NELL GWYNNE’S SECRET DOOR

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 87, 25 March 1911, Page 3 (Supplement)

NELL GWYNNE’S SECRET DOOR

Alterations carried out. Recently at the •Nell Gwynno ’ T&v Rooms, ‘■' which a'dfqin the Hotel,’itt'Highstrtet," Episem, ferfjgiafid, . Jm v *‘ brought to light th£ secret 'door in the bedroom ’’used by NelE Gwynpe, who' was Vine of Epsom’s’famqirn',visitors when the town ■was noted Tor the lie&lth-gjvmg properties of its'waters. The*"ddor was hidden from view by plaster and wall papers. . . Pepys ijx hft diary .writes:... “To Bjftftm, by eight O’clock, to thewell, where much company. And to the tqwp.e to thg. King’s Head. I hear that my Lord Buckhur t and Nelly are lodged in the next licit e, ..and Sir Gha'rles -Sedley with them, and keep a mei-ty’house.”, Mr. Gordon'Home, in his’"Guide to Epsom,” the;preface to which was., writtert/by Lord-Rosebery. makes, reference to this door," which, he”says, .“might hiive been used as a secret entrance or exit,”. • Charles IT. frequently visited Epsom, and Mb. Gordon Hoihc writes :—“Tradition .says that he built ter -Nell Gwynne the stabling in Church-street, .opposite St. Martin’s now known as The Farm.”