HOLES OF REFUGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20384, 12 October 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)

HOLES OF REFUGE.

BUILDERS' REVELATIONS.

UNSUSPECTED FOR YEARS

TRAPS FOR THE PURSUER,

STIFLED BY SMOKE,

From time (o time, in England, news items havo recorded tho finding of "refugo holes" in old buildings which were boing renovated, and many conjectures havo been mado as to how these hiding places could havo been forgotten until tho buildor revealed them to a generation which has only a sentimental interest in them,

It is, of course, obvious that secrecy was essential if these refuge holes wero to servo tho purposo for which they were constructed. The house-owner who had reason to believe that he might find it convenient to temporarily disappear naturally did not tako many people into his confidence. Hence only the actual owner of tho building knew whero theso socrot places were to bo foun 1. When tho liouso chatigod hands tho priest's holes wore forgotten and many of them havo remained unsuspected for hundreds of years. Much ingenuity was expended to make theso hiding places really secure. In (ho stato room of an old castlo hangs the family shield. When a certain portion of this ornament is pressed the shield revolves and a flight of steps becomes visible. . These cie a trap for the uninitiated, since only tho odd steps are to bo trusted. To set foot on an even step sets in motion an arrangement which causes tho staircase to collapse and thereby precipitate the climber into a seventy foot deep vault. Ono thinks that even tho most nervous refugee had to keep his wits about him beforo lie ventured up that stairway!

Subterranean Tunnels

In the top room of an old Twickenham residence a panel in the wnll gave access to a wall-top eighteen inches in width. Between this and tho outer wall of tho house was a sheer chasm dropping down to tho cellars. By creoping along tho wall-top—a test of steady nerves in the inky blackness —ono reached a staircase which ran down to tho vaults where a tunnel led beneath tho river. According to tradition this passago afforded communication with Ham House.

While alterations were in progress at an old Darlington houso the shelves of a cupboard were removed. As soon as this was done tho back of (ho cupboard descended and revealed a recess where further mechanism operated and disclosed a hiding place. In tiiis forgotten Gavotte™ highland ornaments which had evidently been discarded by a refugee who had been in hiding. Many of these old houses were 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 outsido world. An old Berkshire manor house, for instance, was singularly well-equipped with these retiring devices. Xear the coiling of one of tho 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 whioji ran through a tiny hole pierced in the framework of tho door of an adjoining room. This action released a spring bolt and the secret door then flew open. Making of False Floors.

Tn the same quaint old building a place of concealment existed in a garret wall, and a nail-head pulled from tho flooring released a spring which allowed a trapdoor to open. In this latter resort for fugitives a ladder lod down to th'o vaults. When this apartment was re-discovered a crucifix and two pctronels were found by tlie "explorers. The entiro 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 tho hidden man and anyone venturing along the. dark passageway would fall into a P il - In some buildings pressure on a portion of the lloor would cause the other end to hcavo up and thus disclose a place of concealment. In all these contrivances means were, of course, provided wheroby tho hidden man could lock tho 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 tho basements with only a ropo to aid the escapee in his descent. Gruesome Discoveries.

False chimneys were sometimes used to enable air to enter Ihe hiding places, but this practice was discontinued when the seaivhers took to examining the smokesi neks to see whether they wore genuine. This was ascertained from the amount of soot present. A clean chimney was naturally immediately suspected. In some eases the entrance to the secret chambers was actually built up the wide chinmcvs. An instance of tins occurred in an old house near Dunstable, where an iron door was found up tho kitchen ehimnev. From this opening a secret flight of stops led to an oaken door, whence ono could reach the ground floor chambers. Gruesome discoveries have occasionally boon made in these priests' holes. Ono of the finds solved a mystery which bad perplexed a noble family for two centuries. In this case a Lord Lovel, who had (led from 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 prayer book lying open upon it. There were barrels which had contained sufficient food (o 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 unablo to regain his liberty. Another skeleton was found hi a hidden chamber built into a stone staircase at Brandon Hall in Suffolk, find at Kingerbv Hall in Lincolnshire, the occupant of a hiding hole near a fireplaco bad been stifled by an escape of smoke and fumes—an ever-present danger in these ill-venti-lated cavities.