(Investigated in 2007 and 2008)
I first visited
Knowlton Rings consists of four earthworks, the
Knowlton was a thriving Saxon village until the Black Death. In 1485, all the inhabitants of the village died of this awful disease. The foundations of the village can be seen as earthworks in a field a few hundred yards to the west of the church.
In 1747, a new roof was built which immediately collapsed. The church was used until the early 18th century and was then abandoned and left to decay. It is a magnificent ruin.
There is mystery surrounding the bell from the church tower.
It has been said that the bell ended up in the church tower of the village
church at Shapwick, others say it is in the church
There is a story that the devil stole the bell and threw it into the River Allen. The villagers tried to rescue the bell from the river but it is said that they could not overcome the strength of the devil as he held onto the bell tightly.
The villagers tried to pull the bell out of the river by using a yoke which was pulled by a group of snow-white oxen. As the oxen pulled the bell, the villagers saw it surface from the water. The villagers shouted...
"Now we've got out the bell, in spite of all the devils in hell"!
To the dismay of the villagers the ropes attached to the bell then divided and the bell sank to the bottom of the riverbed.
Another story tells of a team of thieves who stole the bell
to sell abroad. They were crossing a bridge over the River Stour at White Mill,
when realising that they were being pursued they dropped the bell into the
river. Later, all attempts to retrieve the bell failed as the ropes kept
breaking and finally the bell was left to rest upon the riverbed forever. There
is an ancient rhyme about the
"Knowlton bell is stole
And thrown into the White Mill hole
Where all the devils in hell
Could never pull up Knowlton Bell
REPORT
On
The team arrived at
We all assembled in the tower and wondered if we should try to make spiritual contact in there. I felt my throat tighten. This sometimes happens when I feel that the voice of a spirit is trying to talk through me. I feel nervous about this and I usually find that my nervousness prevents this phenomena occurring and I was relieved when the tightness within my throat diminished.
Marian walked into the main area of the church and stood upon one particular spot which made her feel very strange. She later described this experience.
Marian said that as she walked to this particular spot, she felt as if she was spinning. Her head felt light and she became very dizzy. As soon as she moved from this particular place, all of these sensations ceased.
Marian felt that it would be good for us to conduct our vigil here so we all sat around in a circle. Marian decided that she would sit in the spot where she felt strange. As she sat down, the sensations began again.
Nobody else from the team felt anything strange. Marian could feel heat on the left hand side of her face. She said that it felt like the body-heat from another person and it was very strong. There was certainly no heat as it was a chilly evening.
Matt rejoined us as he had been exploring. He informed us to be aware of a very large owl that was flying around quite low. Shelly felt slightly apprehensive and then more so when fireworks were let off in the distance. I think she jumped several inches.
Marian felt as if there was someone standing behind her and I felt the same but from a different direction.
We sat quiet and tried to communicate with any spirits who were present. We did not experience anything that could be deemed as paranormal and after a considerable time, we all felt that the atmosphere felt flat. We stayed for quite a while chatting and laughing (which usually provokes spiritual activity) but nothing at all untoward happened.
We decided to end our investigation and head home. Although Marian was the only person to really experience anything and nothing else of significance occurred, we all enjoyed our visit to Knowlton Church and will return at a later date.
Written by: Maria Williams
2nd VISIT
On
As we got out of our cars and approached the church, the atmosphere felt completely different to that of our last visit. It felt friendly and welcoming.
I have read that there have been reports of people experiencing ghostly scenes and sounds of a medieval fair at the church. Because we were visiting at the time of Beltane, I thought we would conduct a simple Beltane rite there and also play some medieval music to see if we could capture the interest of the ghosts of Knowlton village.
I set up a circle with Loretta. I conducted a simplified version of a Beltane rite. Everyone joined in and it was lovely.
Afterwards Loretta played some medieval music. As the music echoed around the church, I felt an immense sense of inner peace. I felt as if we were welcome and I felt spiritual energies surrounding us. However, I think that these were energies connected to the actual ritual and not resident spirits of Knowlton church or its nearby deserted medieval village.
Everyone explored individually trying to 'tune in' and make spiritual contact. We heard a couple of strange noises but they were probably attributed to wild animals.
We all sat on the walls of the church chatting. After a long while the atmosphere changed and I felt as if a small crowd of spirit people were gathered behind us. It felt slightly foreboding but no spirit contact was made.
It was late and the weather had started to deteriorate so we decided to go home. Twilight Shadows would like to thank both Phoenix Paranormal and Wessex Paranormal for a wonderful evening.
Written by: Maria Williams
