HOLES OF REFUGE

Evening Star, Issue 20312, 22 October 1929, Page 12

HOLES OF REFUGE

BUILDERS’ REVELATIONS .UNSUSPECTED FOR YEARS TRAPS FOR THE PURSUER. From time to time in England news items have recorded the finding of “ refuge holes ” in old buildings which wore being renovated, and many conjectures have been made as to how these hiding places could have been forgotten until the builder revealed them to a generation which lias only a sentimental interest in them. It is, of course, obvious that secrecy was essential if these refuge holes were to servo the purpose for which they were constructed. The house owner who had reason to believe that li© might find it convenient to temporarily disappear naturally did not take many people into his confidence. Hence only the actual owner of the building knew where these secret places were to be found. When the house changed hands the priests’ holes were forgotten, and many of them have remained unsuspected for hundreds of years. Much ingenuity was expended to make these lading places really secure. In tho state room of an old castle hangs the family shield. When a certain portion of this ormanent is pressed tho shield revolves and a flight of steps becomes visible These are a trap for the uninitiated, since only the odd steps are to ho trusted; To set foot on an even step sets in motion an arrangement which causes the staircase to collapse _ and thereby precipitate the climber into a 70fb deep vault. One thinks that oven the most nervous refugee had 1o keep his wits about him before he ventured up that stairway! SUBTERRANEAN TUNNELS. In tho top room of an old Twickenham residence a panel in the wall gave access to a wall-top eighteen inches in width. Between tin's and the outer wall of the house was a sheer chasm dropping down to the cellars. By creeping along the wall top—a test of steady nerves in the inky blackness—one reached a staircase which ran down to the vaults, where a tunnel led beneath tho river. According to tradition, this passage afforded communication with Ham House. While alterations were in progress at an old Darlington house the shelves of a cupboard were removed. As soon as this was tbno the back of the cupboard descended and revealed a recess where further mechanism operated and disclosed a hiding place. In this torgotten cavity were highland ornaments which had evidently been discarded by a refugee who had been in hiding. Many of these old houses wore provided with a number of escape holes. Some had passages running through the stout walls, “and in a few cases underground tunnels afforded a means of exit to the outside world. An old Berkshire manor house, for instance, was singular!v well equipped with these retiring devices. Near the ceiling of one of the gables was a triangular recess, the door of which was indistinguishable from the rest of the wall. Access to this cavity was gained by pulling a string which ran through a tiny hole pierced in the framework of the door or an adjoining room. This action released a spring bolt and the secret door then flew open MAKING OF FALSE FLOORS. In the same quaint ok! building a place of concealment existed in a garret. wall, and a nail-head pulled from the flooring released a spring which allowed a trap-door to open. In this latter resort for fugitives a ladder led down to the vaults. When this apartment was rediscovered a crucifix and two petronels were found by the ‘‘explorers.” The entire walls of the building were riddled _ with masked passages, and in addition to twelve places of concealment built into tho structure a subterranean tunnel was found to run beneath the terrace. A favourite device to prevent the intrusion of too inquisitive searchers into these priests’ holes was to make a false floor. This could be removed by the hidden man and anyone venturing along the dark passageway would fall into a pit. In some buildings pressure on a portion of the floor would cause the other end to heave up and thus disclose a place of concealment. In all these contrivances moans were, of course, provided whereby the hidden man could lock the operating mechanism. In other places stone pillars were made to rotate so that they released an opening into a wall. To take advantage of these means of escape occasionally necessitated considerable agility, as, for instance, when the opening led to a narrow shaft dropping sheer down to the basements with only a rope to aid the escapee in his descent. GRUESOME DISCOVERIES. False chimneys were sometimes used to enable air to enter tho hiding places, but this practice was discontinued when tin searchers took to examining the smokestacks to see whether they were mmuine. This was ascertained from the amount of soot- present. A clean chimney was naturally immediate! v suspected. In some cases the entrance to the secret chambers was actually built up the wide chimneys. An instance of tin’s occurred in an old house near Dunstable, where an iron door was found up the kitchen chimney. From this opening a secret flight of steps led to an oaken door, whence one could reach the ground floor chambers. Gruesome discoveries have occasionally been made in these priests’ holes. One of the finds solved a mystery which had perplexed a. noble family for two centuries. In this case a Lord Lovel, who had fled fro n a battle during a rebellion. entered his Oxfordshire home and was never seen again. Two hundred years later, while the building was being demolished, a _ concealed vault was found, and in this was the skeleton of a man seated at a table with a pray-r book lying open upon it. There were barrel? which had contained sufficient food to last for weeks, but this had all been consumed. Apparently the unfortunate nobleman had entered' into hiding in a. place known only to himself and then had been unable to regain his liberty. Another skeleton was found in a hidden chamber built into a stone staircase at Brandon Hall in Suffolk, and at Kingerby Hall, in Lincolnshire the occupant of a hiding hole near a fire* place had been stifled by an escape of smoke and fumes—an ever-present danger in these ill-ventilated cavities.