priest-hole

priest's hole

noun

a secret chamber in certain houses in England, built as a hiding place for Roman Catholic priests when they were proscribed in the 16th and 17th centuries

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Examples from the Web for priest-hole

Historical Examples of priest-hole

Some priest who had used this priest-hole years before had left it there in his hurry; I wondered how.
Martin Hyde, The Duke's Messenger
John Masefield