St. Marys Church - Little Chart

St Mary the Virgin & The Holy Rood nestled on a hillside outside the famous village of Pluckley.Often overlooked by the passer by, St Mary of Little Chart is a charming church ruin which no doubt holds secrets of yesteryear.

St Marys took a direct hit from a bomb on 16 August 1944, all that remains is the tower and the chancel wall.

Ghost Connections visited the church in December 2005 where nothing significant was reported.

Monumental inscriptions in the church and churchyard can be viewed here, information is readily available with regards to the “inhabitants” that lay here.

This visit was to be brief as a booked venue as awaiting our arrival later in the evening.

The Investigation

Apparatus:

Video camera-
Sony DCR-HC19 with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light.
Samsung VP-D351 with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light.

Digital Camera-
Fuji Fine Pix S5500
Fuji Fine Pix S5500

Voice recorder -
Olympus VN-2100PC
Olympus DM20

Team:
Kim
Paddy
Dave

Method:
Using visual and scientific methods to investigate the alleged paranormal phenomena at this location.

Investigation:

The team arrive at the venue at dusk and set up equipment in the derelict tower. This would only be a short investigation as another venue had been booked for later in the evening.

Cam corders and voice recorders were sited around the tower, covering behind and infront of the team.

After a period of time of the team adjusting to the natural noises in the area silence fell. The distant thrum of traffic can be heard from the M20 and the occasional car and headlights can be seen from the road below.

After several minutes a tapping noise is heard and commented on by all the team. The tapping noise appeared to emanate from the locked door inside the tower.

Several more tapping sounds followed and were noted by all the team.

After a brief discussion the team settled down again and returned to silence and observation. After sometime it was commented on that smoke could be smealt, also the smell of candles was apparent in the area. All the team agreed that they could smell candles being burnt.

The team continue to observe and record the surrounding area for the remainder of the investigation.

With time being limited and the sudden appearance of a group of teenagers in the carpark the team decided to retrieve their equipment and head onto the next venue.

The tapping sound heard by all the team from the tower could have been any number of things. This is an outdoor venue although being covered from the elements. The doorway where the tapping sounds were heard houses the steps to the upper levels. This now houses pigeons and bats. The tapping noise could have been either of these, or something else entirely. Previous investigations at this venue have not reported any sounds from this area which is unusal as the animals have always been in residence.

The smell of smoke was investigated, the team walked the area looking for signs of a fire or a chimney. The house adjacent did have smoke rising from the chimney and the smell could have drifted across the tower.

The smell of candles is a little more difficult to explain, one team member commented on this, then other and then all three professed to smelling candles. Could this be auto auto suggestive? - or could there have been something else afoot?

Due to all the above the team think St. Mary's is worthy of an overnight revisit in the very near future.