Harvington Hall, the moated red-brick manor-house near Chaddesley Corbett in Worcestershire, is well known for the exceptional number and ingenuity of its hiding-holes; and it is not unreasonable to deduce from the fortunes and religious adherence of the Pakingtons (who owned it during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) some explanation of the unusual plan of the Hall itself. But until recently it was stated categorically that the Pakingtons were all, in Foley's phrase, 'rigid protestant' Opinion as to the date and design of the building was misled by this false premise; some confusion of ideas ensued, and doubt was even cast on the authenticity of the hides. The story was further complicated by the infiltration of legend and of inaccurate information copied by one writer from another, as well as by a reluctance, until modern times, to record Catholic connections. The Worcestershire historian Nash, for instance, omits this branch from the family tree, no doubt in deference to the Pakingtons of Westwood, who were among his patrons and who by then were protestant.
Concerning an Article by Ehl et al.: False Premise Leads to False Conclusions
