3-082-921 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Secret Passage, Windsor Castle, 1895. 'A work of considerable interest - the connection of the secret passage under Thames Street with the Curfew Tower - has just being carried out at Windsor Castle. This early specimen of the subterranean sallyports constructed during the feudal period was accidentally discovered about forty years ago, during the progress of some drainage operations. Very few people are aware of its existence, as it has been practically closed, the only means of reaching it up to the present having been through the flooring of one of the lay clerks' rooms in the Horse Shoe Cloisters. The beautifully vaulted passage is constructed of finely worked blocks of chalk, its broad steps being of the same material. The surface water has percolated through the roof, and the steps are consequently slippery, rendering any exploration of the place somewhat risky. Workmen have now linked the upper extremity of the sallyport with a small apartment attached to the belfry-tower, whence this remarkable example of early masonry can be more easily visited'. From "Illustrated London News", 1895.