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Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove

#4

How did they just so happen to have the key to a hidden door that hadn't been opened in 68 years that they didn't even know existed?

They didn't have the key.

The team turned to Parliament's locksmith for help and, with some difficulty, he was able to open the wood panel door, to reveal a tiny, stone-floored chamber, with a bricked-up doorway on the far wall.

Looks like the locksmith picked it maybe?

Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove

#6

How did they just so happen to have the key to a hidden door that hadn't been opened in 68 years that they didn't even know existed?

They didn’t, they made a new key. An old lock for a service door is likely to be trivial to crack these days.

Edit: from the Guardian: “Liz Hallam Smith, the team’s historical consultant from the University of York, said: “[...] Once a key was made for it, the panelling opened up like a door into this secret entrance.”

Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove

#8
I wonder if the “graffiti artist” Tom Porter and the recorded stonemason Thomas Parker, are actually the same person. A cockney accent interacting with an RP ear would make Porter and Parker quite similar. Name misspellings of labourers were likely very common before mass-education was introduced in late XIX century.

Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove

#9
I guess these things get lost overtime if there is no system of documenting what happened and is happening with any building over a long period of time?

A nice startup idea would be to create a system/website/app that documents what happens to any building over time including all maintenance and future plans!

City councils have something like this but I imagine it is pretty simple and does not capture a lot.

Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove

#10

I guess these things get lost overtime if there is no system of documenting what happened and is happening with any building over a long period of time? A nice startup idea would be to create a system/website/app that documents what happens to any building over time including all maintenance and future plans! City councils have something like this but I imagine it is pretty simple and does not capture a lot.

I think that's what BIM systems are for:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_information_modeling

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