Brother Nicholas Owen was executed for building hiding holes for priests.

IN THE 16th-century, Catholics in England took serious risks to continue to receive the sacraments. Some hid priests in tiny compartments in their homes in order to practice their banished faith. Eric Grundhauser writes:

Surprise inspections and raids of wealthy family homes were not uncommon. If a priest was found, he would face torture and eventual execution.

To escape this fate, a number of homes installed hidden compartments called priest holes, where Catholic leaders could conceal themselves in the case of an inspection. These small hideaways were often built under staircases or inside fireplaces or behind false walls. (Even if you weren’t harboring a religious fugitive, the priest holes made a great place to stash your candles, crucifixes, and other Catholic accoutrements.) Some homes would have multiple priest holes scattered throughout, with at least one, Hindlip Hall, maintaining 12 separate holes. Some priest holes would even be hidden behind secret panels in other priest holes as an added precaution. The hiding places were generally very small, with barely enough room for a full-grown adult to fit, but they did the trick.

Priest hunters eventually got wind of these clever holes and stepped up their searches accordingly. They would knock house walls to see if they were hollow or measure the footprint of the building on the inside and outside to see if they matched. They began counting the windows and pulling up the floors. Sometimes they would stake out a home for days or weeks, just waiting for a Catholic priest to pop their head out of their hole. Occasionally, priests even perished in their hidey holes after they were unable to emerge for food or water. (To combat this, some priest holes featured hidden feeding tubes).

[…]

Due to the secret nature of the holes, there is no record of exactly how many were built. But one man stands out as the master of the craft. Jesuit brother Nicholas Owen, nicknamed “Little John” thanks to his height, began designing and building hidden chambers around the 1580s. For the next 20 years he turned hiding priests into an art. A master architect and builder, Owen was known both for his ability to create secret chambers that baffled the priest hunters.

Owen was almost found out a number of times during his career, and got arrested and tortured in 1594. But even when subjected to agony, Owen never gave up the location of another priest or the holes he built. When was caught a final time in 1606, he gave himself up to distract from other priests hiding in the house. He was taken to the Tower of London and tortured to death, never giving an inch.

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