Monday, October 17, 2011

Smuggling, Hidden Chambers, Secret Passageways and all that good stuff





Here's another posting for the 'clever things' part of the blog.  I've long been interested in the concept of illusion - magic tricks, gimmicked boxes, hidden doorways and the like.  I did a lot of research on 18th century liquor smuggling, and in the process came across a few neat things I thought I'd share.

The first is an excellent book that is now in the public domain, which means you can read it on line for free.  It's called Secret Chambers and Hiding Places and is available at gutenberg.org.  This book profiles a few old houses and the hiding places that were used for activities ranging from smuggling to hiding fugitives (some hidden chambers were called 'preiest holes' as they were used to hide the clergy from persecutors.

 Here are some images from he book, followed by more images from various sources:












Here are a few random smuggling methods, hiding places, tunnels and chambers:



































1 comment:

  1. I know this post is over a decade old, but it just popped up for me on Pinterest, and is exactly what I needed for research on my current book! So THANK YOU for alerting me to this wonderful resource. In addition to PG, there is now an affordable printed .pdf available on Amazon (under $5). | Did you ever end up making anything inspired by these hidden passages? (I am a brand-new miniaturist so am doubly curious!)

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