FIVE MORE PLACES TO EXPLORE

1 Lyveden New Bield NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Where Tresham expressed his faith

Lyveden is a second great manifestation of Thomas Tresham’s Catholic faith. It’s a tribute to the Passion – and, as such, is built in the shape of a Greek cross. When the sun shines through the parlour window in the morning, it casts the shadow of a crucifix on the opposite wall. nationaltrust.org.uk/lyveden

2 Rushton Hall NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Where Tresham lived

Rushton Hall was the ancestral home of the Tresham family from the 15th century, and Thomas Tresham lived here while having the lodge built just a mile away. It’s a hotel today but a priest hole and a 16th-century oratory that houses a plaster representation of the Passion offer hints at its past. rushtonhall.com

3 Coughton Court ALCESTER, WARWICKSHIRE Where you’ll find a priest hole

Catholics went to ever greater lengths to hide priests in their homes – and Coughton Court contains a particularly ingenious example of this: a double priest hole. When the Throckmorton family installed it, the idea was that priest hunters would find the first hole and declare it empty, without realising there was another one below it. nationaltrust.org.uk/coughton-court

4 Harvington Hall WORCESTERSHIRE Where priest holes abound

This Elizabethan manor house is home to seven priest holes, four of them the work of the Jesuit lay brother Nicholas Owen, who was the principal priest-hole builder in the 16th century. One of Harvington’s was so well hidden it wasn’t found until 1894 by a little boy playing in the house. harvingtonhall.com

5 Bar Convent YORK Where a convent operated in secret

Catholics continued to be persecuted deep into the 17th century, a fact highlighted by the existence of this, the oldest surviving Roman Catholic convent in England, established in 1686. Because convents were prohibited, Bar Convent operated in secret. bar-convent.org.uk