Fettigrew Hall - The Biography of a House

Chapter 26

In the morning Megan took Tav for a walk again. When they returned the workmen started to arrive and Tav started barking. Megan put her hand around Tav’s muzzle and said, “No, Tavy, no barking.” The dog stopped. They went through this exercise several times that day every time Tavy heard a noise.

In the linen room on the first floor there was damage to the walls surrounding the window and the corner of the room. The plaster was damaged and the window was not seated properly in the wall, since the timber had rotted. There was nothing to be done but pull out all the damaged areas and rebuild them. Gray had decided that this was something he would do, at least until he became at a loss how to proceed. As he was chiseling plaster, he suddenly broke a hole all the way through the wall. He expected this to be an outside wall but instead there was darkness behind the wall. Removing more of the damaged plaster, he made a hole as big as his head. Still he didn’t see light and didn’t feel a breeze. He did smell a dank musty smell, which was not very pleasant. Finding his torch, he shown it through the hole and around in a circle. It appeared to be a small room. Ahead of him he could see some type of painting on the walls but he couldn’t determine what they were. He was so excited he began breaking down the wall as swiftly as he could. When he had an area big enough to crawl through he moved inside with the torch. Looking around he could see that there were large figures on the two long walls and an altar on the end. It had to be a chapel. Crawling back out of the hole, he ran to find Megan.

He kept calling her but did not find her. She wasn’t in the kitchen and she wasn’t in the yard around the house. Finally he remembered that she might have her mobile with her. When she answered he said, “Megan I’ve found something spectacular. Where are you?”

“I’ve taken Tav for a walk, in the meadow. We’re playing with a ball. 

“Come back right away. I think I’ve found a chapel. I’m up on the first floor where the linen room is.”

Running back to the bridge, Megan tied Tav in the garden and ran up to the first floor. Gray was continuing to tear out the wall. Megan pulled the small torch she carried in her pocket out and turned it on. Gray helped her into the room. Looking around, they were amazed to see the altar on the north side, in perfect shape. Even the candles remained. A crucifix stood in the middle made of silver with symbols and carvings surrounding the Christ figure. There was no window to shed light.

“I’ll get the extension cords and work lights, and we’ll really take a look at this.” Gray said.

“I’ll go, too.” Megan did not want to remain alone anywhere in the dark. It was as she said this that she realized the back room was directly above them. “Gray, the priest hole has to be in this room somewhere. The fireplace passage is above us.”

“You’re right. It must be well concealed because we sure couldn’t find it when we were looking for it from above.”

They had reached ground floor and picked up two lights and the cords. Megan stopped to check on Tav and then they proceeded back up the steps. “It looks like the whole room was walled up and concealed, and then the linen room was built around it so that no one would ever know it existed. I never realized that the linen room was too small. It was very clever how this was done.”

Climbing back inside, they set up their lights and began a thorough examination. They knew the house was built some time in the 15th century. The family had been Catholics so this must have been their personal place of worship in a time when it was deadly to show your religion.