that was put to very practical use by two old maiden ladies some
years ago at an ancient building near Malvern, Pickersleigh Court.
Each night before retiring to rest some floor-boards of a passage,
originally the entrance to a "priest's hole," were removed. This
passage led to their bedroom, so that they were protected much in
the same way as the fugitive at Compton Winyates, by a yawning
gap. Local tradition does not record how many would-be burglars
were trapped in this way, but it is certain that should anyone
ever have ventured along that passage, they would have been
precipitated with more speed than ceremony into a cellar below.
Pickersleigh, it may be pointed out, is erroneously shown in
connection with the wanderings of Charles II. after the battle
Worcester.[1]

[Footnote 1: See _The Flight of the King._]

Salford Prior Hall (otherwise known as "the Nunnery," or Abbots
Salford), not far from Evesham, is another mansion remarkable
for its picturesqueness as well as for its capacity for hiding.
It not only has its Roman Catholic chapel, but a resident priest
holds services there to this day. Up in the garret is the "priest's
hole," ready, it would seem, for some present emergency, so well
is it concealed and in such perfect working order; and even when
its position is pointed out, nothing is to be seen but the most
innocent-looking of cupboards. By removing a hidden peg, however,
the whole back of it, shelves and all, swings backwards into a
dismal recess some four feet in depth. This deceitful swing door
may be secured on the inside by a stout wooden bolt provided
for that purpose.