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at Ufton Court: The House of Hideaways
 Francis Perkins family inherited
Ufton Court his their aunt, Lady
Marvyn. The Perkins family lived there for 200 years.
They were well-known Roman Catholics. They had to pay lots of fines to the government because they wouldn't go to services in a Church of England church.-
They needed Catholic priests to say mass for them, but they were banned from the Country. They had to visit in secret. If they were caught, they would be executed.
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So Ufton Court had lots of 'priest-holes'. These were tidy secret rooms and cupboards to hide priests and their priestly clothes and equipment in.
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The Perkins family were twice betrayed by servants. Soldiers raided the house looking for priests, but they never find any.
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In 1599, the local magistrate, Sir Francis
Knollys Junior, had led a group of soldiers to Ufton Court.
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Francis Perkins was away. He had rented out the house to pay his fines. His cousin, Thomas, showed Sir Francis round.
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The soldiers broke down doors and found a secret chapel and a priest hole in the floor. They discovered two chests there filled with gold and church plate.
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They confiscated the lot and marched off to Aldermaston with it. Luckily, the Perkins family seem to have escape without further punishment.
What happened next at Ufton Court?
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