hips to which Romish priests were subjected--a trap in
the floor, which can only be opened by pulling up what exteriorly
appears to be the head of one of the nails of the flooring; by
raising this a spring is released and a trap-door opened, revealing
a large hole with a narrow ladder leading down into it. When
this hiding-place was discovered in 1830, its contents were
significant--_viz._ a crucifix and two ancient petronels.
Apartments known as "the chapel" and "the priest's vestry" are
still pointed out. The walls throughout the house appear to be
intersected with passages and masked spaces, and old residents
claim to have worked their way by these means right through from
the garrets to the basement, though now the several hiding-places
do not communicate one with another. There are said to be no
less than twelve places of concealment in various parts of the
building. A shaft in the cellar is supposed to be one of the
means of exit from "the dining-room," and at the back of the
house a subterranean passage may still be traced a considerable
distance under the terrace.

[Illustration: INGATESTONE HALL, ESSEX]

[Illustration: INGATESTONE HALL]

An interesting discovery was made some years ago at Ingatestone
Hall, Essex, the ancient seat of the Petres. The late Rev. Canon
Last, who had resided there as private chaplain for over sixty
years, described to us the incidents of this curious "find," to
which he was an eye-witness. Some of the floor-boards in the
south-east corner of a small ante-room adjoining what was once
"the host's bedroom," facing the south front, broke away, rotten
with age, while some children were playing there. These being
removed, a second layer of boards was brought to light within
a foot of the old flooring, and in this a trap-door was found
which, when opened, discovered a large "priest's hole," measuring
fourteen feet long, ten feet high, and two feet wide. A twelve-step
ladder led down into it, and the floor being on a level with the
basement of the house was covered with a layer of dry sand to
the depth of nearly a foot, so as to absorb any moisture from
the ground.[1] In the sand a few bones of a bird were found,
possibly the remains of food supplied to some unfortunate priest.
Those who climb down into this hole will find much that is
interesting to repay them their trouble. From the wall projects
a candle-holder, rudely modelled out of clay. An examination of
the brick-work in the in