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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEnglish man finds hidden passageways, secret rooms behind bookshelf in family home
A man from Sussex, England recently found what used to be a door hidden behind a bookshelf leading to a series of underground tunnels that led to various secret rooms left closed for decades, maybe centuries. The New York Post reports that the family of 23-year-old Freddy Goodall has lived on the estate for roughly 500 years. As Goodall perused through some old photos featuring the homes library, he noticed something strange: a doorway that was nowhere to be found in the modern day was clearly pictured years ago in black-and-white.
This was an even more interesting discovery, as Goodall realized a wall behind some of the books he was clearing out earlier seemed hollow. I searched for it but couldnt see anything at first, then realized it was hidden behind a bookshelf, says Goodall to Jam Press. Eventually behind one of the books, I found a hole that looked into the hidden room.
Indeedafter entering the first hidden room, Goodall pulled up a part of the floor that revealed a ladder going underground to old, cobweb-covered tunnels that led to even more hidden rooms. The U.S. Sun continues to report that cobwebs (and a huge wasps nest) werent the only things the secret rooms contained: Goodall also found a number of old books and other writings, including a letter from 1887.
It is believed the tunnels were used by servants to carry out their duties unnoticed by the lords and ladies of the home.
https://www.pennlive.com/life/2021/09/english-man-finds-hidden-passageways-secret-rooms-behind-bookshelf-in-family-home-watch.html
underpants
(182,279 posts)Just kidding. Very interesting.
Whether Mr. Body was murdered by Mr. Green with the candlestick in the library remains unconfirmed.
CaptainTruth
(6,546 posts)underpants
(182,279 posts)Trueblue1968
(17,138 posts)Trueblue1968
(17,138 posts)A reboot of teen vampire classic 'The Lost Boys' is on the way
Nothing is sacred, and that could explain why Warner Bros has plans to resurrect the 1987 teen vampire classic The Lost Boys.
Originally directed by Joel Schumacher, who passed away aged 80 last year, the horror-comedy is set to be reimagined with starring roles for Honey Boys Noah Jupe, and Jaeden Martell (of It and Knives Out).
Beyond the fact that its directed by filmmaker John Entwistle (The End of the F***ing World), with a script by Randy McKinnon, details about the reboot are fairly scarce.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, however, its setting a fictional California beach town in the midst of being terrorized by a vampiric biker gang is being updated for the modern day.
At: https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/54210/1/a-reboot-of-teen-vampire-classic-the-lost-boys-is-on-the-way-noah-jupe
Stallion
(6,473 posts)I'm sure it means something awful
nuxvomica
(12,364 posts)I had a complete Lyme panel once that was all negative though I had all the symptoms (except a rash) and had been in the woods three weeks before. That night, I dreamt about a secret passage in my home that contained a dragon. My reaction in the dream was "That's contrary to science! There are no such things as dragons!" The next day, I was sure it was about the failure of the scientific test to recognize the infection. My doctor put me on doxycycline because had just learned that the false-negative rate for the Lyme panel was very high, and the symptoms cleared up in a few days.
So when you have that dream, make note of what you find.
forgotmylogin
(7,496 posts)I go up in the creepy attic filled with artifacts (it's creepy in a good way, I love that aesthetic) and keep finding more doors that lead to other attics and it goes on and on.
I always feel like I *want* to explore, but I fear getting lost or intruding on other people's property somehow? It never feels like my house, but a mansion I've discovered by accident. In the dream I usually backtrack, close the doors, and plan to explore carefully later, marveling at how lucky I am to find all this.
Hekate
(90,202 posts)Lochloosa
(16,019 posts)wnylib
(21,146 posts)People, careers, paths to consider exploring. Opportunities and directions you might go in, plus a hint to what's holding you back - not wanting to disturb other people.
Stallion
(6,473 posts)forgotmylogin
(7,496 posts)utopian
(1,091 posts)Attics, levels I was unaware of, hidden rooms, thinks like that, always filled with stuff.
Response to nuxvomica (Reply #14)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,154 posts)alphafemale
(18,497 posts)It is never an ominous feeling.
SharonClark
(10,005 posts)a hiding place or escape route for Catholic priests.
XanaDUer2
(10,327 posts)ms liberty
(8,479 posts)If his family has lived there for 500 years, then that's certainly old enough for the French Revolution and the heyday of smuggling, and Sussex is the right county for it..
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)homes in England dating from around those times.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Priests-Holes/
canetoad
(17,089 posts)Dissolution of the monasteries began around 1536. The timeline seems about right.
Ilsa
(61,675 posts)Perhaps it was just a built-in escape route from authorities. Maybe the family was involved in smuggling or pirating hundreds of years ago.
luvs2sing
(2,220 posts)with a mystery room above the garage. There was no way to get into the room, but when the sun shined through the window at just the right angle, you could see a wooden rocker near the window.
After a couple years of speculation and ghost stories, ex, his friend, and friends father who was a building contractor, figured out there was probably once an opening to this room from the top of the stairs in the house. One weekend, they tore the wall out and, sure enough, there was the room, the old wooden rocker, an old crib, and some random books and magazines from the early 1940s. Nothing unusual. They ended up finishing the room, and it became a great playroom once they had kids.
Response to luvs2sing (Reply #4)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
mcar
(42,210 posts)Also, I highly doubt servants would carry the silver tea service up a ladder - even back in days of yore.
Still, the pictured old room is awesome.
Dr. Strange
(25,898 posts)He kept telling me how his house was bigger on the inside and he kept finding rooms that hadn't been there before, or huge rooms that were way too big to exist inside the house.
Action_Patrol
(845 posts)Haha. Amazing. Thanks for the reminder.
Dr. Strange
(25,898 posts)wnylib
(21,146 posts)notice that there must be more rooms?
Well, the article says that house was in the family for 500 years. That's more likely to happen with with large, well built mansions, than small wood frame houses.
mcar
(42,210 posts)One would think, however, that there would be some record, since the house has been in the family for 500 years.
wnylib
(21,146 posts)I guess it's possible. Not talked about after a few generations, so a modern person would not think to look for records of something he had not heard about.
Old masions are enormous, with only a few rooms used today for daily living. Whole wings can be shut off from use.
underpants
(182,279 posts)But still, as I posted above, Im thinking - vampires
Ocelot II
(115,280 posts)that you could get to by crawling through one of the lower cupboards. It wasn't very big, but you could stand up and move around. My ex still lives there (in the house, not the secret room), and I've encouraged him to buy a life-sized plastic skeleton, dress it in tattered old clothes, and leave it there when he sells the place (if he ever does).
ret5hd
(20,435 posts)Maybe you should let him out. Im sure, whatever he did, he is very sorry.
Sogo
(4,967 posts)Ocelot II
(115,280 posts)I think it was just an architectural mistake.
XanaDUer2
(10,327 posts)tanyev
(42,360 posts)Captain Zero
(6,714 posts)I would say.
bucolic_frolic
(42,676 posts)It's always about wealth, money, and grandeur isn't it?
Hekate
(90,202 posts)Off to read the article.
niyad
(112,435 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,154 posts)Not just a priesthole - cellars, that were accessible in the early 20th century, when schoolchildren (it was a school for a bit) signed their names on the bricks.
Sogo
(4,967 posts)Damn! I want to see what's in that safe!!
muriel_volestrangler
(101,154 posts)Spoiler follows:
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19th century letters.
Crunchy Frog
(26,548 posts)KY_EnviroGuy
(14,483 posts)Put the candle back - Young Frankenstein - Gene Wilder
Someone in Sussex removed the magic candle!
KY..........
keithbvadu2
(36,369 posts)Hekate
(90,202 posts)
utility tunnels and maintenance access in the recent century, however they began. So used by servants can be loosely applied. I can see pipes, and that creepy old ladder is not 500 years old. Someone was accessing the plumbing more recently than half a millennium ago. A scrap of TikTok seems to show a disused wine cellar that he imagines being rehabbed.
This young man would do well to research whatever building and maintenance records there may be, any architectural plans jeez, the place is 500 years old, so there are bound to be all kinds of records just waiting to be found. A great pile like that needs maintenance in any century.
Given the gigantic wasps nest eww, I think Id want to send in a modern pest-control guy.
BobTheSubgenius
(11,535 posts)It has a mounted plaque in the yard, declaring it a national historic site as one of the stops on the underground railroad. It's as cool as the other side of the pillow!
Shanti Shanti Shanti
(12,047 posts)All rotted out by then, of course, I only saw ghosts though, as a kid, no treasure, but I kept looking
wackadoo wabbit
(1,160 posts)Shanti Shanti Shanti
(12,047 posts)I was 4 or 5, in the before times, I do recall having an invisible friend with me a lot
Maybe I was just a bit touched, a sensitive, could be
wackadoo wabbit
(1,160 posts)What a wonderful experience!
I've only ever seen one ghost. I was visiting a friend who had moved into an old, smallish Victorian in San Francisco. As we walked by his bedroom, I looked in and saw an old lady. I knew she wasn't corporeal, so I asked him if he was aware of her. He wasn't, and he totally freaked out. Then he began recounting strange experiences he'd had since he'd moved in there.
As I recall, he didn't stay at that house long.
Roland99
(53,342 posts)left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)Roland99
(53,342 posts)It was a joke
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)Every movie, TV show, or comic book I saw about Batman showed him as an adult.
Roland99
(53,342 posts)Catherine Vincent
(34,485 posts)It's too bad that safe didn't have any money in it.
Poiuyt
(18,087 posts)Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)....and unused for centuries.
1597 would be impressive.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)134 years ago.
Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)Heck. I have old family letters and documents from the late 1800s right here in my home, which is only 100 years old.
brooklynite
(93,873 posts)left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)Why would you?