priest holes
Hidden clergy refuges
Priest holes were hiding places built into English houses during the 16th and 17th centuries to conceal Catholic priests from Protestant authorities.
These secret compartments—behind fireplaces, under floorboards, in chimney stacks—allowed priests to escape detection when practicing Catholicism was punishable by death.
The term now sometimes describes any cramped hidden space: The attic had a priest hole behind the eaves.
- hideoutSecret place of refuge
- hidden roomConcealed space within structure
- secret chamberConcealed enclosed space
- trapdoorsConcealed floor openings
- double wallTwo parallel structural layers
recusant · ingenuity · concealment · manor houses · country house · Tudor England · English Reformation · hiding place · escape route · reformation · persecution · religions · martyrs · safe houses · crypts · closets · Mass · refuges
- British CatholicismCatholic heritage, Catholic missions, Catholic parishes, Catholic schools, Catholic education
- English CatholicismEnglish Reformation, Catholic bishops, Catholic clergy, Catholic missions, Thomas More
priest holespublic squares
Open civic gathering areas
pulpits · pillory · scaffold · town squares · gallows
priest holesdungeons
Underground prison chambers
prison cells · oubliettes · jail cells · Tower of London · gaols
priest holesreception halls
Venues for formal gatherings
great halls · throne rooms · galleries · exhibition spaces · ballrooms
priest, hole, priests, priestly, priesthood, priestess, holes, holed, holing