example.
One Christmas night, toward the close
or Elizabeth's reign. the castle was
seized by a party of priest hunters who,
with their usual mode OF procedure.
locked up the members OF the family Sc
curely before starting on their opera
tons. In the inner quadrangle OF the
mansion was n very remarkable and in
genious device. A large stone OF the
solid wall could be pushed aside.
Though of immense weight. IL was sn
balanced and adjusted that it required
only a slight pressure upon the side TO
affect an entrance to the hiding place
within. Upon the approach OF the enc
nv Father Blount and his servant hast
ened to the courtyard and entered the
vault. but in their hurry to close the
weighty door a small portion OF one OF
their girdles got damned in. so that a
part was visible from the outside. For
tunately for the fngutives some one in
the secret in passing the spot happened
to catch sight OF this tell-tale frag-
ment. n called gently to those within
10 endeavor to pull IL in. which they
eventually succeeded in doing.
AT this ONE the pursuers were at
work in another part of the castle. but
hearing the voice in the courtyard
rushed into 1t and CONNIE ed battering
the walls. and at times on the very
door Of the hiding plac which would
have given way had n hose within
put their combined We against Il
to keep II from yield It was n
pitchy dark night. and IL was pelting
with rain. so after a time. discouraged
at finding nothing, and wet to the skin.
the soldiers put off further search until
the following morning.
Few hiding places are associated with
50 tragic a story as that at Moyles
Court. Hants. where the venerable Lady
Alice Lisle. in pure charity. hid two
p~artisans Of Monmouth. John Hicke3
n Richard Nelthorpe. after the battle
of Sdgemoor. for which humane action
she was condemned to be burned alive
bv Judge J~efreys-a sentence commut-
et afterward to ~beheading. Ii In diff
cult TO associate this peaceful old
Jacobean mansion and the simple tomb
in the churchyard hard by>with so ter
rible a history. A lark hole I'm the wall
of the kitchen is additionally said to
be the place of concealment OF the fugi-
tives who threw themselves On Lady
Alice's mercy, but a d~ungeon-Iike cellar.
looks a much more likely place"
A weird story clings to the ruins Of
Minister Lowell manor house Oxord-
shire. the ancient seat OF the Lords
NSfNa <hANF ~ 4 vi vi
els. the last ViscoInt, who had sIled
with the cause of mnel against King
Henry VII. fed I X to his house n
disguise but from G night OF his re-
turn was never sc or heard Of again,
and for nearly two -enturies his disap-
p~earance remained a mystery. In the
meantime. the manor house had been
dismantled, and the emains tenanted
by a farmer. but a strange discovery
was made in the year 170S. A concealed
vaul was found. n in IL, seated be-
fore a table. with a praye Dol lying
open upon IL. was the entire skeleton OF
a man. In the secret chamber were
certain barrels and jars. which had
contained food sufficient to last perhaps
some weeks, but the mansion having
been seized by the King % after she
unfortunate Lord Lowell Is supposed to
have concealed himself. the probability
Ia that, unable to regain his liberty, the
neglect Of a servant brought about this
tragic END.
| sHofa unuca TAfp1.n. LA ~~noA.r