Southern Paranormal - Investigations

Knowlton Church & Henge, 10.30pm - 1.15am

Friday 20th April 2007

Attending Investigators
Julie Harwood, Amanda Horley, Rab Gardner, Brian Ward, Paul Martin, Matt Kelly, Martyn Balsom, Jan Coles, Adam Hackett, Marie Holder, Cathie O'Donnell, Sandy Rutter

Guest Investigator
Eileen

Introduction

Knowlton Church and Henge needs little introduction. It is a site we have visited 4 or 5 times as a group now and every time we have a group of new members we like to try and introduce them to Knowlton as one of their first investigations with us.

Knowlton is situated 2 miles south of Cranborne and 6 miles north of Wimborne. The ruin of Knowlton Church (Built in the 12th century and added to in the 14th century) stands in the centre of a pagan earth circle dating back to the Bronze age. Knowlton village once thrived close by to the church and was the capital of a Saxon hundred however little evidence now remains of this bustling village.

The church was built in the middle of the Pagan site during the spread of Christianity when papal missionaries landed on the shores of the British Isles. It is widely believed that megaliths (large standing stones) that once stood around the henge were broken up and used in the construction of the church.

In 1485 the village of Knowlton was crippled (as were so many other similar villages) by the spread of the Black Death (Bubonic Plague). The only remains of the village are the foundations, which are to be found buried in a field to the west of the church.

Despite the epidemic the church continued to function as a place of refuge and worship however its parishioners had dwindled. After a small and fairly non destructive fire in 1746 the church was given a new roof in 1747 however within days of the roof being constructed it fell in and soon after this the church was abandoned and left to go to ruin.

Below is an arial view of the entire site, which shows its true size, something that can not be appreciated from the ground.

Sightings at Knowlton

This site is reputed to be one of Dorset's most haunted locations with sightings of unexplained phenomena being reported, the most recent report being made to the police early this year. A woman and her 2 children were walking round the site when they saw a shape, dressed all in black cross their path, right in front of them. This made them jump as the figure appeared to have come from nowhere and then disappeared as it got to the henge. This was in broad daylight. The report describes the woman as "Lucid, but visibly shaken by something".

Sightings in the past report centurion like figures, a woman kneeling outside the church, the sound of fighting, robed figures, a face at the top window of the tower and most commonly a man or men on horseback who visibly ride through the church as if it was not there.

The Investigation

Teams

Team 1
Julie - Team Leader
Amanda
Rab
Paul
Martyn
Matt

Team 2
Jan - Team Leader
Adam
Brian
Cathie
Marie
Sandy
Eileen

Vigil Areas

Red - The Church
Blue - The Henge
Green - The Tree's

Vigil Plan

10.15pm	Team to meet in the Horton Inn Car Park
10.30pm	Team will make way up to the site
11.00pm	Vigil 1 Team 1 - The Henge & Tree's Team 2 - The Church
12.00am	Break
12.15am	Vigil 2 Team 1 - The Church Team 2 - The Henge & Tree's
1.15am	Pack up & depart

Equipment

Each team have -
At least 1 night vision camcorder
At least 1 digital camera
EMF Meter
Temperature Gun
Dowsing rods

Personal Reports

Julie Harwood

Having investigated Knowlton Church many times in the past with the group I decided it was now time to really include the henge and surrounding area in an investigation.

The church itself looks like something out of a scary film at night and has such a great atmosphere to match but in the past because of this, I feel we may have slightly neglected the henge on our investigations. This area holds so much history and also has a great atmosphere however I feel it is very different to the feeling you get in the church.

No doubt about it though, when ever we return to the site, we always come away with something different and so expectantly I was not thinking this night would be any different.

Our team, team 1 consisted of Amanda, Paul, Rab, Martyn & Matt and our first vigil was over by the trees and on the henge. We started by the trees and the minute I got anywhere near them I felt like a weight had been put on my chest and I could hardly breath. My breathing got so back that I had to take my inhaler, which is something I don't have to do often. This made me very uncomfortable as I do not like this area anyway but do not know why. While this could easily be put down to something paranormal effecting me I have to consider that the likely cause of my breathlessness was the flowering rape seed planted in the field less than 6 foot in front of us (and in all the fields around us).

We had split into 2 teams and Rab, Matt and I had wandered to the left of the trees as you look at them. Rab was picking up on something and on a couple of occasions Matt & I both saw little lights on the henge behind us. They were too close to have come from the torches in the church however as Matt very sensibly pointed out he was wearing glasses which could have reflected the light in some way and I also only saw the lights from the corner of my eye. We wandered further towards the henge and I was still struggling to breathe which made it very difficult to concentrate on what we were doing. Rab and Matt tried using the divining rods and on a couple of occasions did seem to be getting positive responses however they did seem to point to my direction before falling very flat. We carried on round the henge and at one point I thought I saw Matt stood behind Rab. What I did not realise until a couple of minutes later was Matt was actually to my right where as Rab was in front of me. As we moved round, a couple of times I felt as if something was behind me and jumped as if something was peering over my shoulder. It was then Rab came and stood right close behind me (we were back to back) to stop me feeling like that and to see if he could feel anything. It was then that something grabbed my left arm. I immediately asked Rab if he had done it but Matt was able to confirm he was watching us the whole time and Rab had not moved a muscle. This did freak me out a bit as I was on edge anyway.

We then called the rest of the team over to the area to see if they could pick up on anything without us telling them anything we had felt. I stood back from the group and took a picture and a strange mist seemed to be clouding the group concentrated right behind Amanda. Amanda also took a picture of the same place and captured the mist but this time above the group. Immediately I took another picture and it had gone. Our first thought was it must have been our breath so we conducted an experiment where I took a picture (whilst breathing normally as I had done before) of Rab, Matt & Martyn all exhaling as much as they could. This picture did produce some mist however nothing like what I had captured before. On the exhaling picture (included on this report) the breath mist is more localised to the members face and mouth area as you would expect. It was not until after the investigation when Marie sent me her pictures that I realised they had captured very much the same thing in almost exactly the same place. Obviously my gut feeling was that it was just the camera's capturing the misty night air however why has it only appeared in 3 pictures when hundreds were taken on the night.

After a break and a welcome hot drink our team headed for the church. This time I split the group again and Amanda, Martyn and I went into the tower area while Paul, Rab and Matt went to the other (Chancel) end. My breathing by this point had returned to normal. We had only been in the tower a couple of minutes when we all heard a double clicking sound, like two wooden balls knocking together. Amanda thought it came from near me however both Martyn and I were sure it came from the corner next to Amanda. E asked for this to be repeated and we did hear a few other noises however most of these I believe can be attributed to local wildlife. Amanda could also smell burning and thought it was the smell of burning cedar. The odd thing was before she said what wood she thought it was the word "cedar" popped into my head for no reason. I know little about wood and tree's but just wished I had spoken my thoughts. Just after that I felt like someone had stamped on my foot however I have to consider it was a cold night and could have just been a cramp. Either way it was very painful.

Just as we were going to leave the tower Martyn looked out the window and thought he saw a face of another team member peering in however no team were outside the tower at this time.

Next we moved to the chancel end of the church. This is my favourite place in the building. Martyn and Amanda stood and I sat on the large stone on the floor. The minute I sat down I thought "I should not be doing this" and felt like I was sitting over a tunnel (??) I have no idea where this feeling came from. I also had an intense coldness on my shoulder blades that felt like someone had opened a freezer on my back.

Amanda was really funny. She was giggling away and had sensed a girl with us who was giddy and happy and dancing about. Amanda said it made her feel like singing and dancing too and when I turned to look at her she had the biggest grin on her face. I imagined dancing as well but all I could imagine was lots of people dancing round the outside of the church. They were dressed predominantly in white but had lots of coloured ribbons and bits with them etc. I also felt like there were a lot of people watching them too. Its only after the investigation that I have discovered that right up until the demise of the village, Knowlton used to hold their own summer fayre every year which was backed by the church. Could these have been the dancers I was imagining?

Amanda was still sensing this happy girl and I suddenly got the name Marie, so Amanda called out for her. I was still feeling very cold across my shoulder blades (even though I was sitting with my face to the breeze) so Amanda came and stood right behind me. She said she could feel the heat off my back but to me it still felt icy cold. Amanda, Martyn and I then joined Matt, Rab and Paul in the tower. We stood with them for a while and every now and then Matt and I could hear very quiet and dull thumps, which seemed to be coming from within the wall of the tower. No one else could hear them, which was very frustrating. Amanda said for us to say when we next heard them and both Matt and myself said "now" at the same time (as we heard the thump) so it was obvious we were both hearing the same thing.

It was then time to leave and to be honest if it was not for the cold night I could have happily stayed there another couple of hours but we were all frozen!

Another fascinating trip top Knowlton and yet again I was not disappointed. Ok so its not the most outwardly active site with things happening left right and centre and apparitions around every corner but it's a very atmospheric site which gives you all sorts of crazy feelings and images to think through. Would I or will I go back? Most definitely!

Marie Holder

I was very much looking forward to this, my first 'official' investigation, and this is also the first investigation I have conducted outside.

When we arrived at the site we split up into 2 groups, one group started by investigating the church and the other on the trees and surrounding henge. Our team investigated the church first, which was an impressive building and a wonderfully atmospheric location as it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, but there were farmhouses in the distance.

Once we had got our bearings we all stood in the dark in the middle section of the ruin and we tried calling out to see if there were any spirits among us, however we did not get any response to our questions. We then tried using diving rods. Jan tried them first and managed to contact a man who lived in the 9th Century and who had died of natural causes and seemed to be getting annoyed with us for asking questions as he was answering them before Jan had asked them! Cathie then tried them and also managed to contact a spirit who had died of a plague, which had hit his village. I also tried the rods in another section of the church and although there was some movement it was a little vague.

We moved around the site to see if any of the team could pick anything up. Brian told us he saw a black shadow over in the tower area of the ruin although unfortunately I missed it. We then all picked an area of the site to stand in on our own and Jan called out we heard the occasional tap but this could have been anything explained. After a short break our team then went on to investigate the trees and henge. Jan, our leader, decided, as the area was quite large, to split up into two further groups, so Jan, Adam, Eileen and myself did one half of the henge and the rest of our team did the other half.

We all started at the trees where we called out but unfortunately got no response. I took a few photographs of the trees but did not catch any orbs or light anomalies. As we walked around the henge I took photographs of the team and on a couple of the photos I caught what looked like a mist but Adam thought it might be our 'breath' in the cold air as it did seem to linger before dissipating and I am inclined to agree with him although I took a few other photographs of the team and the 'mist' only appeared in one other which either meant I caught something interesting or the team were holding their breath in the photos where the 'mist' did not appear! In one of the 'mist' photographs I did catch what looks like an orb.

We carried on walking around doing mini-vigils and a s�ance on-route but to no avail. On the whole it was a little disappointing but it was a great opportunity to visit such an ancient and wonderful site and I hope to return here both in the day with my family and again at night with SP UK! Thank you to everyone that was there for making it such a great night.

Rab Gardener

Team consisted of Julie, Paul, Amanda, Martyn, Matt and myself.

Vigil 1

Henge and Yew Tree's: The point on the Henge we chose for our first vigil was the area dominated by two yew trees on the NE edge. Intrigued by the historical evidence associated with this type of tree, we stood quietly for a while and then moved into the trees. I then began to feel a pressure on the top of my head followed by tingling. Stepping away from that spot relieved the pressure. Julie was behind me and now standing on the same place. She didn't feel comfortable so steeped out of the trees. I then moved back onto the 'hot spot' but felt nothing this time. Thinking it was just a one off anomaly I started to sit down to see what would happen. As I crouched, I saw, through the lower branches, a shadow move on the outside heading around towards the embankment, Matt was in the tree as well so I knew it couldn't be him and Julie hadn't moved from her spot. I moved out of the trees to see what it was but found nothing to explain it. On a whim, I tried the divining rods to see if I could get anything, sure enough, they confirmed a 'spirit' presence. On asking where it stood, the rods pointed towards Julie and then I could get no more from further questioning.

We then moved around to the northern part of the Henge next to see if we could sense anything there. On the way I saw an orb ahead of us, then one further along. Julie picked up a presence and Matt was able to confirm this with the rods. We began asking out and were quickly rewarded by touches to the head. I saw the orbs again moving along the Henge towards the entrance and it was then I realised it was the same orb bounding along. I felt the need to follow, but didn't want to split us up further so went the opposite way with the rest. A bit further along I turned round to see the orb coming back towards us. I had to go back to the car to pick up a piece of equipment and on the way back at the entrance I felt a hand pushing at my face and then it was gone. By now, Amanda, Martyn and Paul had joined us and we got some good 'misty' anomalies and a very good one next to Amanda.

As a footnote to this vigil I'd like to add one more thing only because I usually end up kicking myself for not reporting my feelings. Towards the end of the vigil as I looked into the Henge, I felt that I ought to go home and that all of this was pointless, not worth bothering about and a complete waste of time. Even to the point of leaving the group. I would have gone too if I hadn't then realised that something had been trying to lead me out and then try to stop me coming back in. Very bizarre event and I'm still trying to work it out.

Vigil 2

The Church: This ruined Norman church looks as if it just stepped out of a Bram Stoker novel and should have had the associated creepiness about it. But, it didn't. The problem with conducting a vigil in this building was trying to remain objective and not letting your imagination fill in the blanks. Paul, Matt and I started our vigil at the NE end.

For most of the first part of this vigil we stood quietly watching and listening. After about 15 mins, the image of a boar carved in stone popped into my head followed by an orb appearing just above the arch leading into the main part of the church.

We then swapped 'ends' with Julie, Amanda and Martyn, moving into the tower base. Again we stood quietly and waited. I moved into a corner facing the wall and got the impression that a ladder used to be there. I then began to get the feeling of falling backwards away from the wall, I even found myself leaning backwards and stepping away from the wall. I noted at the time that Paul was experiencing the same sensation. I stepped up to the wall and leaned against it resting my hand there. The falling sensation then stopped. As I stood there, I clearly got the image of a skull buried within the walls and took it to mean that someone had died in the building of this church (got the impression of a stone mason - bit obvious though). However, just after that I got pushed in the back and turned round to ask Paul what he was up to. He wasn't that close and hadn't realised I was there.

Image after image seemed to flash by and only some of them made sense. The strongest images were: a carved stone head lying on its side with something pouring out of its mouth; a carved motif of a snake with a human'ish head, big eyes and short beaked mouth; an image of a pentagram overlaid on the tower floor, but there was something wrong with it, looked twisted; and lastly the face of a woman with straggly brown hair.

At that point we were joined by Julie, Amanda and Martyn. We called out and Julie and Matt were picking up a dull knocking noise (see their individual reports). I didn't hear anything, but then again, I had that falling feeling again, so I leaned heavily against the wall to support myself. The only other thing I noticed was an orb flash just in front of Paul and by that time, the vigil was over.

Conclusion:
As I mentioned earlier, this fantastic site felt different to what it looks. This is my third visit to the site and every time something different happens. Most of all, the atmosphere seems to change all the time. One minute you'd be quite happy enjoying the peace and quiet and the next you're ready to leg it. Knowlton has got to be one of my favourite investigation places to be. It seems to tell a different story every time you visit; I look forward to the next chapter.

Cathie O'Donnell

Road directions & map - check
Flask & cakes - check
Dowsing rods & camera - check

This was only my second investigation with the group, so it was with more than a little trepidation that I made my way to The Horton Inn, on a beautiful dark night.

I arrived early, and was sat in the car feeling very 'Billy-no-mates', when a lady pulled up beside me. I peeked in at her, saw a map and decided that she must have been a member of the group, so I tapped on her window. She was - it was Marie! So we introduced ourselves, and waited for the others to start to arrive. After a few minutes I spotted Julie and Amanda having a fag outside the inn, so Marie and I wandered over for a chat.

Everyone had arrived by 10.30, so we were then herded into various cars, and off we went to Knowlton to begin.

The whole area is abound with myths and legends, and reports of earth-lights, UFO's, ghosts and other strange phenomena. The church itself is mainly 12th-century, and sands in the entrance to large Bronze-Age earthworks. It was built as a kind of "Up yours" to the local pagans, before they were christianised by the invaders. Although the surrounding area is now somewhat quiet, the old village of Knowlton was once a large and thriving Saxon community, even to the extent that it held its own annual fair. In the late fifteenth century, some sources quote the date as 1485, the village was virtually wiped out by the spread of the Black Death (bubonic plague), which had come to Dorset through Lychett Matravers. All that remains of the village today are the vague traces of foundations in a field located a few hundred yards to the west of the church. Despite the village disappearing, the church itself was in use until the early part of the eighteenth century. In or around 1747 the church was abandoned and left to fall into ruin. There are several local legends about the fate of the old bell in the tower�.but that's another story.

The Investigation in the Church

Once we had all arrived we were split into two groups for the investigation. I was in a group with Jan, Adam, Marie, Brian, Sandy & Eileen. Our group was in the church first. As the site is in an exposed area, it was difficult to judge the ambient temperate so any 'cold-spots' couldn't be verified. There is a large farmhouse nearby and their security light was on until very late, so this prevented total darkness. The whole church does have a strange atmosphere - as any ruin does. We waited for a little while to see if anyone felt anything, but the whole place was devoid of any feeling, apart from cold. We then did an experiment with dowsing rods. One of the ladies' in the group asked out. She asked some very good questions, and it appeared that the rods were responding. They indicated that the person making contact was a male, and had died from natural causes in the 14th century. He claimed that he worked the land, and that he was now with his family. It was about this time that I could smell the overwhelming fragrance of sage. I felt embarrassed and said nothing until the lady who was asking questions also mentioned it. Hen Brian agreed - he too could smell sage. Sage was one of the Saxons' 9 sacred herbs, and was used for purifying and medicinal purposes�.Then after a few more experiments, a shout went up from the group. Someone saw a 'black shadow' go up the tower. I didn't see this, so I can't verify the sighting.

Another contact was made, this time with a lady. She claimed that we were standing on graves. Then all of a sudden - my phone went off making everyone jump - self included. Oops - sorry!

Another sighting of the black shadow was seen but I was looking at the sky, so again I am unable to verify this. It was now time to head back to the cars and have a warm drink�and we needed it!! It was 4.5 - f-f-f-reezing!! After much jollity we got back to the case in hand! Part two of the investigation.

The Henge & Trees

We made our way awkwardly to the trees at the rear of the henge. These two trees don't look particularly exciting until you look at them at close quarters. They must be quite an age, as the trunks are old, knarled, thick and twisted. They are a species of Yew, which I found rather interesting as the old tribes and Celts used poplars, hazel, and other sacred trees to mark out their henges or sacred sites. The two trees have a rather grisly legend attached to them. It is here that a local clergyman is believed to have hung himself. Nice. I noticed several pieces of fabric tied to the trees and recognised them as cord or knot charms. I explained that this is harmless Wiccan magic. Perhaps a local group have decided that one tree is male, and the other female. Not wanting to spoil a sacred site, we moved on. It was much warmer around the trees, but I went with Brian and Sandy to the left on the henge. It was getting seriously cold, and I could smell warm food wafting over from the farmhouse. I decided this is where the sage smell had come from before. Mystery solved. As we discussed the site and listened for any odd noises, the time flew by and it was time to go back to the cars before we knew it. By now we were all very cold. The other group had some success with dowsing rods at the trees, and some success in the church, but on the whole our group felt it was decidedly flat. We then made our way back to the Horton Inn, and said our goodbyes.

Summing Up

A great investigation with a really nice bunch of people.
The site is fantastic and usually has bags of atmosphere. I know through previous research that the area is usually buzzing, but on Friday night this was sadly not the case.
I am aware of several local groups who use the henge for daytime meetings, and they believe it is a powerful place. I will be attending a meeting with this group next Sunday, so I will report back if they have seen/heard anything unusual.

I remain to be convinced that the area is haunted, but I do believe it's an enigmatic spot.

Amanda Horley

Having never seen this site in daylight it gives the impression of being quite large until you walk across it and realise just how few footsteps it actually takes to cross it. In the dark it is incredibly atmospheric and the lack of artificial lighting gave a wonderfully clear view of the stars.

For the first vigil our team were out on the Henge and by the clump of two trees at the edge of the site. We split into two smaller teams of three and Paul, Martyn and myself explored the Henge whilst the other team investigated the trees. We picked up very little along the side of the Henge that was nearest the road although there did appear to be some movement from the rods, but it seemed very random rather than in response to questions. We then switched places with the other half of our team and Paul tried the rods between the trees. This time they were moving a lot, but were not answering questions so we assumed it to be directional. We then followed the directions indicated by the rods, which initially led us out of the tress to where we had been earlier, then back along the path through the trees to the fence at the edge of the site. There, after pointing out across the neighbouring field, they stopped moving and we got no further response from them. We then joined up with Julie, Rab and Matt and walked along the Henge. Both Julie and I took some photos and we both had pictures where there was a white mist around or above the group. It was a cold night so we tried taking more pictures with everyone breathing out at the time the picture was taken to see if that was the cause of the mist. It wasn't.

Our second vigil was in the ruins of the church. Again we split into two, and Julie, Martyn and myself spent the first part of the vigil in the tower area. On two occasions we heard a double click, like you would get with snooker balls. I also smelt wood burning, but quite a pungent smell which would make it an aromatic wood. Initially I thought of the trees on the site, which I think were pine, but this didn't seem right, and for some reason Cedar seemed more plausible. Shortly before finishing in this area Martyn thought he may have seen a face at the window in the tower. We know that there was no-one outside at that time. We then swapped with the other three and went to the rear of the church. I leant back against a pillar and started feeling very happy and giggly. I wanted to dance. I felt that there was a girl there. Initially it felt like an older teenager, but that didn't seem quite right and I felt she was younger than that. I was getting a picture of the start of Sound of Music where Julie Andrews spins round on the hilltop. At that time Julie came out with the name Marie. She felt that the girl was 15. I felt slightly younger than that. I would say that she was from some time ago as the word I wanted to use for her was "giddy". Julie was seated on a stone slab and said that she felt incredibly cold across her back and shoulder blades. I went and stood close behind her and she still felt cold although I felt nothing out of the ordinary and could feel the warmth coming off her back. We then joined Rab, Matt and Paul in the tower. Matt was standing next to me, and Julie immediately in front of me, and both could hear knocks coming from to the right of me. I couldn't hear the knocks, but they were both pointing them out at the same time.

After this vigil we decided to finish the investigation, as despite being the middle of April it was very cold by then. All in all, it was a fascinating site to investigate and I am looking forward to our next visit.

Sandy Rutter

When we walked into the church I felt as if we where being watched. It was very strange. I took some temperature readings and where I was standing, near the entrance of the church, it was the coldest, a temperature of 4.5c. The rest of the building was 8.5 where ever I pressed the temp gun on it read 8.5 apart from where I was standing. I didn't think anything of it but every where I stood it was the same temp. Jan had some dowsing rods that worked. We discovered it was something to do with paganism. Then I saw a shadow for the first time going up the wall in the tower near the little window. I tried an experiment - everybody in the team stood in a doorway or gap in the church so if something was in the church it couldn't escape. I was stood in the tower with my back to the wall near the window. I called out to see if there was anybody there but nothing happened so I said it again. This time I think I had my hair touched but did not tell anybody because I thought I had imagined it. As I looked round see if something was there I saw the shadow going up again in the same part of the window so that was good. unfortunately I didn't get it on camcorder or photo.

Then we moved to the tree and henges. Nothing much happened here for me. I was snapping away randomly with the digital camera and came up with 3 orbs to my delight. We asked if there was anybody there and did not get any definite reply. Then we walked round the henges. Nothing happened here but we did discover someone was using the tree as some sort of ritual place as there was can only be described as ribbons round some of the branches.

Jan Coles

Knowlton Church and Rings 21st April 2007
Group 3 Investigators - Jan (Team leader), Adam, Brian, Cathie, Eileen, Jan, Marie, Sandy.
Condition: Night was clear - satellites in evidence, cold, starlit, waxing sickle moon.
Base Line Tests Temperature in general was 5.5 degrees c in vicinity and interior of church standing remains. Earthworks similar.
Sounds natural to the site at the beginning of the Investigation were intermittent road traffic in the mid distance, planes, banging from nearby working farm, wind, crunch of gravel. No sound initially from farm animals or wildlife in general.

Vigil 1 - Knowlton Church ruins

We stood in silence in the centre of the church ruins, North west to South east, to gain a hold on the atmosphere and 'tune in'. Sandy is near the tower end, South West, and almost immediately feels that that area is very active, he takes a temperature reading of 5.2.

Brian, Sandy, Eileen and Marie set up their camera equipment. Adam sets up the Digital sound recording equipment ready for EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) experiments.

Cathie lends me her Divining Rods and as a group we concentrate on making contact by Calling Out. Adam records throughout the following:

I asked if there is anyone present, who wishes to communicate with us, we were there with the greatest respect and intended no harm; we were interested in them and their lives. Could they make their presence known in a way that is easiest for them - a light, a noise, move something, without harming us.

Sandy sees a black shadow shoot upwards inside the church tower several times. A slight murmuring is heard in the corner to the left of the main door. Cathie caught on camera an orb in the centre of the large tower window, as did Sandy with a possible two orbs recorded. Sandy records the temperature.

Using the rods I contacted a spirit presence, asking to cross the rods for 'yes' and move them apart for 'no'. After polite questions, we ascertained that:

The Spirit was a male from the 9th Century, not from the time of the building of the earthworks or apparently the church.
I asked if he could understand our speech, our language clearly enough, to which he answered 'yes'.
He owned the land we were on, a farm, beasts of burden, crops and a large house.
He was a Christian gentleman who had a wife and children. They and he all died in a pestilence. He knew he was dead but was happy to come back occasionally.
Was the light we saw earlier through the cameras, framed in the tower window.
He agreed that this land was a place of power.
He was happy to be in this place.
I thanked him and Marie also used the rods after this.

Moving to the North-eastern end of the church, Brian immediately felt that something was active. He used his video camera here and Adam recorded our questions and possibly voices replying in the EVP experiment. Eileen, Marie and Cathie all took photos. Sandy took temperature readings.

I used the rods again, called out asking for communication, speech, to show themselves, touch one of us, throw something but not to harm in any way.

(I felt my balance wavering form time to time, but assumed it was due a massive, nauseating headache that began as soon as I entered the church).

With the rods, I made contact with a spirit that I felt to be female.
The spirit indicated that she was indeed a woman.
She made it very clear that she did not work on the land or as a Goodwife (when I imprudently asked!) by moving the rods apart very quickly in an annoyed manner.
She was the Lady of the Manor, with a husband and five children.
With this spirit, she often anticipated my questions and answered them while they were still in my head and not yet verbalised.
She was a Christian Lady of the 17th century.
She was with her family and happily so, in this place.
The family were all with us as we spoke.
Unsure as to answer when asked if they died in a pestilence, she acknowledged she had at least, an illness.

At this point, on receiving the answer below, I had a tingle in both my legs, starting at the toes and working up. Marie felt a tingle on her face, Brian on one leg.
Brian, Marie and myself were I was standing right above her burial place.
I apologised if I had offended her and she indicated that I had not and I thanked her for speaking to us.

Cathie used her rods, asking out and communicated with a male spirit. She asked if the man was the same as we had encountered earlier and was he buried here. The indication was yes. His responses became weaker and weaker, as if he had used much of his energy in our earlier communications.

Sandy suggested we all stand in the empty spaces of the remaining standing structure, of the church, i.e., in the archways, entrances, gaps in walls and in the centre of the tiny rooms. Standing in the tower space, he called out. Brian with his video camera. Adam recording. The atmosphere became very flat at increasing intervals.

We decided to use our combined energies and held hands (welcome in the cold). Brian recording. Still no atmosphere, very flat, no response discerned by us at that time.

Walked outside the church, close to the walls. On returning through the main door, I thought it would be a good experiment to try the rods in the doorway, as so many differing people would have walked through it during its time as a functioning place of worship and after. Marie held the rods and asked out. The same weak responses occurred, we said thank you to him and would he speak with our friends tat were coming in a while - slow response of 'yes'.

Vigil Two - Knowlton Rings

We moved to a clump of trees on the north side of the ring surrounding the church, and I felt this was a sacred grove or space, for good not evil; by the way the trees were used. I also felt as if someone, a male, perhaps clergy, had been hung here. Adam heard a small animal shuffling about in the undergrowth. My headache became worse but I felt more connected to something I could not quite discern at the time. No further balance problems for me. I split the group into two, each to investigate a semi-circle of the whole circular earthwork.

Adam, Eileen, Marie and I began to walk the north western edge of the ring. I said aloud that if any spirits present one would like to walk with us they were welcome to, we meant no offence to them in our walking on the earthwork.

Eileen and Marie took some random photos at this moment, showing a mist around me, also capturing some orbs and possibly stars. Adam said it was possibly breath, as the temperature was falling fast at this point. We noticed the owls, crop birds, pheasants and cows began to call more, and small mammals rustle in the crops. Until this point, there had been very little if any noise from them. The air became very cold and a mist began to close in.

At a break in the henge that I felt was on a processual path or avenue to the ring complex. Eileen, Marie and I held hands and asked out. Adam recording as part of the EVP experiment.

I asked if there were any astral beings, any spirit persons who would like to communicate with us, from the time before the Christians came, anyone who helped to build the earthwork - this high place we were standing on. Were we standing on a processual road to this sacred area? Did you walk along this road? We come in great respect of your beliefs. Can you understand our speech?

At this point, I felt compelled to look up at the night sky, the stars appeared to diminish, cloud over for less than half a minute.

We broke our circle to walk further along the earthworks, towards a clump of trees on the western edge, where we met up with the other half of our group. This too felt very much like a sacred space, also of good, not evil. I personally felt that it was inappropriate to make any further vigils in others sacred space. The atmosphere was very flat and we were beginning to feel the cold. We decided to head on back to the cars and meet up with the rest of the members of Southern Paranormal present at the Knowlton Investigation.

Martyn Balsom

Our first vigil was the trees and henge. My group split in half and myself, Paul and Amanda investigated the right hand side of the trees and henge and the rest the other side, we tried using the rods with little success, they did lead us back towards the trees but then stopped. We then joined up with the rest of our team and investigated an area of the henge where they had seen some orbs. Some pictures were taken and a strange mist was seen, another picture was taken immediately after and the mist didn't show. We wanted to make sure this wasn't caused by our breathing, as it was a cold night but with 3 of us breathing out as much as possible it didn't replicate what we had seen. We then ended this vigil.

The second vigil was in the church and Julie, Amanda and I investigated the bell tower while the others investigated another area of the Church. We heard a couple of clicks and Julie was very uneasy of one of the corners, she also felt a pain in her foot. I moved and faced opposite to the corner that made Julie uneasy and the window, just as we were about to leave I looked at the window and thought I saw something or someone look through the window, I was so convinced I thought one of the other guys had looked though it, however the bottom of the window was about 6 - 7 foot of the ground, when I looked round the rest of the team were behind me. We then swapped areas and both Julie and Amanda picked up on something, all Amanda wanted to do was dance and picked up on the name Marie or Maria, while Julie was sat down and felt very cold across her shoulders but when she stood up the coldness went. We rejoined the rest of the team in the bell tower and I tried to replicate what I had seen, the only explanation I can give would be that as I lifted my head my glasses could've caused a distortion at the window. Nothing else happened and we ended the vigil.

Another enjoyable investigation and raised questions with the unexplained mist, hopefully we will be able to view these in more detail in the future

Paul Martin

Vigil 1 - Henge and Trees

I had to be a bit careful with this one, as living only a couple of miles away and visiting the place a few times over the years, I had picked up various stories regarding the place, although I have to say, nothing I picked up on during this investigation was actually known to me previously.

During the first vigil, myself, Amanda and Martyn spent the time with the Divining Rods, where we appeared to pick up on a male presence who appeared to be hovering around the entrance between the trees. As before the investigation had began, I had already picked up on a group of men milling around this area - on horseback.. I went on to ask the energy whether he did indeed have a horse with him and he appeared to answer in the affirmative.

Just before the investigation began incidentally, as I walked around the furthest perimeters of the Henge, I also picked up that at some point, the Tower of the Church had been on fire, with thick smoke billowing from it.

Vigil 2 - The Church ruins

This part of the investigation I spent with Rab and Matt in the actual Church ruins, where I sensed a fight of some sort going on, almost as if the place had been involved in some sort of siege.

When we moved to the Tower end of the Church and stood quietly for a while. I had the image of a Rams head come to me while Rab had the image of a scull trapped within the walls.

It was at this point that a strange thing happened... after we had been stood in silence for a few minutes, I turned to speak to Rab, but noticed that he had gone from the corner of the building that he had been stood in, only a foot or so away...

I turned and began to walk out of the tower in order to find him, when I heard him call out to me quite urgently.. "PAUL, WHAT'S UP !!"

I turned back to find that I COULD now see him again, where I knew he had been standing previously and he was looking at me in a rather perplexed manner, and asking me why I had just shoved him quite hard in the back..! I had to explain that not only had I not touched him but I was actually walking away at the time as I couldn't even see him....

Around this time Julie and her group rejoined us and it was here that I felt/saw/sensed a young boy, dressed in peasant clothes hanging on to the back of Julie in a rather timid way. Whether or not it is connected I don't know, but Julie mentioned that she had felt a very cold sensation down her back around this time and that while walking around the Henge earlier she had been clearly touched.

Also while walking around the henge, a couple of unusual photos were taken that seemed to show a mist / haze around /above us.

All in all a very interesting, and enjoyable investigation, where I sensed / felt more than I had for a few investigations now.

Brian Ward

Knowlton Church - I think it was my fourth investigation there and I still come away with something that I can�t explain.

The Weather was dry and very cold but I think we where lucky it was not raining. We have investigated Knowlton in the rain and it�s not pleasant.

We started our investigation in the church ruin I spent most of my time filming and its not the easiest place to film as it�s so dark I know we use night vision but even that struggles.

Nothing to me happened until half way through the vigil. Myself and a couple of other members could smell the herb Sage, this we could not explain.

After a short break and a much-needed cup of hot coffee our team spent our last vigil around the Henge and hanging tree. Nothing happened to me at all on this vigil but it was a astronomers dream as it was such a clear night and there were thousands of stars to look at.

All in All a good night even though not a lot happened to me.

An EVP experiment was tried by myself with no results - oh well better luck next time.

Matt Kelly

It amazes me how I�ve never come across this lovely historic site before as it is fairly local to where I live. You straight away upon entering the site, get the feeling of its religious importance. The same feeling you get when entering a church or any religious building.

The Henge and Wooded Area

We started our vigil in/by the wooded area, no real activity noticed by myself. Rab tried dowsing rods and did get some movement nothing I would say was conclusive. As we walked further around the henge I did see some light anomalies which Rab seemed to pick up on as well, but not at the same time. These could have been put down to reflections off my glasses by passing cars? Rab again had some movement on the dowsing rods. We did take some photos with interesting results. I personally got a shot of an orb above Rabs head. Julie and Amanda both got some interesting group shots with what seemed to be a mist above everyone�s heads.

The Church

Despite what you might expect to be an eerie vigil within the ruins of a 12th Century church I felt no apprehension at all, I felt quite happy here. In a vigil within the church tower with Rab and Paul, we all heard what we all described as a horse galloping for about 3 or 4 strides. There could have been horses in near by fields, but too dark to come to any conclusions. In our final group vigil within the church tower I did hear tapings on/within the church walls. These were very faint but Julie confirmed she also could hear them at the same time I did. They did seem to come in response to calling out.

Conclusion

For me the highlights would be the photos a lot of us seemed to get around the henge. Would like to see these on a large screen. Was it just fog/mist/heavy breathing?

The tapings Julie and myself heard within the church did we pick them up on Dictaphone?

Again a very interest investigation & lovely location. Nothing happened to me personally to challenge any of my current beliefs but will definitely be visiting this site again soon, but during day light!!