Owen Davies
Mar 6, 20201 min
We are open to the public now, Fridays included, but we are still doing small some tidying up jobs around Athelhampton.
One of the largest items that left Athelhampton after the sale of the house last year was the large Victorian organ that had sat on the minstrels gallery for the past 40 years.
The organ had covered a rather conspicuous phone cable, which I am sure you will agree needs to be removed. I was looking at this cable with an electrician this afternoon.. can you see what we saw..?
If you look very carefully you can see a thick horizontal line on the wall, and closer still, it has vertical lines either end. It looks like a supporting beam and an opening has been covered over... exciting stuff..?
It is not recent, we have many archive photographs dating from the 1890's that shows the wall as it is today.. But what is more exciting.. I knew how to get behind that wall..!
I needed to access a small space behind the panelling in the room behind, the Marriage Chamber, an old door opens into a small cupboard and a secret panel gave access to a narrow passage behind the panelling.
Athelhampton is a bit spooky when its dark, but my perseverance paid off, and I discovered the remains of this rather magical ceiling.