Medieval building myths – secret passages and spiral staircases

Secret passages, ship timbers and spiral staircases - join award-winning buildings archaeologist, James Wright for this online talk to find out the truth behind the legends.

Historic buildings specialists often meet others who are eager to talk about their properties and their enthusiasm is genuinely infectious. We can learn so much of value about a society by what it builds. However, romanticised and elaborated stories often grow up around certain mysterious features in mediaeval buildings – secret passages, ship timbers and swordsmen fighting on spiral staircases.

It is surprising how often these get repeated all across the country and at so many different structures. In this talk, James will outline the legends, look at the origins of the stories and reveal the underlying truths behind the tales.