KING-HUNTING: BOSCOBEL, MOSELEY, TRENT, AND HEALE
When the Civil War was raging, many a defeated cavalier owed
his preservation to the "priests' holes" and secret chambers
of the old Roman Catholic houses all over the country. Did not
Charles II. himself owe his life to the conveniences offered
at Boscobel, Moseley, Trent, and Heale? We have elsewhere[1]
gone minutely into the young king's hair-breadth adventures;
but the story is so closely connected with the present subject
that we must record something of his sojourn at these four old
houses, as from an historical point of view they are of exceptional
interest, if one but considers how the order of things would have
been changed had either of these hiding-places been discovered
at the time "his Sacred Majesty" occupied them. It is vain to
speculate upon the probabilities; still, there is no ignoring
the fact that had Charles been captured he would have shared
the fate of his father.
[Footnote 1: See _The Flight of the King_.]
[Illustration: HIDING-PLACE BENEATH "THE CHAPEL," BOSCOBEL, SALOP]
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO HIDING-PLACE IN "THE GARRET" OR "CHAPEL,"
BOSCOBEL]
[Illustration: HIDING-PLACE IN "THE SQUIRE'S BEDROOM," BOSCOBEL]
[Illustration: SECRET PANEL, TRENT HOUSE, SOMERSETSHIRE]
[Illustration: BOSCOBEL, SALOP]
[Illustration: HIDING-PLACE, TRENT HOUSE]
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO HIDING-PLACE, TRENT HOUSE]
[Illustration: TRENT HOUSE IN 1864]
[Illustration: HEALE HOUSE, WILTSHIRE]
After the defeat of Wigan, the gallant Earl of Derby sought refuge
at the isolated, wood-surrounded hunting-lodge of Boscobel, and
after remaining there concealed for two days, proceeded to Gatacre
Park, now rebuilt, but then and for long after famous for its
secret chambers. Here he remained hidden prior to the disastrous
battle of Worcester.
Upon the close of that eventful third of September, 1651, the
Earl, at the time that the King and his advisers knew not which
way to turn for safety, recounted his recent experiences, and
called attention to the loyalty of the brothers Penderel. It
was speedily resolved, therefore, to hasten northwards towards
Brewood Forest, upon the borders of Staffordshire and Salop.
"As soon as I was disguised," says Charles, "I took with me a
country fellow whose name was Richard Penderell.... He was a
Roman Catholic, and I chose to trust them [the Penderells] because
I knew they had hiding-holes for priests that I thought I might
make use of in case of need." Before taking up his quarters in
the house, however, the idea of escaping into Wales occured to
Charles, so, when night set in, he quitted Boscobel Wood, where
he had been hidden all the day, and started on foot with his
rustic guide in a westerly direction with the object of getting
over the river Severn, but various hardships and obstacles induced
Penderel to suggest a halt at a house at Madeley, near the river,
where they might rest during the day and continue the journey
under cover of darkness on the following night; the house further
had the attraction of "priests' holes." "We continued our way on
to the village upon the Severn," resumes the King, "where the
fellow told me there was an honest gentleman, one Mr. Woolfe,
that lived in that town, where I might be with great safety, for
he had hiding-holes for priests.... So I came into the house a
back way, where I found Mr. Woolfe, an old gentleman, who told me
he was very sorry to see me there, because there was two companies
of the militia foot at that time in arms in the town, and kept a
guard at the ferry, to examine everybody that came that way in
expectation of catching some that might be making their escape
that way; and that he durst not put me into any of the hiding-holes
of his house, because they had been discovered, and consequently,
if any search should be made, they would certainly repair to
these holes, and that therefore I had no other way of security
but to go into his barn and there lie behind his corn and hay."
[Illustration: MADELEY COURT, SHROPSHIRE]
[Illustration: THE COURTYARD, MADELEY COURT]
[Illustration: MADELEY COURT]
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO "PRIEST'S HOLE," THE UPPER HOUSE, MADELEY]
The Madeley "priest's hole" which was considered unsafe is still
extant. It is in one of the attics of "the Upper House," but
the entrance is now very palpable. Those who are curious enough
to climb up into this black hole will discover a rude wooden
bench within it--a luxury compared with some hiding-places!
The river Severn being strictly guarded everywhere, Charles and
his companions retraced their steps the next night towards Boscobel.
After a day spent up in the branches of the famous _Royal Oak_,
the fugitive monarch made his resting-place the secret chamber
behind the wainscoting of what is called "the Squire's Bedroom."
There is another hiding-place, however, hard by in a garret which
may have been the one selected. The latter lies beneath the floor
of this garret, or "Popish chapel," as it was once termed. At the
top of a flight of steps leading to it is a small trap-door, and
when this is removed a step-ladder may be seen leading down into
the recess.[1] The other place behind the wainscot is situated
in a chimney stack and is more roomy in its proportions. Here
again is an inner hiding-place, entered through a trap-door in
the floor, with a narrow staircase leading to an exit in the
basement. So much for Boscobel.
[Footnote 1: The hiding-place in the garret measures about 5 feet
2 inches in depth by 3-1/2 or 4-1/2 feet in width.]
Moseley Hall is thus referred to by the King: "I... sent Penderell's
brother to Mr. Pitchcroft's [Whitgreaves] to know whether my
Lord Wilmot was there or no, and had word brought me by him at
night that my lord was there, that there was a _very secure
hiding-hole_ in Mr. Pitchcroft's house, and that he desired
me to come thither to him."
It was while at Moseley the King had a very narrow escape. A
search-party arrived on the scene and demanded admittance. Charles's
host himself gives the account of this adventure: "In the afternoon
[the King] reposing himself on his bed in the parlour chamber
and inclineing to sleep, as I was watching at the window, one of
the neighbours I saw come running in, who told the maid soldiers
were comeing to search, who thereupon presentlie came running to
the staires head, and cried, 'Soldiers, soldiers are coming,'
which his majestie hearing presentlie started out of his bedd and
run to _his privacie, where I secured him the best I could_,
and then leaving him, went forth into the street to meet the
soldiers who were comeing to search, who as soon as they saw
and knew who I was were readie to pull mee to pieces, and take
me away with them, saying I was come from the Worcester fight;
but after much dispute with them, and by the neighbours being
informed of their false information that I was not there, being
very ill a great while, they let mee goe; but till I saw them
clearly all gone forth of the town I returned not; but as soon
as they were, I returned to release him and did acquaint him
with my stay, which hee thought long, and then hee began to bee
very chearful again.
In the interim, whilst I was disputing with the soldiers, one
of them called Southall came in the ffould and asked a smith,
as hee was shooing horses there, if he could tell where the King
was, and he should have "a thousand pounds for his payns...."
This Southall was a great priest-catcher.
[Illustration: "PRIEST'S HOLE," MOSELEY HALL, STAFFORDSHIRE]
The hiding-place is located beneath the floor of a cupboard,
adjoining the quaint old panelled bedroom the King occupied while
he was at Moseley. Even "the merry monarch" must have felt depressed
in such a dismal hole as this, and we can picture his anxious
expression, as he sat upon the rude seat of brick which occupies
one end of it, awaiting the result of the sudden alarm. The cupboard
orginally was screened with wainscoting, a panel of which could
be opened and closed by a spring. Family tradition also says
there was a outlet from the hiding-place in a brew-house chimney.
Situated in a gable end of the building, near the old chapel,
in a garret, there is another "priest's hole" large enough only
to admit of a person lying down full length.
Before the old seat of the Whitgreaves was restored some fifteen
or twenty years ago it was one of the most picturesque half-timber
houses, not only in Staffordshire, but in England. It had remained
practically untouched since the day above alluded to (September
9th, 1651).
Before reaching Trent, in Somersetshire, the much sought-for king
had many hardships to undergo and many strange experiences. We
must, however, confine our remarks to those of the old buildings
which offered him an asylum that could boast a hiding-place.
Trent House was one of these. The very fact that it originally
belonged to the recusant Gerard family is sufficient evidence.
From the Gerards it passed by marriage to the Wyndhams, who were
in residence in the year we speak of. That his Majesty spent much
of his time in the actual hiding-place at Trent is very doubtful.
Altogether he was safely housed here for over a fortnight, and
during that time doubtless occasional alarms drove him, as at
Moseley, into his sanctuary; but a secluded room was set apart
for his use, where he had ample space to move about, and from
which he could reach his hiding-place at a moment's notice. The
black oak panelling and beams of this cosy apartment, with its
deep window recesses, readily carries the mind back to the time
when its royal inmate wiled away the weary hours by cooking his
meals and amusing himself as best he could--indeed a hardship
for one, such as he, so fond of outdoor exercise.
Close to the fireplace are two small, square secret panels, at one
time used for the secretion of sacred books or vessels, valuables
or compromising deeds, but pointed out to visitors as a kind of
buttery hatch through which Charles II. received his food. The
King by day, also according to local tradition, is said to have
kept up communication with his friends in the house by means
of a string suspended in the kitchen chimney. That apartment is
immediately beneath, and has a fireplace of huge dimensions.
An old Tudor doorway leading into this part of the house is said
to have been screened from observation by a load of hay.
Now for the hiding-place. Between this and "my Lady Wyndham's
chamber" (the aforesaid panelled room that was kept exclusively
for Charles's use) was a small ante-room, long since demolished,
its position being now occupied by a rudely constructed staircase,
from the landing of which the hiding-place is now entered. The
small secret apartment is approached through a triangular hole
in the wall, something after the fashion of that at Ufton Court;
but when one has squeezed through this aperture he will find
plenty of room to stretch his limbs. The hole, which was close
up against the rafters of the roof of the staircase landing,
when viewed from the inside of the apartment, is situated at the
base of a blocked-up stone Tudor doorway. Beneath the boards of
the floor--as at Boscobel and Moseley--is an inner hiding-place,
from which it was formerly possible to find an exit through the
brew-house chimney.
It was from Trent House that Charles visited the Dorsetshire
coast in the hopes of getting clear of England; but a complication
of misadventures induced him to hasten back with all speed to
the pretty little village of Trent, to seek once, more shelter
beneath the roof of the Royalist Colonel Wyndham.
To resume the King's account:--
"As soon as we came to Frank Windham's I sent away presently to
Colonel Robert Philips [Phelips], who lived then at Salisbury, to
see what he could do for the getting me a ship; which he undertook
very willingly, and had got one at Southampton, but by misfortune
she was amongst others prest to transport their soldiers to Jersey,
by which she failed us also.
"Upon this, I sent further into Sussex, where Robin Philips knew
one Colonel Gunter, to see whether he could hire a ship anywhere
upon that coast. And not thinking it convenient for me to stay
much longer at Frank Windham's (where I had been in all about a
fortnight, and was become known to very many), I went directly
away to a widow gentlewoman's house, one Mrs. Hyde, some four
or five miles from Salisbury, where I came into the house just
as it was almost dark, with Robin Philips only, not intending
at first to make myself known. But just as I alighted at the
door, Mrs. Hyde knew me, though she had never seen me but once
in her life, and that was with the king, my father, in the army,
when we marched by Salisbury some years before, in the time of
the war; but she, being a discreet woman, took no notice at that
time of me, I passing only for a friend of Robin Philips', by
whose advice I went thither.
"At supper there was with us Frederick Hyde, since a judge, and
his sister-in-law, a widow, Robin Philips, myself, and Dr. Henshaw
[Henchman], since Bishop of London, whom I had appointed to meet
me there.
"While we were at slipper, I observed Mrs. Hyde and her brother
Frederick to look a little earnestly at me, which led me to believe
they might know me. But I was not at all startled by it, it having
been my purpose to let her know who I was; and, accordingly,
after supper Mrs. Hyde came to me, and I discovered myself to
her, who told me she had a very safe place to hide me in, till
we knew whether our ship was ready or no. But she said it was
not safe for her to trust anybody but herself and her sister,
and therefore advised me to take my horse next morning and make
as if I quitted the house, and return again about night; for she
would order it so that all her servants and everybody should
be out of the house but herself and her sister, whose name I
remember not.
"So Robin Philips and I took our horses and went as far as
Stonehenge; and there we staid looking upon the stones for some
time, and returned back again to Hale [Heale] (the place where
Mrs. Hyde lived) about the hour she appointed; where I went up
into the hiding-hole, that was very convenient and safe, and
staid there all alone (Robin Philips then going away to Salisbury)
some four or five days."
Both exterior and interior of Heale House as it stands to-day
point to a later date than 1651, though there are here and there
vestiges of architecture anterior to the middle of the seventeenth
century; the hiding-place, however, is not among these, and looks
nothing beyond a very deep cupboard adjoining one of the bedrooms,
with nothing peculiar to distinguish it from ordinary cupboards.
But for all its modern innovations there is something about Heale
which suggests a house with a history. Whether it is its environment
of winding river and ancient cedar-trees, its venerable stables
and imposing entrance gate, or the fact that it is one of those
distinguished houses that have saved the life of an English king,
we will not undertake to fathom.