Priest hole

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. From the mid-1570s, hides were built into houses to conceal priests from priest hunters. Most of the hides that survive today are in country manor houses, but there is much documentary evidence, for example in the Autobiography and Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot of John Gerard, of hides in towns and cities, especially in London.[2][3]

The two best-known hide builders are Jesuit lay brother Nicholas Owen, who worked in the South and the Midlands,[3]: 182  and Jesuit priest Richard Holtby,[4] who worked in the North. After the Gunpowder Plot, Owen was captured, taken to the Tower of London, and tortured to death on the rack. He was canonised as a martyr by Pope Paul VI in 1970. Holtby was never arrested, and he died peacefully in 1640.[5]

  1. ^ "Elizabeth I (r.1558-1603)". The home of the Royal Family. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference GerardAutob was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference GerardNarra was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Morris, John (1877). The Troubles of Our Catholic Forefathers, Third Series. London: Burns and Oates. p. 103. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  5. ^ Gillow, Joseph. "Holtby, Richard, Father S.J.", A Literary and Biographical History, Or Bibliographical Dictionary, of the English Catholics: Grah-Kemb, Burns & Oates, 1885, p. 368