secret passages

[duck]

I was going to post another article from the Beeb https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p09q8hpg/the-mysterious-medieval-tunnel-found-by-accident allegedly relating to Tintern Abbey on the border of England and Wales.  Then I discovered that it is a. relatively old new and b. isn't really a mediaeval tunnel after all but really a mid-18th century drain.  The archaeological assessment (or at least a summary of the assessment) can be found in this link https://www.apac.ltd.uk/latest-news/the-tintern-secret-medieval-tunnel-story-a-reply Kudos to APAC their archaeological assessment is both comprehensive and interesting.

An interesting question posited by another archaeologist (no link alas) is if that if it were a secret passage how would such a vast construction project be kept secret? Where would the spoil be put? How would the passage be maintained, ventilated and kept dry?

Coming back to the secret passageways in the castles at both Rhemuth and Valoret, it makes me ask the question: were the secret passageways part of the original design plan of both castles? The Prologue to Camber of Corgi (Vale Wrengl and Thumper) makes reference to ... "Castles and palaces and cathedrals soared, using techniques which would not be rediscovered until late in Kelson's reign" which might suggest the s.ecret were there from construction. Alternatively, if an original keep was built and various additions were made over time, were secret passage incorporated into the ever evolving palace or castle?

[Nezz]

I cannot comment on or answer your questions, not being knowledgable enough in the subject. However, I can tell you that KK asked about you in the chat this last Sunday.

[Laurna]

Hello, Duck.  I love your intriguing posts.
Your post prompted me to look up tunnels under Medieval castles and after several web sites I found this one    https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p08b8d1k/the-hidden-medieval-world-buried-beneath-a-castle
The french castle had multiple carved caves and tunnels for humans and animals they suspect dating back to the time of the viking invasions. The castle was then built on top of these caves. The caves were  built by the locals and the secret is kept from the invading army. As centuries pass the knowledge of the caves would be held by the owners of the castles and forgotten by everyone else.
I found another source that spoke of how narrow passage ways were built inside of thick stone walls. These passage ways could be construction tunnels for the workers and in later centuries forgotten and made secret by the new owners.
Also as you found in the abbey, castles needed water sources and tunnels might have been constructed to bring in fresh water and take out sewage.

One thing about KK's Gwynedd is that we know that architecture in our favorite of the eleven kingdoms is about 300 to 500 years in advance of Earth's medieval architecture. The very first large stone cathedral, All Saint's Cathedral, was built in Valoret and dedicated in the year 650 by King Augarin Haldane.

Rhemuth had been a town on the bank of the Eirian River since before the Byzantyun Empire year 249. With is high rock plateau overlooking the juncture of two rivers. It was an ideal location. After building Valoret, King Augarin confiscated Rhemuth for himself in the year 674. He and his descendants would have built the castle on that plateau over generations. Each new kingship adding its own construction and its own secret tunnels. Workers who knew of the tunnels are not likely to write and make notes, they may tell the stories of it to their children, but will their children then tell those stories to their children. things get lost in generations. and only the owners of the buildings would know the importance of their very old, secret tunnels throughout their castle walls and ancient caves under their castle foundations.

Remember in ancient times the keeps and stone walls protected the locals from invaders. The locals were not likely to let out the secrets that lay hidden within their only from of protection.