Undisclosed Medieval Church, East Kent

The church will not be identified here as we were fortunate to identify this delightful location which remains open to all during all hours of the day and night. There is an increasing urge for churches to lock their doors to visitors even during the day. The fact that this one remains open during the day and night is a credit to its guardians and we do not wish to abuse that goodwill by alerting others to this idyll in the Kent countryside such that it gets inundated with large groups of paranormal hunters or thrill seekers.

A brief history is recorded here to give an insight into the provenance of the site.

Built on the site of a Saxon Hill fort this early Norman church has some of the most intricate stonework in a small parish church. It has also suffered some major upheaval in its years having almost been completely rebuilt after a lightning strike in the 16th Century. No major memorials survive on it walls although it is largely unaffected by overzealous Victorian restorers.

Apparatus:

Video camera-
Sony DCR HC-62E with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light
Sony DCR-DVD110E with night vision and Sony HVL- IRM IR light

Digital Camera-
Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ-38

Voice recorder -
Olympus VN-2100PC

Other-
Video tapes (mini DV)

Team:

Paddy
Dave
Graham

Using visual and scientific methods combined with spiritual information investigate the background to alleged paranormal phenomena at this venue.

The church itself is fairly small in size and all areas can be covered by sitting within the nave and chancel area as there is little more too it so the team set themselves down in the church and waited. During the investigation the team would move locations according to what was happening at the time so all will be described as one result but breaks will be made clear.

Initially we all sat in the area of the altar rails viewing the area of the nave looking west.

Almost instantly noises began to be heard from the west end. These included rustling sounds similar to moving clothing, sounds of shuffled feet across the floor and footsteps which appeared to move between the segregated vestry and the font area.

Sounds of movement were then heard from around the altar area.

The team then took a short break outside during which Paddy saw what he took to be the movement of an arm and face in the darkness of the porch reach across to close the outer door which we had left open. The door was not observed to move.

On returning inside the church the team split their locations with Dave taking a seat in the old pews west of the south door. He had two empty pews in front of him. Graham sat halfway down the nave in the chairs on the north side and Paddy sat at a reading desk by the altar rails.

A series of odd clicking noises were heard around the church at this time.

A noise described as 'mouth clicking' or 'popping' by the team was heard. This would not be the last occurrence of this and was as if a person were flicking their tongue against the roof of their mouth. This occurred twice in front of Dave. He was sure of this location being within the area of the two empty pews in front of him.

Noises of movement were heard behind Graham in the area of a table and organ.

Paddy saw a human like shape move past him.

There were further noises behind Graham and Dave moved to that area to try to source the noise.

Paddy then saw a light anomaly move from south to north across the nave west of the font. This placed it behind Dave and Graham and so was unseen by them.

Paddy then saw movement of shadows in the area of the front row of chairs in the nave and the sound of heavy clothing like a cloak swishing in movement was heard by all.

Paddy moved and stood in the centre of the nave and his figure was shown clearly as a silhouette against the east window. Graham described seeing a second head shaped silhouette immediately to Paddy's right hand side.

Paddy said he thought there was someone else near him.

Dave, still behind Graham felt warm to the left of his body.

Other noises were then heard around the church.

Dave and Graham then moved to the front to join Paddy. As Dave reached Paddy they both commented on the sudden smell of floral perfume type smell. It vanished as quickly as it was detected.

Dave extended his hand in front of him and felt that the air there appeared a cooler temperature than elsewhere in the church. As he extended his hand forward it seemed to heat up. Graham was invited to do the same and his sensation was that his hand got progressively colder as it moved through the same section of air as Dave's had. Both, however, commented that their hands were both intensely tingling when placed in this air.

The team took a short break.

The 'popping' noise was immediately heard on the return from the break. This time it seemed concentrated on the area beneath the southwest window where some child sized seating was present.

There were then sounds of movement from the east end of the church.

A short break took place whilst the outside of the church and car park was checked for other persons after the sound of a car door shutting was heard. No trace of anyone was found and the team started again.

Further odd light noises were heard.

The popping noises continued in the area of the south west window and it was decided to concentrate on this specifically. Upon being asked there was repetition of the noise very quickly afterwards. Specific requests were made and the popping noise would re-occur. Various time periods were left between noises when no noise would occur and nothing was called for. When called for the noise would start again. It would continue for a roughly equal time each time.

A 'Yes' and 'No' test was conducted with a number of questions being asked where it was asked that the 'popping' be made for yes and a 'tap' noise for no. This did not prove consistent.

Graham moved closer to the window area to attempt to identify the location of the noise as it occurred. As he stepped on a chair it appeared to come from further up the window.

In order to study the window a decision was made to go outside and inspect it from there as the ground level was higher than the interior floor level. Again from outside the same noise could be heard.

Resuming in the area of the font and southwest window the team relocated indoors and Paddy and Graham commented on the belief there was someone by the south door. This interior porch door had been closed by the team but Paddy believed it was going to open. It did not.

Dave then saw a shadow move between Paddy and the door.

No further events took place and the investigation was concluded.

Some slight noises may have been due to the inordinate number of wood lice present in the building which spread up the walls and would inevitably fall off. This was tested by dislodging odd ones from the wall and listening carefully to the noise they made on hitting the floor or other surface.

The sounds of movement of clothing could have been explained by bats. We saw a number within the church and some we managed to persuade to go out by opening the door in an attempt to clear all noise sources but we were left with at least two present.

We have previously visited this location on a number of occasions and are familiar with the neighboring roads and the manner in which car headlights can shine in through the south windows and cause light and shadow.

We are as confident that we can be that none of the lights or shadows mentioned within this text was caused by traffic on nearby roads. Indeed some of the shadows seen were distinctly human shaped and solid in appearance. They appeared as silhouettes against a light illuminated background as opposed to flat shadows on a wall.

The 'popping' sound was eventually identified as a loose broken diamond of leaded glass. There was an occasional draft of wind outside and this would cause the broken shard remaining in the lead to rattle. We were able to remove this broken shard and from that point there was no more noise of that type heard. We can only assume, now, that this is what caused the popping noise even thought Dave thought it came from in front of him when seated at that location.

The temperature differential near the altar area experienced could be caused by a very slight draft that was found to be entering through a broken diamond leaded window at the east end. A single small pain was missing and a further on nearby broken. This does not create a large space for wind to blow through but a faint draft was detected. This does not however explain why Dave experienced his hand getting hotter in an area close by whereas Graham's felt colder. Neither does it explain the similar tingling feeling that they both experienced. This remains unexplained.

This investigation presented us with some challenging subjects to explain. Inevitably some are unexplainable although some we have explained to the best of our ability in the text. This church continues to provide scope for further investigation and we will surely return soon.

During our stay a certain amount of other information was forthcoming to the team of a clairvoyant nature. As Ghost Connections conducts scientifically based investigations we do not publish such observations, however, this information is held on a separate database and may prove interesting when compared to other peoples experiences. Should you wish to discuss this information please email us.