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Me and my friend once discovered one when we were kids.. Dunno what age we were, say 8.. We were exploring this abandoned country estate house that was near his

Me and my friend once discovered one when we were kids.. Dunno what age we were, say 8.. We were exploring this abandoned country estate house that was near his house.. In a library there was one shelf that was still filled with books, turns they were fake books and the shelf was a door. It led to a stone staircase going down to a little underground chapel.. It was super creepy at the time.. Awesome experience tho. I still remember it obvs. That house has since been done up and is a super posh hotel / golf course now. Now called 'Faithlegg house hotel'.

MockObject 7y ago
I wonder why anyone would take such pains to hide an innocent chapel.
- MrL567 7y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_church Hidden chapels are fairly common in Europe during the Reformation when one could not be a practicing Catholic in a Protestant country and vice versa.
- jpollock 7y ago
  If it was in the UK, there was a period of time when the monarch was Catholic and burned Protestants at the stake and then the monarch changed and then the Catholics started getting burned. People of the "wrong" religion would have to practice in secret. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole
  - whatshisface 7y ago
    And ironically, the people who would be the best off would be the atheists who were willing to pretend to go along with whatever was in control at the time.
- EvilGrin 7y ago
  If this was in England it may of been an extended priest hole to hide Catholic Priests after the reformation. If there was an entire chapel hidden away it may of been for said priest to conduct mass for the Catholic household in secret. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole
  - Macha 7y ago
    In this case it's in Ireland, but since it was under English control at the time, it would likely be the same.
- blacksmith_tb 7y ago
  There was also a fashion for adding architectural follies, for example there's a tomb in Sir John Soane's home (complete with an egyptian sarcophagus, oddly in spite of its otherwise sort of Italian vibe)[1] 1: http://explore.soane.org/#/section/sepulchral http://explore.soane.org/#/section/sepulchral

MockObject 7y ago

I wonder why anyone would take such pains to hide an innocent chapel.

MrL567 7y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_church Hidden chapels are fairly common in Europe during the Reformation when one could not be a practicing Catholic in a Protestant country and vice versa.
jpollock 7y ago
If it was in the UK, there was a period of time when the monarch was Catholic and burned Protestants at the stake and then the monarch changed and then the Catholics started getting burned. People of the "wrong" religion would have to practice in secret. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole
- whatshisface 7y ago
  And ironically, the people who would be the best off would be the atheists who were willing to pretend to go along with whatever was in control at the time.
EvilGrin 7y ago
If this was in England it may of been an extended priest hole to hide Catholic Priests after the reformation. If there was an entire chapel hidden away it may of been for said priest to conduct mass for the Catholic household in secret. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole
- Macha 7y ago
  In this case it's in Ireland, but since it was under English control at the time, it would likely be the same.
blacksmith_tb 7y ago
There was also a fashion for adding architectural follies, for example there's a tomb in Sir John Soane's home (complete with an egyptian sarcophagus, oddly in spite of its otherwise sort of Italian vibe)[1] 1: http://explore.soane.org/#/section/sepulchral http://explore.soane.org/#/section/sepulchral