The Sunday Oregonian., August 13, 1916, SECTION SIX, Image 67

MAGAZINE
SECTION
SECTION SIX
Pages 1 to 8 .
PORTLAND, ORE., SUNDAY, AUGUST 13, 1916.
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the Threats Imposed by a Terrible War
Have Loosened the Old Locks and Bolts
of Hidden Chambers and Passsages
That Might Once More be
ass
HE possibility that Britain might be Invaded has turned back the minds
of men to the precautions of the dark ages when human beiigs were
hunted down like beasts of prey. An Englishman who has come to this
country to place a large contract for munitions Is authority for the state-
meat that a number of prominent English families have, to his personal knowl
edge, renovated secret chambers in their old country mansions as places of refuge
for their women and children.
If the Invader comes, and the land is overrun by soldiers bent on pillage,
they will find these old manor houses apparently closed and untenanted. The de
sire of the officers for luxurious quarters would probably save such houses from
the torch. A few tragedies might re
sult If the buildings were set on fire
and the inmates were unable to es
cape, but It is morelikely that they
would be able to remain safely under
the same roofs that sheltered their
enemies, secure from discovery, sup-'
plied with provisions and enabled to
endure long confinement.
A romance could be written as
many romances have been written
dealing with the stories of secret
passages, staircases and chambers in
British castles and palaces. It would
reveal the secret loves of kings and
queens, of princes and princesses
and the great personages of various
times. It would thrill with strange
adventures and dramatic scenes, with
legends of ghosts, with torture, mur
ders and blackest crime. There Is
Berkeley Castle, dozing now in the
sunlight, where the shrieks of Ed
ward II. rang out one midnight In a
little dungeon; Kent worth Castle,
where Amy'Robsart died; and Wood
stock, where Henry II. kept his fair
' Rosamund in a tower that could be
entered only through a labyrinth un
derground. - The novelists owe a heavy debt to
the traditions of secret rooms. Du
mas makes frequent use of them.
In his novel of "Woodstock" Scott
. describes a painting in the hall of
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Entrance to the Secret Chamber in the
Garret Chapel at Boscobel.
Hiding
Place in
the Squire's
-Bedroom
at
Boscobel
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- " Secret
Hindlip
Hall.
Worceatershire,
Which Has
lorale
Appointments.
thfrTastre wUTch openeb on hinges,. reveal
ing the passage leading to the labyrinth.
He made effective use of this property,
taking considerable liberties with the
facts, as he did In "Kenllworth."
' Secret chambers were not restricted to
." the dwellings of the great. There were
times when every English country house
. of Importance had secure hiding places.
V Special reasons for their construction ex
isted during three extensive periods, the
Wars of the Roses, the time of religious
persecution under Elizabeth and the civil
-war between the royalists and the com
moners. t The famous secret passage ot Notting-
ham. Castle, by which the young King Ed
ward III.' and his loyal supporters gained
access to the fortress and captured the
murderous regent and usurper. Mortimer.
Earl of March, Is known to this day as
Mortimer's Hole.
It has been asserted In behalf of various
places that distinction Is due them for
having sheltered Charles II. after the bat
tle of Worcester. Among these the hunt
ing lodge of Boscobel House has the best
substantiated claim. It is doubtful, in
fact, that the King was sheltered else
where after his crushing defeat and be
fore he was able, to escape from th
country.
There are some gloomy stories told, of
these hiding holes, such as the one con
cerning Lord Lovel, a rebel against Henry
VII., who was traeked to a certain house,
in which he disappeared. . His conceal
men t baffled all search and finally the
v bouse was burned down without producing
him. Apes afterward a laborer opened aa
underground room and was confronted by
the body of- Lord Lovel. sitting before
"lira, arrayed in gorgeous robes.
After the Reformation the" observance
of the Roman Catholic religion was for
bidden in England, but many of the power
ful Catholic families worshipped In secret
chapels and maintained priests without
the knowledge of the authorities. Most ot
the hiding places- for priests were de
signed by one ma i.' Nicholas Owen, who
himself performed the work of construe
tlon to insure absolute secrecy. So In
genious were these retreats that search
parties usually failed to find refugees
whom they had tracked, to the very
threshold. .These' searches often lasted
ten days or a fortnight,- and were con
ducted with the help of masons and car
penters, who removed wainscoting, took
up floors and made comparative measure
ments of both sides of walls and parti
tions, floors and ceilings.
- An old manuscript in' the British Mu
seum gives information concerning secret
chambers In most of the large houses in
the counties of England, as well as many
Scottish mansions. Including the capture
of a number of accomplices In the Gun
powder Plot, These men sought refuge at
Hindlip Hall, near Worcester, a fine old
Tudor mansion. Few places could have
been more completely honeycombed with
secret chambers and passages, for It was
found to contain no less than eleven hid
den . rooms. ; The mansion belonged to
Thomas Abingdon, who volunteered to be
hanged at his own gate If any ot the men
eought were sheltered In his house.
. The eesrch lasted for days. Finally. In
the gallery over the gate two very artful
holes were found in the main brick wall,
whtle in and about the chimneys other
skilfully . built cavities were found In
which two of the traitors were close hld
'den. Several of the funnels or flues of the
huge chimney stacks. It was discovered,
had been constructed to ventilate ' tiny
chambers. It was at Hindlip Hall that
Owen was Anally caught.
Two old maids who lived until recently
at Plckerslelgh Court, aa ancient building
near Malvern, made practical use of a
false floor as a burglar trap. Each night
before retiring, they had the false floor
In the corridor removed, so that any one
unfamiliar with the secrets of the house
would have fallen from the second story
to the bottom of the cellar in attempting
to approach their bedrooms In the dark.
It would have been difficult for the old
ladles to escape in case of fire, but they
were in greater dread of burglars. There
were stalroases in certain castles In which
only every other step was safe after a
spring had been pressed. .To step on one
of the others would mean a fall into a
deep vault.
js a vv s-r- -
S -I, I vY 0w'-'' mni baffled all search and finally the , -wj 's..
SS' ,iZ?7S burned down without producing 0 ' ' "'Jj