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What is a Priest Hole?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

A priest hole is a secret compartment which is designed to accommodate one or more people, along with a few objects. Priest holes were originally built to shelter Catholic priests from the Elizabethan government, and they were later used to hide precious belongings and to hide an assortment of radicals and dissidents. Such holes are generally very small, as visitors to Elizabethan manors can attest, and they were designed for temporary concealment only, with no method of obtaining fresh air and no facilities for going to the bathroom.

While homes undoubtedly had various hidden compartments before Elizabeth I came to power, the priest hole flourished under her reign. While the Queen was generally lenient in the early years of her reign, she later cracked down severely on Catholics, viewing them as a threat to the security of the state. Catholics were not allowed to go to Mass or to participate in religious ceremonies, and they were expected to convert or to be very stealthy about the exercise of their Catholic faith.

A priest hole was designed to hide Catholic priests from the Elizabethan government.
A priest hole was designed to hide Catholic priests from the Elizabethan government.

Numerous Catholic priests and other church officials continued to travel throughout England during the Elizabethan era, determined to bring the sacraments of the church to those who wanted them. They did so at great peril, however, because if they were discovered, they could be severely punished. As a result, the priest hole came into being; when a crew of officials descended upon an estate or home to search for a Catholic priest, the priest could hide in the priest hole until they were gone.

Old manor houses often contained a small priest hole.
Old manor houses often contained a small priest hole.

Many people were well aware of the tactic of using a priest hole, and it was common for search parties to bring along laborers to tear up the homes as they searched them, looking for signs of a priest hole. As a result, these compartments had to be very cunningly concealed, and built in secret, so that no one would know whether or not a home had a priest hole. Sometimes, priests were forced to hide in silence for days before the search party finally gave up.

While Queen Elizabeth was generally lenient in the early years of her reign, she later cracked down severely on Catholics.
While Queen Elizabeth was generally lenient in the early years of her reign, she later cracked down severely on Catholics.

One notable builder of priest holes was Nicholas Owen, a Jesuit who built a large number of such compartments, some of which can still be seen today. He was very skilled at concealing his priest holes in unexpected places, causing search parties to gloss right over the location of the hiding place of a terrified priest.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a HistoricalIndex researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a HistoricalIndex researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

anon154689

I think that it was cruel that Queen Elizabeth was hunting down the priests. @Accordion: I also have heard about that, I didn't know if it was true or not.

afterall

@accordion, I have heard that too, or at least that these places were more likely added later, many of them, for people to hide for other purposes; especially since even at her worst, Elizabeth I was nowhere near as harsh about her anti-Catholic sentiments as her sister was about her anti-Protestant ones.

accordion

While I don't know if it's true, I have heard that some of the priest holes and priest houses hidden in places in England were in fact originally for other purposes, like storage, or were just cave-ins from buildings falling down. However, I like the idea of them being places people hid, it seems much more romantic.

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    • A priest hole was designed to hide Catholic priests from the Elizabethan government.
      By: Anyka
      A priest hole was designed to hide Catholic priests from the Elizabethan government.
    • Old manor houses often contained a small priest hole.
      By: Chris Lofty
      Old manor houses often contained a small priest hole.
    • While Queen Elizabeth was generally lenient in the early years of her reign, she later cracked down severely on Catholics.
      By: Negura Dincolo
      While Queen Elizabeth was generally lenient in the early years of her reign, she later cracked down severely on Catholics.
    • Priest holes flourished under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
      By: Georgios Kollidas
      Priest holes flourished under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.