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A priest hole is a hiding place for a priest built in England or Wales during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law. Following the accession of Queen Elizabeth I to the throne in 1558, there were several Catholic plots designed to remove her, [1] and severe measures, including torture and execution, were taken against Catholic priests.
On the first floor of the main house is a bedroom known as the Squire's Room. Between a fireplace and the bed is a door into a closet, which has a trapdoor into a small "secret place", alleged to be a priest's hole. However, the space appears to be both too small and too obvious, as chimney areas were known to make good hiding places.
The plans of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 were, partially, conceived in Huddington Court. Two priest holes, believed to have been built by Nicholas Owen, are in the building. One is behind an oak panel in what was the chapel, where mass was said by the resident priest.
During the turmoil of the Reformation the Norrises were Roman Catholics [4] so the house incorporated a priest hole and a special observation hole built into a chimney in a bedroom to allow the occupant to see the approach to the house to warn the priest that people were coming.
After imprisonment, Thomas Habington and his wife, Mary, retired to Hindlip Hall, which they had adapted as a refuge with priest holes constructed for Catholic priests including some built by Nicholas Owen. Mary was the sister of Lord Monteagle. In 1598, the house was searched by men looking for Edward Oldcorne.
Prior to the Catholic Emancipation, the owners would hide priests in its priest holes, some of which were only discovered in the 21st century, and secretly celebrate Mass with a makeshift altar hidden inside a writing desk. [4] The estate covers much of the village including Mapledurham Watermill and part of the church.
The family were practicing Catholics and so the house at one time contained a priest hole, possibly constructed by Nicholas Owen. These were hiding places for priests during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law in England, from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I .
These priest holes have remained till today. Most notably, some of them were the handiwork of the master carpenter Nicholas Owen, a Jesuit lay brother. [2] Humphrey died in 1631 and left the Hall to his wife, Abigail, as the dower house.