Secret Chambers and Hiding Places

Allan Fea (1860 - 1956)

“Secret Chambers and Hiding Places” is a collection of concealments and their uses, almost all within England, although a very few passages and chambers in continental Europe are mentioned, Jacobite hidey holes in Scotland, while the final chapter of the book covers Bonnie Prince Charlie’s wanderings around Scotland, among caves and other hiding places. Most chapters are devoted to historical events; such as the the seventeenth century persecution of Roman Catholics (with many large houses having specially constructed “priests’ holes”), or various unpopular monarchs and their hiding places. The text is scattered with legends and true stories, with occasional skeletons found, still hiding, long centuries after the searchers have left. The author describes hidden doors, passages, rooms and pits with enormous enthusiasm … and with considerable regret when he has to describe secret places lost to demolition or modernisation. You’ll wish you could wander the country, poking into the darkest recesses of every old house you find! (Summary by Peter Yearsley)

Genre(s): Early Modern

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Chapter 01 and Introduction - A Great Deviser of 'Priest's Holes' Peter Yearsley
00:15:25
Play 02 Chapter 02 - Hindlip Hall Peter Yearsley
00:12:22
Play 03 Chapter 03 - Priest Hunting at Braddocks Peter Yearsley
00:12:50
Play 04 Chapter 04 - The Gunpowder Plot Conspirators Peter Yearsley
00:10:38
Play 05 Chapter 05 - Harvington, Ufton and Ingatestone Peter Yearsley
00:12:42
Play 06 Chapter 06 - Compton Winyates, Salford Prior, Sawston, Oxburgh, Parham, Paxhill etc. Peter Yearsley
00:17:25
Play 07 Chapter 07 - King-hunting: Boscobel, Moseley, Trent, and Heale Peter Yearsley
00:16:07
Play 08 Chapter 08 - Cavalier-hunting, etc. Peter Yearsley
00:22:59
Play 09 Chapter 09 - James II's escapes Peter Yearsley
00:12:54
Play 10 Chapter 10 - James II's escapes (continued), Ham House and Peter Yearsley
00:10:33
Play 11 Chapter 11 - Mysterious Rooms, Deadly Pits etc. Peter Yearsley
00:15:20
Play 12 Chapter 12 - Hiding Places in Jacobite Dwellings, and in Scottish Castles and Mansions Peter Yearsley
00:14:44
Play 13 Chapter 13 - Concealed Doors, Subterranean Passages etc. Peter Yearsley
00:12:19
Play 14 Chapter 14 - Miniature Hiding-holes for Valuables etc. Peter Yearsley
00:05:46
Play 15 Chapter 15 - Hiding Places of Smugglers and Thieves. Peter Yearsley
00:13:30
Play 16 Chapter 16 - Scottish Hiding Places of Prince Charles Edward Peter Yearsley
00:17:44