of the gables, and in this room George Fox is said to have been
concealed during the period he was persecuted by the county
magistrates.

But sometimes such rooms furthered the designs of those who abetted
and connived at deeds that would not bear the light, and Southey
records an anecdote which is a good illustration of the bad uses to
which they were probably often put: "At Bishop's Middleham, a man died
with the reputation of a water drinker; and it was discovered that he
had killed himself by secret drunkenness. There was a Roman Catholic
hiding place, the entrance to which was from his bedroom. He converted
it into a cellar, and the quantity of brandy which he had consumed was
ascertained." Indeed, it is impossible to say to what ends these
secret rooms were occasionally devoted; and there is little doubt but
that they were the scenes of many of those thrilling stories upon
which many of our local traditions have been founded.

Political refugees, too, were not infrequently secreted in these
hiding places, and in the Manor House, Trent, near Sherborne, there is
a strangely constructed chamber, entered from one of the upper rooms
through a sliding panel in the oak wainscoting, in which tradition
tells us Charles II. lay concealed for a fortnight on his escape to
the coast, after the battle of Worcester. And Boscobel House, which
also afforded Charles II. a safe retreat, has two secret chambers; and
there are indications which point to the former existence of a third.
The hiding place in which the King was hidden is situated in the
squire's bedroom. It appears there was formerly a sliding panel in the
wainscot, near the fireplace, which, when opened, gave access to a
closet, the false floor of which still admits of a person taking up
his position in this secret nook. The wainscoting, too, which
concealed the movable panel in the bedroom was originally covered with
tapestry, with which the room was hung. A curious story is told of
Street Place, an old house, a mile and a half north of Plumpton, in
the neighbourhood of Lewes, which dates from the time of James I., and
was the seat of the Dobells. Behind the great chimney-piece of the
hall was a deep recess, used for purposes of concealment; and it is
said that one day a cavalier horseman, hotly pursued by some troopers,
broke into the hall, spurred his horse into the recess, and
disappeared for ever.

Bistmorton Court, an old moated manor house in the Malvern distr