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File:Secret Staircase - Partingdale House - Project Gutenberg eText 13918.jpg

The concealed entrance to a priest hole in Partingdale House, Middlesex (in the right column)

A priest hole is the term given to hiding places for priests built into many of the principal Catholic houses of England during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law in England, from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I in 1558.

Background

The measures put in force shortly after Elizabeth's accession became much harsher after the Rising of the North (1569) and numerous other plots by Catholics against Elizabeth (1571-1586), and in particular the utmost severity of the law was enforced against seminary priests. An Act was passed prohibiting a member of the Catholic Church from celebrating the rites of his religion on pain of forfeiture for the first offence, a year's imprisonment for the second, and imprisonment for life for the third. All those who refused to take the Oath of Supremacy were called "Recusants" and were guilty of high treason. A law was also enacted which provided that if any "Papist" should be found converting an Anglican or Protestant to Catholicism, both would suffer death, for high treason. In December, 1591, a priest was hanged before the door of a house in Gray's Inn Fields for having said Mass there the month previously. Laws against seminary priests and Recusants were enforced with great severity after the Gunpowder Plot episode during James I's reign.

Location and use

It was not uncommon for the castles and mansions of England to have some precaution in the event of a surprise, such as a secret means of concealment or escape that could be used at a moment's notice. However, under the persecutory laws the number of secret chambers and hiding-places increased in the houses of the old Catholic families. These often took the form of apartments or chapels in secluded parts of the houses or in the roof where Mass could be celebrated with the utmost privacy and safety, and nearby was usually an artfully contrived hiding-place, not only for the officiating priest to slip into in case of emergency, but also where the vestments, sacred vessels, and altar furniture could be put away at a moment's notice.

Nicholas Owen

Many are attributed to a Jesuit laybrother, Nicholas Owen, who devoted the greater part of his life to constructing these places to protect the lives of persecuted priests. They were sometimes built, as in East Riddlesden Hall, as an offshoot from a chimney or behind panelling, for example in Ripley Castle, Ripley, North Yorkshire. Others were incorporated into water closets, for example at Chesterton Hall, Chesterton, Cambridge.

"With incomparable skill Owen knew how to conduct priests to a place of safety along subterranean passages, to hide them between walls and bury them in impenetrable recesses, and to entangle them in labyrinths and a thousand windings. But what was much more difficult of accomplishment, he so disguised the entrances to these as to make them most unlike what they really were. Moreover, he kept these places so close a secret that he would never disclose to another, the place of concealment of any Catholic. He alone was both their architect and their builder." No one knows how many he made. Some may still be undiscovered.

After the Gunpowder Plot, Owen himself was taken at Hindlip Hall, Worcestershire, taken to the Tower of London and tortured to death on the rack.

Effectiveness

How effectually priests' holes baffled the exhaustive searches of the "pursuivants," or priest-hunters, is shown by contemporary accounts of the searches that took place frequently in suspected houses. Search parties would bring with them skilled carpenters and masons and try every possible expedient, from systematic measurements and soundings to bodily tearing down the panelling and pulling up the floors. It was not uncommon for a rigid search to last a fortnight and for the "pursuivants" to go away empty handed, while the object of the search was hidden the whole time within a wall's thickness of his pursuers, half-starved, cramped, and sore with prolonged confinement, and almost afraid to breathe, lest the least sound should throw suspicion upon the particular spot where he lay immured. Sometimes a priest could die in a priest hole from starvation or not being able to breathe.

External links

Secret Chambers and Hiding Places, by Allan Fea, an eText at Project Gutenberg, from the introduction to which this article is derived.
Article from the Blackpool Gazette featuring a newly discovered Priest hole in a tudor mansion in the northwest of England
BBC Black Country feature on a Priest hole in Wolverhampton that hid fleeing King Charles I
BBC News item in 2002 about Rushton Hall, Northamptonshire
Priest hole at Naworth Castle along with video and historical notes

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:Secret Staircase - Partingdale House - Project Gutenberg eText 13918.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|The concealed entrance to a priest hole in Partingdale House,  [[Middlesex]] (in the right column)]]
+[[Image:Secret Staircase - Partingdale House - Project Gutenberg eText 13918.jpg|thumbnail|right|The concealed entrance to a priest hole in Partingdale House,  [[Middlesex]] (in the right column)]]
 A '''priest hole''' is the term given to hiding places for [[priest]]s built into many of the principal [[Catholic]] houses of [[England]] during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law in England, from the beginning of the reign of [[Elizabeth I]] in 1558.
+==Background==
 The measures put in force shortly after Elizabeth's accession became much harsher after the [[Rising of the North]] ([[1569]]) and numerous [[Babington Plot|other plots by Catholics against Elizabeth]] ([[1571]]-[[1586]]), and in particular the utmost severity of the law was enforced against [[seminary priest]]s. An Act was passed prohibiting a member of the [[Catholic Church]] from celebrating the rites of his religion on pain of forfeiture for the first offence, a year's imprisonment for the second, and imprisonment for life for the third. All those who refused to take the [[Oath of Supremacy]] were called "[[Recusancy|Recusant]]s" and were guilty of [[high treason]]. A law was also enacted which provided that if any "[[Papist]]" should be found converting an [[Anglican]] or [[Protestant]] to [[Catholicism]], both would suffer death, for high treason. In December, 1591, a priest was hanged before the door of a house in [[Gray's Inn]] Fields for having said [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] there the month previously. Laws against seminary priests and ''Recusants'' were enforced with great severity after the [[Gunpowder Plot]] episode during [[James I of England|James I]]'s reign.
+==Location and use==
 It was not uncommon for the [[castle]]s and [[mansion]]s of England to have some precaution in the event of a surprise, such as a secret means of concealment or escape that could be used at a moment's notice. However, under the persecutory laws the number of [[secret passage|secret chambers]] and hiding-places increased in the houses of the old Catholic families. These often took the form of apartments or chapels in secluded parts of the houses or in the roof where [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] could be celebrated with the utmost privacy and safety, and nearby was usually an artfully contrived hiding-place, not only for the officiating priest to slip into in case of emergency, but also where the [[vestments]], sacred vessels, and altar furniture could be put away at a moment's notice.
+==Nicholas Owen==
-Many are attributed to a [[Jesuit]] laybrother, [[Saint Nicholas Owen|Nicholas Owen]], who devoted the greater part of his life to constructing these places to protect the lives of persecuted [[priests]]. They were sometimes built, as in [[East Riddlesden Hall]], as an offshoot from a [[chimney]] or behind [[panelling]], for example in [[Ripley Castle]], [[Ripley, North Yorkshire]]. Others were incorporated into [[water closets]], for example at [[Chesterton Hall]], Chesterton [[Cambridge]]
+Many are attributed to a [[Jesuit]] laybrother, [[Saint Nicholas Owen|Nicholas Owen]], who devoted the greater part of his life to constructing these places to protect the lives of persecuted [[priests]]. They were sometimes built, as in [[East Riddlesden Hall]], as an offshoot from a [[chimney]] or behind [[panelling]], for example in [[Ripley Castle]], [[Ripley, North Yorkshire]]. Others were incorporated into [[water closets]], for example at [[Chesterton Hall]], Chesterton, [[Cambridge]].
-:"With incomparable skill Owen knew how to conduct priests to a place of safety along subterranean passages, to hide them between walls and bury them in impenetrable recesses, and to entangle them in labyrinths and a thousand windings. But what was much more difficult of accomplishment, he so disguised the entrances to these as to make them most unlike what they really were. Moreover, he kept these places so close a secret that he would never disclose to another, the place of concealment of any Catholic. He alone was both their architect and their builder."  No one knows how many he made. Some may still be undiscovered
+:"With incomparable skill Owen knew how to conduct priests to a place of safety along subterranean passages, to hide them between walls and bury them in impenetrable recesses, and to entangle them in labyrinths and a thousand windings. But what was much more difficult of accomplishment, he so disguised the entrances to these as to make them most unlike what they really were. Moreover, he kept these places so close a secret that he would never disclose to another, the place of concealment of any Catholic. He alone was both their architect and their builder."  No one knows how many he made. Some may still be undiscovered.
+After the [[Gunpowder Plot]], Owen himself was taken at [[Hindlip Hall]], [[Worcestershire]], taken to the [[Tower of London]] and tortured to death on the [[rack (torture)|rack]].
-Sometimes a priest could die in a priest hole from starvation or not being able to breathe.
+==Effectiveness==
-How effectually priests' holes baffled the exhaustive searches of the "pursuivants," or priest-hunters, is shown by contemporary accounts of the searches that took place frequently in suspected houses. Search parties would bring with them skilled carpenters and masons and try every possible expedient, from systematic measurements and soundings to bodily tearing down the panelling and pulling up the floors. It was not uncommon for a rigid search to last a fortnight and for the "pursuivants" to go away empty handed, while the object of the search was hidden the whole time within a wall's thickness of his pursuers, half-starved, cramped, and sore with prolonged confinement, and almost afraid to breathe, lest the least sound should throw suspicion upon the particular spot where he lay immured.
+How effectually priests' holes baffled the exhaustive searches of the "pursuivants," or priest-hunters, is shown by contemporary accounts of the searches that took place frequently in suspected houses. Search parties would bring with them skilled carpenters and masons and try every possible expedient, from systematic measurements and soundings to bodily tearing down the panelling and pulling up the floors. It was not uncommon for a rigid search to last a fortnight and for the "pursuivants" to go away empty handed, while the object of the search was hidden the whole time within a wall's thickness of his pursuers, half-starved, cramped, and sore with prolonged confinement, and almost afraid to breathe, lest the least sound should throw suspicion upon the particular spot where he lay immured. Sometimes a priest could die in a priest hole from starvation or not being able to breathe.
-After the [[Gunpowder Plot]], Owen himself was taken at [[Hindlip Hall]], [[Worcestershire]], taken to the [[Tower of London]] and tortured to death on the [[rack (torture)|rack]].
 ==See also==