There is also a pathway under the Ministry of Defense building to the preserved remains of Henry VIII's wine cellar. MoD is built on top of a section of the former Whitehall palace. It's a cool site to see that's closed off from the general public. I've been fortunate enough to visit, and it's perfectly preserved. One day when the MoD is done with that building, perhaps it will open to the public again. http://stuffaboutlondon.co.uk/london/henry-viiis-wine-cellar...
Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove
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Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder why anyone would take such pains to hide an innocent chapel.
If it was in the UK, there was a period of time when the monarch was Catholic and burned Protestants at the stake and then the monarch changed and then the Catholics started getting burned. People of the "wrong" religion would have to practice in secret. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole
And ironically, the people who would be the best off would be the atheists who were willing to pretend to go along with whatever was in control at the time.
Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove
#73My honest first question when I read this is: Isn't knowing about every single passage and doorway absolutely critical to security in a facility where high risk persons work? It seems absolutely crazy to me to think that, as a US comparison, they would let the President go anywhere that might have passages the Secret Service is unaware of.
This is a building where people are literally employed to walk the halls so that if there is a fire, it will be noticed in time to save the building.
This is also a building where Parliament can be shut down for a day because a pipe burst and flooded the chambers where they deliberate. (Happened about a year ago during Brexit deliberations.)
This is also a building where they know that they need to spend billions on renovations but can't.
On the flip side, this also has one of the most impressive remaining medieval roofs in existence. Contains the lobby that gave us the word "lobbying". And contains more history than any building that you can find in the USA.
If ever you go to London, get a tour of it. Seriously.
Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove
#74When I was a young boy, I had fantasies of such secret doorways/passages/treasures being everywhere due to consumption of copious stories/comics involving such plots. When I did visit old ruins/temples etc, my searching eyes would be looking for that overlooked odd stone that was waiting for centuries just to be pushed so that it can reveal its ancient secrets. Reading this discovery of the secret doorway sort of gav…
My mom was a big fan of mysteries, so when we renovated our house she had them put in a secret passage to her bedroom from the living room.
We've since sold the house, but the last time it was for sale I checked out the pictures and I can tell the passage is still there.
Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
In some ways the app is easy. Capturing what happens is not, especially if there's no immediate incentive to do so. And writing an app in 2020 doesn't tell you want happened in 1660. Then you have to cope with app longevity; most apps deployed in 2020 will be dead by 2030 while the Houses of Parliament will still be there (unless they burn down due to ongoing fire code issues)
Hence having "system/website/app". The system is there to conserve everything and hopefully it will transcend technologies and be easy to migrate the data to whatever comes next.
I suggest stone slabs or clay tablets instead of digital technology.
Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove
#76Most remarkable: "The bulb that still worked after 70 years" - "A light switch - probably installed in the 1950s - illuminated a large Osram bulb marked 'HM Government Property'."
Yes there is a lightbulb conspiracy among producers that deliberately and jointly shortened the life span of their products in order to ramp up sales.
For those downvoting me, here is the link to the trailer of the documentary of this 'planned obsolescence' conspiracy of the producers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KSC84K4rcY
Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove
#77Can someone please mark that hidden passageway on this plan?
http://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5763/6e3a/e58e/ce0d/87...
Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove
#78The American version might be the long-hidden Senate Bathtubs: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/senate-bathtubs
Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Since 2016, UK laws have not been recorded on vellum anymore [0] [0]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/12149181/Thousand-year...
From the government that destroyed all Windrush records, comes another shocking tale of incompetence with malicious undertones. Laws are written down to make them as permanently-accessible as possible, which acts as defense against capricious rulers. Anything that makes them less permanent is a small blow to the rights of everyday people.
I would argue that a law that is so seldemly referenced that all copies are lost ceased to be valid.
But I understand that the British system isn't built that way and instead of creating a consolidated "constitution" rather enjoy the fun of a Speaker citing some old precedent, which nobody can know about. True excitement.
Re: Secret doorway in UK Parliament leads to historical treasure trove
#80I wonder how much history would be lost to us if people didn't write stuff on walls. :D
I recall reading a hand-wringing article about a canyon with a lot of ancient Native American graffiti carved on the walls, and how it was in a state of crisis because modern American teenagers kept carving their own graffiti on the walls. I don't really see how we can defend the idea that the ancient graffiti is historically valuable and it's a good thing it was left there, but the modern graffiti is a menace that n…
You might as well ask why ancient cesspools are historically valuable and best left alone for archaeologists to work on, while we still clean garbage off the streets.
It's because they're old and rare. A pile of modern garbage? Not interesting. A pile of Roman garbage? That's an archaeological site.