Man of Secrets

In 1606 Nicholas Owen, a short carpenter with a limp after falling off a horse, was sent to the Tower of London, where he was tortured by being hung from chains with heavy weights attached to his feet. The weights proved too much for an untreated hernia and a section of his gut burst forth. 

This proved a bit of a quandary for it was against English Common Law to torture one with a medical condition. The quandary didn’t last long. A metal plate was constructed and attached firmly to his stomach. Duly ‘cured’, Nicholas Owen was then placed on the Rack for an even more vigorous stretch. This proved more than his stomach could bear. It burst, his guts lacerated by the metal plate, and Nicholas Owen died in agony on March 2^nd, 1606.

Who was Nicholas Owen?

John Gerard wrote this of him: I verily think no man can be said to have done more goof of those who laboured in the English vineyard. He was the immediate occasion of saving the lives of many hundreds of persons, both ecclesiastical and secular.’ 

And why was he tortured so savagely?

Nicholas Owen, known as ‘Little John,’ had a gift for constructing hidden spaces in cellars and attics and in between walls. For over twenty years he went from one country house to another, building these cunningly disguised priest holes, many never discovered and those that were the result of treachery or forcing those hiding out through starvation or thirst. 

When the authorities realise who they had – the man who knew exactly where the ‘priest-holes’ were, his fate was set in stone, the torture savage but entirely rational from their point of view. 

I remembered Nicholas Owen when we visited Harvington Hall. 

It is believed that Harvington Hall was built on an original bronze age site. The moat itself was quarried in 1270 and evidence suggests that a medieval H shaped hall was built on the moated island. In 1529 it was sold to a wealthy lawyer, Sir John Pakington who was clearly quite somebody because he was allowed to wear his hat in the presence of the king—

Henry VIII.

In 1578 Sir John’s great nephew, Humphrey Pakington inherited the manor and he rebuilt it in the new Elizabethan style. He and his family were devout Catholics and were thus fined £20 a month (in today’s money £1000 a month) for not going to church. He was also forced to built priest-holes – seven in all—and designed for the most part by Nicholas Owen. 

Some fine examples of Elizabethan panelling.

But below are some of the priest holes created by Nicholas Owen.

Any idea where one might be here

She knows. The narrow beam lifts up to reveal a wider space behind.

 Some where in this grand flight of stairs is another priest hole.

Just about here. The step lifts up to reveal a hidden place beneath.

Close examination of the mirror reveals a priest hole in the Chimney above

This bread oven is surely to small to hide a priest. Even a small one.

But above that oven is yet another priest hole. A layer of earth provided some insulation against the heat.

The glass allows view of another priest hole.

Lady Yates' bed chamber.

The bedroom of  Mary Pakington, (Lady Yate) who was the eldest daughter of Humphrey Pakington. In 1659, following the death of her husband Sir John Yate of Buckland, she returned to Harvington where she stayed until her death in 1696 aged 85 or more. 

The irst portrait was made when she was about  twenty. The other was painted around 1660 when she was fifty. Unfortunately for the house itself, when Mary died her granddaughter inherited Harvington Hall. She was married to Sir Robert Throckmorton of Caughton Hall, so what was hers became his! With no time for or need of Harvington Hall, the Throckmorton's ransacked it, taking everything of value to his house Coughton Hall. This included the Great Staircase. What you see in the photo above is a carefully made replica. 

There was also a toilet in the corner of the room leading down to the moat. It would have been hidden by a  tapestry to cloak draughts and smell. This wasn't taken away by the Throckmortens. 

 A nice note to end upon