SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES.
[To TER EDITOR OF SRN " SPECTATOR."
SIR,—May not the existence or non-existence of subterranean passages in ancient fortresses be largely due to the geological formation of the locality. Thus we find them where the subsoil is of chalk or sandstone, materials which can be easily worked. As an example, we may take the well-known Mortimer's Hole at Nottingham Castle, which was put to such dramatic use in 1330, and which still remains. A few years ago while staying with an antiquarian friend whose house is on the confines of Nottingham Castle, he showed me a subterranean passage he had discovered in his garden which led to what had been a sally-port of the older castle. Where it led to in the other direction we could not discover ; our pro- gress was barred by the cellar-wall of an adjacent house. I quite agree with your writer as to the unlikeliness of such passages having existed in connexion with religious houses. Most of these were situated in valleys, and often close to streams, which would have made their construction of great difficulty, and then rendered them useless by filling them with water.-1 am, Sir, &e., HUGH L. P. LOWE. Blagdon House, Stoke Bishop.
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