Drawing of a Catholic Priest Hole

Nicholas Owen was the mastermind behind the “priest holes” in England during Queen Elizabeth I’s (Bloody Beth) persecution of Catholic priests and laity. At that time it was a capital crime to be a Catholic priest on English soil and so they were forced to hide in secret spaces designed specifically for them.

Nicholas Owen designed ingenious priest holes by creating architectural illusions in walls and spaces so that priests could hide in the large homes of wealthy Catholics without detection – sometimes for several days during a home inspection by investigators. The English authorities even punched poles into walls and measured crawl spaces, suspicious of hiding priests. Nicholas Owen also designed a successful escape plot for two Jesuit priests held captive in the Tower of London!

Saint Nicholas Owen was tortured to death and received a martyr’s crown in 1606.

Read about priest holes on Wikipedia.