Original subtitles

and good day to you today I've traveled

out into the deepest Suffolk to the

small hamlet of showand to a very

unusual church throat chapel which is

King Charles the martyr church it's only

one of five in England dedicated to the

memory of King Charles first and what a

lovely church is very plain very simple

it's known as a done native Church in

short there existed here until 1646 a

medieval church which was in ruins as a

result of the Reformation a local

landowner a man believed as Thomas

Crocky decided to rebuild the church and

dedicated to the memory of the king who

as many of students of history will know

wasn't extremely unpopular King and

particularly so with Parliament and

certainly autocratic in his role and

eventually the English grew tired of him

and he was publicly executed so for

Thomas crock Lee during the period of

the English Civil War to dedicate this

church to King Charles the first is

quite an amazing feat which he managed

to get away with unfortunately by 1659

Thomas crop Lee had died and actually

missed the return of royal patronage in

the form of King Charles a second who

was invited from France to take the

front of England but this doe native

Chapel was survived by the beneficiaries

of local landowners and I believe in

1767 further work was carried out on to

the church and particularly so with the

front porch which was added then so what

we have is a collection basically of

three different styles of architecture

which are brought together into this one

building is early as

in the 14th century to the 17th century

when the church was rebuilt from ruin

and to further improvements in the 18th

century and the church this day still

stands and is still useful Christian

worship and I find holding experience

being here and particularly so in such a

rare Church quite fascinating and

looking around being I could admire the

Georgian architecture which is fits a

particular style that I'm fond of and to

see the box pews and the triple pulpit

and the general layout and ambience with

the pastel colors have been used inside

this building is simply something to

behold and for those of you that live

further afield it is a place that is

worth visiting should you ever get the

opportunity to come here well I'm

actually standing here I'm just glancing

across on the right-hand side of the

nave going towards the chancel there is

a wooden block with three pegs on it

those three pegs are actually for the

Georgians to hang there weeks on so they

were satya and a particularly hot day a

very hot servant they would take off

their wigs and they would hang them from

those wooden pegs how unusual is that

and still here one hoping to do now is

to introduce you more into the rest of

the church and have a wander down

towards the chancel and I hope you can

join me there

just lovely stunning inside this box pew

anyway what we have here as you can see

is the top part of an arch probably a

window or perhaps a small doorway for

some purpose which obviously has been

filled in and the plaster over the

centuries because of dampness has

probably caused it to fall away exposing

the rough caught underneath which gives

you some idea of how this church was

constructed I wonder what other prizes a

way to restore as in 90 years though

actually hidden underneath the plaster

of the existing church but anyway I

digress

isn't it wonderful the fact that you can

see it the fact that it's here the last

vestige of the 14th century and here it

is what I particularly love which is

something that perhaps isn't noted by

many people when coming into a church

here we have the aisle and on this side

we have the chancel but before the

chancel this is not an altar gate is a

gate and the purpose of which and you

can tell by the narrow ballast ballast

rods is the purpose is to stop dogs from

actually wandering into the otter and

chancel area so one can assume centuries

ago when people came here to worship

they brought with them their pets

probably sent inside these Box pews you

can imagine the dogs barking the babies

screaming their heads off it must have

been quite a community affair here but

they thought it necessary at some point

to incorporate this round gate so it's

quite an unusual find and quite welcomed

because it tells you just a little bit

more about the history of this one

Chappell it's wonderful isn't it

that's wonderful it's quite interesting

standing inside the chancel there are a

number of grey plates markers two people

that have lived in the community and

there are commemorative plates carved in

memory of Thomas crop leaf the man that

saved this church I wonder if mr.

crappie is still keeping a watchful eye

over the church and the parishioners

because the church is existence here is

quite perilous in some degree it is

miles from any large settlement of

humans sits in a very small country

Hamlet you just get the odd vehicle that

rolls pastan to be honest it's quite

easy for people to come here and

actually miss the church to drive home I

was lucky today I was able to spot it as

soon as I've got here and what a lovely

building it is what a beautiful

atmosphere that's here it's very light

very Airy not at all aggressive or on

edge

just a light pleasantry here we actually

have a woven cloth screen or covering

and it actually goes all the way 1/2

level around the walls up to the altar

and it's crested by these beautifully

carved and quite sharply pointed rather

and what an attractive piece it is and

again something that you wouldn't expect

to find inside a church certainly not a

present church keeping you too rather

restrained less flamboyant styling we

have something

that kind of riches outdoor bit further

is trying to share something a little

bit more than what you would expect to

find inside the church and here it is

it's just wonderful wasn't there I'm

actually going to stand in the chance

from now to see if I can actually touch

base with any type of spiritual behavior

let's have a look

the atmosphere here is light Pleasant

always a good audience I find in most

churches may not be the wealthy Church

but it's certainly one that's been

greatly enjoyed over the centuries I

just going to have disappearing let's

see we're gonna get any response as you

can hear it's definitely quite here

there's no air ball flying over and just

the odd car that just happens packed by

mistake to drive past it's out in the

middle of nowhere I come here in love I

in peace I mean no harm

disrespect I just wish to make peaceful

and friendly contact with any spiritual

presences within this beautiful church

can anyone give me an indication clear

that their presence here

okay I'm feeling the presence of a past

I believe it to be this person to be a

past priest probably going back to the

latter part the 1830 part of 19th

century this man is probably in his

sixties is quite bald it's got a lot of

gray hair either side over his is quite

scruffy in a way really not what one

would expect from a priest but he's a

very jovial person big smiling face

wearing round

Bryn's glasses very thin wire framed

glasses

he's teeth appear to be stained I can't

honestly tell you why I'm saying that

I'm thinking that that's why I'm picking

up

I can say that this man I believe his

first thing was James a very kindly

cheery kind of fellow I see him with a

big smile very kind very positive

imagery of this person

and as I'm looking at these box pews now

I'm seeing a huddled mass inside each of

the sections with a head down deep so

all I'm actually seeing from here is

just the tops of their heads as had been

offering prayer and I imagine the chaos

in here on a Sunday sermon and of course

with the knowledge and the fact that

Doc's used to come into this church and

were a persistent problem and the fact

that families would have come with their

children and babies Wow

it's almost like a circus atmosphere

here people coming going people chatting

to each other during the sermon and yet

all perfectly acceptable it is strange

when you wander into these places that

you've never visited previously in your

life then you're imbued this history I'm

going to stand quietly in the silence

and see what happens could you give me a

sign please could you make a noise could

you touch something could you give an

indication of your presence please

the person I'm having with this man is

just edging around here just doing his

daily chores doesn't seem to be a

connection between him and he the realm

and myself in this time almost a

residual energy as it were

my particular one I'm standing here

looking back now into the nave or the

appearance hanging from the rafters of

three oil Victorian almost no less sadly

converted to electricity because one can

imagine what it must have been like in

the old days before electricity to see

them lit at night but anyway they're

here

and they had a certain cultural identity

to this church as a family Church a

rural family church and she's standing

here of course I'm looking back towards

what with the beam where the organ is

and that's something I need to touch on

with you very shortly but the organ is

the role crest of King Charles the first

they must be as rare as hen's teeth

other than the five churches that we

know about there cannot be many

representations of Charles's coat of

arms anywhere else in the United Kingdom

it's absolutely splendid it's just

wonderful being here

I'm feeling a little bit sick now I

don't know why I am a little bit

nauseous

well can you stand back please I don't

know who this is

it's not that man that I picked up

earlier I'm feeling very windy should we

say just easing away now which is over

whelmed by war or sickness I mean what

can imagine you see when we look back

into history most families were large

incredibly large ain't knowing children

and the reason for that was simply that

because of the lack of medical care

available at that period of history many

many people died in their development

from many of course then actually rich

beyond their childhood so there was a

necessity to have as big as families as

a possible and a hope that one of them

would survive the majority of course

would pass away being prescribed as

dying from consumption but there were an

array of diseases which were incurable

and so if you were struck with a

life-threatening illness it was just

literally being in the hands of God as

to whether or not you would survive and

if you did survive you would come here

and you would give your things to God

because there was nothing else

and that feeling of nausea it kind of

encapsulates those feelings of thoughts

a simple plane is what this church is is

a very attractive Church and its

simplicity it's why I'd like about some

Protestant churches I find some

traditional older Catholic churches

particularly abroad in Italy or

elsewhere tend to be overly aeration in

colors and their ornamentation very very

heavy with statues of angels and of

saints and of famous people who were

buried in these churches here it is kept

to the minimum you focus upon your

worship of God and not alluding to allow

yourself to be sucked in by the

decorations that were particularly

favored in the past by the Catholic

Church as a sign of wealth a sign of

power and the Protestants wanted to

evolve away from that to keep everything

regulated plain and simple you come here

to worship God not to avoid a statuary

or the paintings of a gold colored

paintwork that you find in many of those

churches of course we should also

remember that during the reign of the

Catholic Church in this country there

are many many beautiful works of art as

of all paintings frescoes sadly of which

of course many of long since disappeared

following the Reformation they Weaver

painted over or in plastered

how unusual I've been here three hours

and I've just heard a jet fly over

anyway I want to share with you

something special which is the organ and

I'll tell you more than we get there all

the way down towards the font is

something which is extremely unusual

inside any churches a triple-decker

pulpit and this piece is quite amazing

and if you imagine in the priests

standing there full of fire brimstone

and delivering the message of God to the

heathens quite amazing

I forgive me for my imagination I

particularly love about this is that the

top and middle pour pits are decorated

with a grade a cloth rate with tassels I

think probably at one time this may have

been a screen which was home down by the

sides but of course has long since gone

it's fairly worn now but a number of the

tassel still exists but what beautiful

structure standing with surety

assertiveness over over this tiny

congregation it's just wonderful

anyway let's go down to the font what we

have here essentially is a 14th century

font beautifully carved with a sprawling

and patterning and it's cat by a

Georgian pineapple topped covering so

there you have the fusion between the

14th century and 18th century merged

together here in one piece and the only

identifiable relic of the earlier church

apart from that broken window that I

showed you earlier and it's beautiful

absolutely wonderful and it survived all

those centuries being stood

and he hearing noises in the background

there are some men in the field shooting

but this is lovely

the real joy is the actual organ itself

what we have here is the only one of its

type in Suffolk it is a barrel organ it

can play 36 different tunes and was

installed here in the year 1820

unfortunately I can't access the barrel

organ to play it and I certainly

wouldn't want to without somebody being

present but one can imagine the sort of

hurdy-gurdy sound of music that will be

played out inside to the congregation

here it's lovely isn't it absolutely

marvelous all the pipes are here all

properly preserved and it's in full

working order is just amazing yes

a lovely church why proposed to do now

is to actually sit inside one of the box

pews and see whether or not we can troll

through energy in the form of EVP or

perhaps some type of occurrence I don't

feel anything hostile here at all just

mild and pleasant and lovely Church and

certainly pleased that I've actually

made the effort to come out here today

anyway that's come down everything

here's on highs and that the barrel

organ is on high the pulpit is on high

some churches depending on their own

religious convictions wanted to level

the playing field so anything that

separated the congregation from the

otter and from the church itself was

removed and so many of these box pews

were ripped out in later years and in

some churches the altar was actually

lowered so that it could be on the same

level as the rest of the congregation

which perhaps was an early indication

within the Church of an equality as such

between the church and the common folk

and of course the landowners

I'm going to sit in this box here and

hopefully draw something through which

could be interesting I love these doors

just being so here there is the

impression of a woman 19th century very

dark clothing literally from her neck

long way down to her feet huge skirt

dress probably a lady who lady in her

70s quite elderly a very strongly

weather-worn face her hands are very

very rough opsi a lady that has

experienced a lifetime of toil and yet

here I can feel her

I can see her actually tidying the

church keeping it clean so one of the

church helpers perhaps but she's here

and again just like the priest

she's completely circumstan the fact I'm

here is it a residual energy I don't

know why she's here

please could you give me a sign of your

presence could you say something could

you give me some indication of your

presence here

there's a strange smell a smell of

cooking smell of all vegetables both me

the kind of smell that you expect on

people's clothing if they've been

cooking wearing the same clothes a bit

like when people fry and fry food the

stench of they soaks into their clothing

and here I can smell this pot boil for

want of a better word an old smell a

smell that's been on someone's clothes

for a while yes

there's a number of strange odors

floating around it here it's difficult

to describe them all but they're here a

very earthy country smell I think

so many echoes from the past here and to

be honest if anyone came back to his

church from the I don't know maybe the

19th century nothing here would look at

miss just amazing a time capsule

stepping back and it's here

if I hear any noises I will report them

I'm not hearing anything

okay it's time for me to return back to

Essex I really enjoyed this trip out

here today took over an hour and a

quarter to get here but it's certainly

worthwhile for the isolation of this

place simply wonderful absolutely

wonderful anyway without much ado thank

you for joining me today and I look

forward again to seeing you the next

time so until then from me to you take

this is totally incredible an amazing

building I'm actually at Lawrence's

Church in the village of Broughton in

Buckinghamshire Broughton today is a

small part of a much larger entity which

is the new town of Milton Keynes and

this church was erected in the 14th and

15th centuries and covers wall art

dating from the 15th 16th and 17th

centuries so effectively we're looking

at artwork from the pre-reformation and

post-reformation periods and what an

incredible array of pictures we have

here to share with you plus the ambience

of this building in 18-49 whilst

rebuilding the chancel to the church

they accidentally discovered under years

and years of whitewash some beautiful

medieval wall paintings now before the

Reformation of the church many people

were peasants they were unable to read

or write and so it was necessary for the

church to paint vivid religious

descriptions to keep the worshipers and

congregation in order nobody today knows

who these artists were but there were

clear reminder of times past in a very

harsh and cruel world and that is the

world of the medieval after the

Reformation period things changed

somewhat the original wall paintings

were painted over and they were replaced

by short Psalms and prayers which were

far more subtler and gentler and really

just to encourage and remind people of

their loyalty and allegiance to God in

this place of worship

the church was declared redundant in

1987 and was handed into the care of the

church's conservation trust and is no

longer used for worship and indeed today

it is regarded more as a museum

the building is grade 1 listed because

of the fantastic artwork that surrounds

you when you walk into this building and

the ambience generated from it is

something very special

including the bells of the church which

always strike on the owl the first

painting I want to reference here today

is actually above the North doorway as

you come into the church you can see it

directly in front of you in many

churches that you go into you often find

some Christopher as a welcoming gesture

as you enter the church here the message

is much more staid and much more certain

about your future because here above the

North doorway is judgment unfortunately

the wall painting has been compromised

bytes Victorian uncovering and

repainting which makes it hard exactly

to date and gives a scheme essential

look the upper part of the painting has

been lost so only the left foot and

Rover Christ survives however many other

details are clear wars and tales of the

heavenly city on the left-hand side and

we have an angel blowing the last

trumpet to summon the dead to rise to

come to be judged and we have an angel

with a sword on the top right-hand

corner which is possibly the angel of

expulsion which guarded the door to the

edan in the bottom center we have the

weighing of souls with the Virgin Mary

sheltering souls in the cloak and

holding a huge string of prayer beads

and some Michael holding the scouts of

the right originally it would have been

shown spearing the demon at his feet as

he tried to weigh down the scout in the

weighing of souls and what could not be

better than the mouth of hell complete

with sharp teeth and souls licked by

flames

tomorr writing on the wall is a painting

depicting a lamentation or Peter which

was painted in the year fourteen seventy

and has nine wrote medieval figures

carrying parts of Christ's body the

painting depicts Christ in the arms of

his mother and as you can see his right

arm and leg are broken and mutilated the

central scene is surrounded by the nine

men who carry portions of the body of

Jesus bones limbs etc one carries the

Sacred Heart another the sacred host the

body of Christ in the consecrated bread

of the Eucharist at the bottom of the

pitcher two men quarrel over a game of

backgammon it's been suggested that one

of the purposes of this painting was a

warning to medieval people that they

injured our Lord on they swore oaths

black parts of his body so as you can

see another example of how the church

exerted authority across the peasantry

so if you misbehaved Christ would be the

one who would suffer and of course when

you died and your soul passed on you

would suffer you would be condemned to

an eternity of health and not abide by

the laws of Christ this is all fairly

heavy stuff but for the period of

history in which these were planted

these were terrible times there was

plays there was diseases all kinds of

terrible maladies wars conflicts

disagreements many many ways for people

to die slow and miserable deaths and so

the important thing that most people

wanted was salvation at the end of this

if they were to die having suffered such

a terrible life

in this depiction which is painted above

the south doorway as you enter into the

church isn't George riding a horse

spearing a dragon at his feet

unfortunately the top part of st. George

is missing this is due to the fact that

in the 15th century the church decided

to lower the roof and so the top part

which would have shown some charge his

helmet has completely gone and so there

are no references to that today but

what's left there is quite remarkable to

say the very least

the artwork of the dragon is

particularly intriguing very very

beautiful as indeed other parts of the

exposed horse and the lower parts in

George's body and of course emblazoned

across in George's chess is a red cross

on a white background which

coincidentally is also the flag of

England and so since George became the

patron saint of England but who was sin

George the man the worse than jaws was

born in Cappadocia which is now in

Turkey in around the year to 80 AD he

enlisted into the cavalry of the Roman

army at the age of 17 during the reign

of the Emperor Diocletian Diocletian

second in command was Galeras the

conqueror of Persia and an avid

supporter of the pagan religion and as a

result for the rumor the Christians were

plotting the death of Galerius an edict

was issued that all Christian churches

were to be destroyed and all scriptures

to be burnt anyone omitting to being a

Christian would lose his rights as a

citizen if not his life son George acted

to limit the excesses of diocletian's

actions it tanks the Christians he went

to the city of Nicomedia where upon

entering he tore down the notice of the

Emperor's edict when he appeared before

Diocletian it said this and George

bravely denounced him for his

unnecessary cruelty and injustice

and subsequently Stan George having

defended his faith was beheaded at nikka

media near Lydia in Palestine on the

23rd of April in the year 303 ad within

the context of this wall painting the

dragon would have been some form of

demon and also and a more subtle message

to the peasantry of the medieval England

of that period it would also have been a

warning to other faiths who did not

conform to the teachings of Christ and

so San Jorge as in his historic context

of being a supporter of early

Christianity was still defending the

faith by vanquishing all foes that stand

before God

one wall painting which is seldom seen

by the public is now actually covered by

the organ which was placed here in 1993

having originally stood inside the otter

area of the church in the chancel and

that is actually the Lord's Prayer and

if you look very carefully above the

pipes of the bat you can actually see

the depictions of the lettering showing

part of the prayers it runs down the

wall where the rest of the prayer is

there today I honestly can't answer but

I understand that there is still quite

degree of wall painting which has been

left and what an amazing find amongst

all the other amazing finds that I've

discovered here today and now we move

across to the next depicted wall

painting which is an Eligius and st.

Helena both have historic connections

particularly so to the Church of Rome to

the Catholic faith in England and also

to the Eastern Orthodox Church as well

as in later years perhaps to a lesser

degree the Church of England

as we can see certainly GEOSS is holding

in one hand the bishops crows II or

crook he's wearing the clothing of a

bishop and he is raising one hand up to

God on one hand on the staff and if you

look very closely and particularly

beneath the depiction you'll see a

number of images which are painted on

the walls which depict many implements

and objects which were created by

metalsmiths and metal workers and

Goldsmith's etc because the Eligius is

the patron saint of Goldsmith's

and metal workers the only problem of

course there is a monument plate across

these depictions so we've only got a

partial representation of what is

actually their Eligius was an

interesting character was an early

Christian bishop who certainly found

favor with a king of that period he was

born in France in around 660 AD and very

quickly rose to prominence and became a

close confidant and friend of the king

of that period certainly during his

lifetime as a young man he was a skilled

metalworker and was alleged to have

created a beautiful gold throne for the

king which obviously in noble his favor

to the said Regent the story is that he

came across once a horse which refused

to be reshot by a blacksmith and the

horse became unruly and so some Eligius

rode the horse was possessed by demons

and as an act of faith to his belief and

his religion he chopped off one of the

four legs of the horse and rishaad the

limb and then miraculously reattached it

back to the animal's body and the demons

were gone and the animal returned to

normal this was regarded as being an

amazing act and particularly so within

the teachings of the Catholic Church of

that period and so that earned him

sainthood

but the reality of cently Jia's was

apart from being the patron saint of

metalworkers and blacksmith he was a

skilled goldsmith was the fact that he

was an important power player

and the early part of the last

millennium and is also noted as being

one who converted the Gauls and the

Franks into the Christian faith but of

course after the Reformation characters

makes the Eligius very quickly

disappeared from Fame and to his left is

some Helena the mother of the Emperor

Constantine and she was certainly a very

powerful figure and was perhaps one of

those instrumental in his conversion to

the Christian faith it's said that she

traveled to the Middle East with a view

to finding the cross upon which Christ

was crucified and eventually came across

three crucifixes and in order to prove

upon which one was the original crucifix

upon which Christ was crucified

she found a port and very seriously ill

old lady and instructed her to touch

these three crosses the first two she

touched there was no effect but upon

touching the third which is the one

which is depicted here

the lady was miraculously cured of all

ills and was joyous and happy and again

another miracle

one can appreciate having experienced

the harshness of the rule of the Church

of Rome up to the Reformation the

Protestants wished to have a more softer

tone and approach and so basically

rather than reinforcing their will upon

you they're pleading to you they're

saying look if you don't worship God if

you don't believe in God then the words

of God and the church itself will fade

effectively so rather than in forcing

people to worship people were being

embraced by the church to worship which

is a completely different doctrine to

that of the past and bearing a line of

course for the 17th century there were a

lot more people that were much better

educated and could make their own mind

and decide how they wish to worship God

if indeed at all they wanted to visit or

worship in this church and that I think

is the theme that's followed through and

there are many other textual entries

with quotations from the Bible but to

reiterate there is nothing there which

shows the harshness of the previous

years and sadly this is where the church

follows through because after this

period and particularly after the

restorations which had taken place here

all the medieval glass which previously

existed is long gone and has been

replaced by a number of beautiful panels

by Victorian artists and sadly like the

way of many churches of this vintage in

later years the congregation's dwindled

and effectively faded away and so the

relevance and the power of the church

was no longer regarded as being

something essential to most people's

lives and the strange irony as I said

earlier when we first arrived the entire

surroundings of where we are is now

filled with housing milton keynes has

expanded and spread out and a swallow to

the village of rosen

perhaps in later years there may be a

recall to worship here as a church or

perhaps not it will continue as a museum

but as I've often mentioned on many my

visits what happens in future centuries

how will these buildings be loved and

maintained and there is every possible

risk that if people don't appreciate the

significance of what these buildings

really represent which is a historical

record of our past they too will fade

into history and that will be something

regrettable and something that cannot

ever be replaced

since I've been in here filming I've

actually met a very interesting man a

man but name of Barry Waites and and

what is your responsibility and interest

with his church well I'm a member of the

Friends of some Laurent formed just over

a year ago to ensure that the church has

is open to the public it has always been

possible for for people to come to us at

Lawrence's and get the key and walk

around but we wanted to use it more as a

community resource because there's now

new building surrounding the area and

there are many people expressing an

interest in the building and seeing it

as a centre of the community now you've

got a book here which dates to when

roughly Barry 1567

and it's a defence of the apology of the

Church of England so what prompted this

book well

after Henry the eighth made himself head

of the Church of England

and as in fact as you go through that

period of Edward the six the Protestant

Reformation by the time you get to and

death by the time you get to the reign

of Queen Elizabeth there was now a very

clear distinction between the church in

England that had left the fold of the

Roman Catholic Church and we shouldn't

forget that Elizabeth was excommunicated

by the Pope which prompted the Duke of

Parma to launch an invasion exactly this

book was printed was printed it is an

argument against the Roman Catholic

Church which says that it was the

English church that carried on the true

tradition of Catholicism and not the

Church of Rome which was corrupt and it

is in Old English script it is called

black letter actually and it's very

difficult to read it's beautiful though

isn't it artistically it is it is very

very beautiful and it's it's a very

learn ed book and it's full of

references referring to other sources in

which he brings to his aid all of these

sources including quotes from the Bible

a horrible heresy sent Agostini's faith

or something it says up here and so

really this was a defense of the Church

of England that's right yeah it's it's

argument why it was better than the

Church of Rome and and why people should

abide by the teachings yes it says that

in fact the English church had gone back

to its origins

we are the English church and we are the

true English Catholic Church and always

have been

and of course this is also a

representational of evolution in society

how people's concepts were changing how

they viewed things much more differently

to the earlier teachings that he

received under the Church of Rome and

you just - what we're talking about this

you've got another book over here the

paraphrase of Erasmus would it be 1517

1523 to the church in 1632 was a Dutch

scholar he was originally a Catholic and

he also became King James the First's

tutor by which time he was a Protestant

and that's James the first came to be

not only a Protestant because he was the

daughter of the Catholic Mary Queen of

Scots but also as a successor to

Elizabeth and he

erasmus translated the whole of the new

testament into latin but rewritten for

to give greater understanding and the

idea Henry the eighth's wife catherine

parr she was the final one and the one

that survived it was her idea that her

as mrs. gospel should be translated into

english and believe it or not some Queen

Mary who was actually one of the

translators who translated she became

known as Bloody Mary and took the church

back to Catholicism but she is believed

to have translated the Gospel of st.

John

so despite her she would say homicide or

sight she was also an academic I

understand that being an organist here

you're actually gonna pay ass out with

she would say a more really suitable

tune yes many people who come to

services see it still as a village

church what else do you expect in an

English village church but something

like I vow to thee my country to host

you Gustav Holst yeah

it's only a smaller than but many people

love to hear it and and they do say it

just brings memories flooding back

it's very emotional piece and especially

when it's accompanied by singing it is a

very powerful piece

like all good things the day has come to

an end and I've thoroughly enjoyed my

visit to some Lawrence Church and

particularly in the company of Barry

Watson who is one of the friends of some

Lawrence church the church is

Conservation Trust control an amazing

array of churches across England this

being one of many and if you get the

opportunity to visit this church you

must do so it is worth a journey I

actually spoke to a couple earlier that

had traveled down from Newcastle to

actually visit this wonderful building

and so I'm sure hopefully after today

you will be driven to come down here and

experience the same joys and pleasures that I have,

I'm actually standing inside one of the

great religious houses of England in

fact this vast expanse of ruins once

represented a vital part of the economy

of this area of thetford in Norfolk but

before we actually go on with an

investigation and touch base with some

of the historical background of this

remarkable location a short while

earlier on our way up here we stopped

over at the village of great live Amir

in Southwark to meet up with one of

England's greatest ghost tellers a man

by the name of Montague Rhodes James and

here is my report

you

it is seldom that in life you get the

opportunity to pay homage to one of your

heroes and I think for me one of my

literary hero is as a man by name of

Montague Rhodes James more commonly

known as the author M R James who is

regarded as a father of the antiquarian

ghost story he was an academic he spent

much of his life at university and the

end of these days Eton but for the best

part of 40 years his family had to

living here as far was the priest he

arrived here at the age of three with

his family and was associated with this

village for over 40 years

in fact his art of writing ghost stories

was legendary apart from being a great

scholarly academic into medieval life no

doubt he had a certain acting ability

because he used to enthrall and entrace

his students with his stories which she

had written especially for them he also

based many of his other stories on

locations associated or known to him

through his family and friends old Burr

and Suffolk B one other place that comes

to mind but the main thing about

Montague Rhodes James was that he wrote

a template for the modern ghost story

many of em are James's works have been

adapted for television two of his

compositions were written around this

village one was called a vignette and

the other was entitled simply rats so

one can imagine what an honor it must

have been to be in the presence of this

great man and although he died eaten and

was buried there a plaque remains today

to the genius of Montague rose James

inside some Peter's Church and now we're

returning back to Thetford which is the

seat for today's investigations and

ghostly historical connections

that was certainly an interesting visit

to the home of Mr James a man who for

many many years has entertained me with

his wonderful ghost stories and now we

are actually standing inside the remains

of a clinic Priory which was built in

the 12th century right in the middle of

fete furred in Norfolk as with many

ancient and abandoned sites across

Britain and this site was abandoned in

the year 1540 after the dissolution of

the Catholic Church in England one can

imagine the ghostly legends that have

attached themselves to these places some

of those perhaps were created

deliberately to keep people way to stop

people causing the nuisance of damaging

the site or perhaps for more Nefera sack

tivities such as smuggling on the other

hand there is also a lot of residual

energy left over from the period in

which the monks were here and certainly

in 1937 a group of people passing

through here one evening could hear

monks singing and also heard a monk

reading from some ghostly text and of

course more recently in 1991 a group of

teenagers passing through here also

could hear ghostly music and not only

that they actually saw a monk and they

were attracted to his presence by the

sound of keys clanking in the darkness

and you can imagine the sheer terror

that they must have suffered before they

decamped from this location very quickly

unfortunately the site is owned by

English heritage and so after 6:00 p.m.

at night the entire site is shut down

but it still does not stop people from

climbing in here to carry out their own

investigations although for ourselves

tonight we have another but very special

location in Thetford forest itself and

let's not forget more recent history

we have the Bell Hotel or the belly we

actually called in there earlier today

to see whether or not we could get

interviews or perhaps film inside the

location but the staff we spoke to the

having heard these are reputations in

ghostly tales claim that none of this

has affected them and that they haven't

experienced any activity whatsoever

although they did say if you go into the

cellars down below where it's very cold

and very damp there is a pervasive

atmosphere in there which is

particularly scary and something which

makes the staff feel very uncomfortable

about before they have to depart from

the cell cellars very quickly so

unfortunately as much as I would love to

be able to investigate some of the

legends attached to the Bell in I can

report that a member of staff was

allegedly locked in by ghostly hands

into a room and that there is a lady who

has been she was say in residence for a

number of years who haunts the premises

but unfortunately of course again

because it is a commercial business and

because there is a lot of people passing

in and out it wasn't a practical

location for us to be able to carry

through any type of investigation and

just one more other thing I'd like to

cover for our american friends the great

thomas paine originated from Thetford

before moving to London and eventually

to America where he ignited the spirit

of the Revolution which occurred in 1776

and Payne today is a favored son of of

the actual town and if you travel around

there are plenty of monuments and

plaques to this great man so all in all

the fit furred site is for many many

reasons a great place to explore but

perhaps to a degree the town has been

contaminated by the modern world and

from my point of view that does not make

for a good

paranormal investigation

unless you're standing inside a very

unusual and perhaps unique building this

dates from the 13th century and is a

solid squat tower it has two stories we

have an upper floor and a lower floor

and many people would probably think

that this was some kind of a prison but

in fact it's actually a warren is lodge

a Warriner was a person employed to

catch wild rabbits as Jane for food and

the reason we built this unusual

building was because this land was owned

by the Priory

at fete furred and the Warner's were

being attacked by Roman gangs for the

game that they had actually caught or

they were attacked by poachers so in

order to defend this position and to

save their lives

the abbot had this unusual building

erected after the disillusioning 1540

the whole building was handed over into

the estates of the Harald family and the

house family kept and maintained this

structure until the early part of the

20th century and over the centuries the

forests here was regarded as one of the

best for catching wild rabbits and what

would happen is that on the upper floor

the Warriner or the hunting party would

sleep on the lower floor the dead

rabbits would be stored for

transportation back to Thetford the

following day it has a number of ghostly

tales attached to it one I think was

perhaps created as a method to keep

people away from here and the other is

perhaps a more chilling tale which I

will share with you the one I think that

was confection was the tale of the white

rabbit with a red glowing eyes and

believe me or not this is quite a savage

beast he's alleged that should you see

this white rabbit with a red glowing

eyes you die within 24 hours I

personally think that the story is a

little bit far-fetched that I haven't

heard of anybody who's actually suffered

from this terrible calamity of seeing

this frightful apparition of a rabbit

but certainly there's another story

which is one that I'm hoping we can

follow up this evening by tearing out

our own the investigation of this

building we can actually get inside the

building because there is a metal grill

behind us and it has a roof but there's

enough space for me here to reach

forward into the structure with a

camcorder and perhaps may be able to

pick up something interesting the other

the other story is about really a girl

and this girl is a man with no eyes and

no mouth but just black holes for

sockets and has a two-dimensional face

and his face according to legend has

appeared on the ground floor and upper

floor levels and I believe 20 years ago

somebody walking through here at night

actually saw this face leering at them

from the ground floor and they fled in

terror whether or not tonight we will

encounter the spirit I don't know but

I'm pretty sure we should pick up some

good quality EVP at this location and

perhaps some other strange apparitions

keep hearing whispering all the time

whispering and I think that somebody

following

you can see what this is well I think

this is effective I used to be called

God robes and basically their toilet

shoots so on the upper floor if anybody

was using this as a toilet it would come

directly down this chute and you'd be

deposited down the bottom here for

clearing up the following day and of

course the lowest of the low were

employed to do those kind of jobs but I

think this is the remains of a Garda

robe interesting we've now returned back

to fitfoods Warren Lodge on the edge of

Thetford forest it's not too cold it's

quite nice it's certainly very very

quiet there's a lot of activity around

us as far as nature we we've actually

seen what you think is a deer on the way

through and what we intend to do is to

video around this building and also

perhaps a little bit into the forest

I've just had a look inside through the

grille and there's certainly a strong

energy here so I'm hopeful that we're

going to pick up something really worth

sharing with you so let's crack on with

our investigation

nothing really yeah what can you think

just say but when I first focus in where

you want this I'm not sure about

restaurant a nothing particular

I don't sure sort of lie out there

nothing on here

no I'm not she'd film you okay shots

it's alway next year

nothing belong to that yourself just

that won't be long

if anything what you should be doing is

standing away from the building so you

can get as much in view and what you

commit you to you view what you viewed

what

that's exactly their way of doing it

looking around the outskirts that way

don't you do the same the other side

I'll get some shots

yeah got a light at the top in one of

the windows and all

I love these windows his slits in the

sand

I'm feeling getting an irritation about

us now

I just took a picture inside and the

instant have actually taken it I felt

this tremendous irritation an

impertinence that we are taking

photographs of creating lights you say

inside that building I just get the

impression that somebody would rather we

kept it quiet and of course we will do

and we're not staying here forever but

it is a very strong irritation to stay

in realeased but we just can they keep

wandering around the outskirts in this

building there isn't a great deal of

other places to go to we're actually in

the middle of a large clearing from the

forest so we're not right on the edge of

the forest but it's interesting

I'm picking up a name a first for I

thought he was the surname was something

like turbo octobot Thabo but the name

I'm picking up is William Taverner

William Taverner whoever he was one of

the Warner's here the rabbit hunters I

don't know the name is striking that he

very very strongly at the moment is

William Cavanaugh

I'm picking up something I just want to

find out what it is can you show

yourself please I can fill you I know

you're here I haven't come here to cause

you any any inconvenience well at least

I hope I'm not calling you that I've

just come here to make friendly and

peaceful contact with you it's very

difficult with these bars but literally

can you tell me your name please is it

William Cavanaugh

it's one of the five places and then

that's the fireplace on the upper deck

doesn't really give you a lot of scope

it's internet although there's nowhere

else we can't there's no no there's none

of it can't get to open it so you know

no yeah it's just the bars or new

convenience please could you say

something

one of these windows there's where a

face appears some of them will windows

where there are no more than arrow slits

so you're never going to see a face

they're basically a mini fall isn't it

yeah fortified farms over the north it's

you know it's a it's accomodation with a

military purpose but you're not fighting

over armies you're fighting thieves and

brigands

please could you say something could you

make a noise could you give us some

indication of your presence please

superstone

I'm sorry I'll just stick him up a bit

for a minute so you just step back now

just for a second what we actually are

we doing for taunting I think it's cool

to happen and I think it's cool to

happen still feels lighter than that

oh for sure for sure I'm just going to

step out here a little bit further what

did what the building in what way did it

make you feel we felt what headed no

it's very very active

here's a beautiful building

so those that inhabit this wonderful

building III do understand how much many

many of those and spirit wants to return

back to the places they knew in life and

they certainly do not want to be

interfered with and I haven't come to do

that and I do understand I'm just here

to try make a measured contact level

with you and I have no intentions of

returning so I'm just but a visitor and

I'm not a child and I haven't come here

to cause a nuisance and I know that

you've obviously suffered with that in

the past and I know that the world in

pond which I live in is nothing like the

world from which you came

I wondered if anybody here met the prior

of thethird

because you supplied his kitchen

I'll get the impression you know with

the Warner's there was always a military

presence here you know and pick up men

arms yeah a couple of soldiers

it's very difficult for these plastic

really for anyone watching - to get a

really good appraisal of what is

actually here and all I can give you on

and I do apologize I just snippets

through these bars but as you can see

with the wind dies around it was

definitely a fortified tower some over

the centuries have become bigger I was

are still in the original format give

you not here the thickness of these

walls look amazingly strong building and

all for the humble rabbit yes you know

yeah that's all yeah that's all work

Roman style they've used in there I

started really neat job only and if you

look at the bottom here you can just

take capture somewhere on here the edge

of work stone like a like a like an

almond archway so this must have been

quite decorative in its heyday yeah I'm

picking up two soldiers here two minute

arms and maybe three of them in the

Warrens and also dogs dogs too

yeah small Terrier dogs

so really intriguing place isn't it Oh

Oh something we just went up wall yeah

unlike form I hope it was it maybe in a

moth but oh yeah on the right it seemed

like a streak but and then I saw more so

I'm not so sure but a certainly I'll

check it on the film

anytime is ability could fall in love

with you that oh absolutely yeah it's a

it's a very charming place it has a

certain atmosphere and to think that we

are where I'm standing here I'm actually

a part of it so much you standing inside

a medieval building and this would have

also would have been used for prayer as

well Tim there would have been a small

chapel area for prayer

such was the requirements of the day not

so much I'm certainly feeling but I'm

not seeing as much as I expected to I

think what we'll do now I think we're

local it quits and make our way back to

the car it's a very very dodgy ground

here we're walking across a sandpit so

you can imagine how dangerous it is

under thought but we can do it

or today I'm at the medieval church of

Samaria virgin that stances

mountfitchett in Essex surprise me in a

very quiet very surreal building in its

own way it has a lot of very early

church architecture particularly family

walks the memorials and even there's an

effigy of a knight as you can see here

cast in stone but what is very sad about

this building is that it is no longer

used for worship and belongs to the

churches Conservation Trust and it is

open for public inspection what we're

hoping to do today is to wander around

the church and be able to touch in and

touch base rather with the energies that

prevail here and with me today and

joining me for the first time is my dear

friend Mary Priya who has come all the

way over to the UK from the United

States of America

it's got here from the state's actually

we just came from the airport to check

out this very very old church it's very

beautiful and there's a lot of things to

look at so we'll show you around

this church just walking around has its

own special magic I've been trying to

tap into energies within the building

and the strongest at the moment which is

the moment two famous people buried here

but what's interesting here I'm very

spooky if you can get that on the camera

down here Mary it's the human skulls

that are carved into the feet of the of

the actual sarcophagus that's really

really weird and there's one over here

to look and the family to whom this is

dedicated to is the Middleton family and

obviously looking at this we're looking

at the 16th century but the most

interesting objects what I mentioned

earlier is just over here just crammed

into an archway there

now at his foot that's Eva a sheep or

it's a line of Judah which would have

indicated that he may have served in the

Crusades but there's no monument to this

particular man but even so you can see

that the feet across which is a typical

sign of perhaps being a knight or Knight

Templar so there's certainly a very good

history here I'm actually now picking up

first the first time since I've been

here today I'm actually picking up on

something you are who I think who is

buried here who is or was in service

either to the the night that I pointed

out to earlier to militants who were

buried over there I just feel that his

presence is here to sustain their

presence ease within the church it's

almost though this man is still in

service to the family and he is interred

outside of this building in the

graveyard but I feel his presence here

and I see him more or less dressed

he's quite rotund probably no more than

50 but quite old and wearing like a

medieval smoke atop so I get the feeling

on connection more like the servant of

the knight who is interred here is I've

never felt that before on an

investigation I've been to many many

churches but never actually thinking

that one a servant who stood attached to

to somebody was actually

so that's quite an interesting first

so whatever wandered down and see what

was in time for sure definitely over

here is a very strong energy over in

Middleton great here the monument energy

changes here here the energy feels much

more recently now I'm feeling a thing

sickness and fitting presence of a woman

whose name is Jemima

and surname is something like baby a

wife something similar to that maybe day

it just feels tremendous sickness I'm

not sure whether this lady died here or

whether some terrible event won't act

happened here 17th century is the period

that I'm picking up for this particular

person a tremendous just a sickness and

sadness but nothing more it's really

strange spirit many who are still here

in spirit

that's strange

can't see what's actually lonely it's a

plate at the very spot where I'm sitting

this energy okay that of the

churchwarden mm-hmm

now what I'm actually thinking out here

I wasn't to say a very protective energy

of somebody and this is perhaps more

recent probably about 60 or 70 years ago

quite a slim man quite elderly with

mustache very neatly trimmed almost

military wearing a checkered suit plain

shirts and brown tie and it's almost as

though he is still here part of the

congregation part of the church looking

after this building although this

building is it were should we say has

been abandoned by those of the living

clothes in spirit are still very much

connected to this beautiful building and

that is evidenced by the amount of

energy that I'm now feeling as I'm

walking around what are we going to do

is just follow all the way around to the

other side and then we're going to have

sit down and see if we can pick up

anything or any EVP perhaps

here very strong very strong energy

presence might almost have a spike here

I'm feeling quite well I headed but that

only headedness I can't actually

associate to a particular person this

almost like a well of energy here it's

almost like a core energy area which I

would say is the center of the spiritual

center of this church it's very very

strong here

just briefly literally professional

certainty

I saw a men in dark clothing that's all

I can describe I just saw this dark

figure which was sat here and he was

bent over slightly as though he was at

prayer or in quiet contemplation and

just for a second

he remained invisible to me and then

quickly disappeared and he's personally

mr. Thomas that's the problem with

energy and a problem with what I

actually do is that sometimes when you

wander into a building they jump at you

telling you much more about who they are

on their lives and sometimes you pick up

absolutely nothing or on this occasion

you just have little flashbacks to

particular persons or individuals but a

collective energy in this church is very

very powerful I can imagine that this

building at night would be very active

and it's such a quiet and tranquil

building considering or only a few miles

from Stansted Airport which is which is

very very strange

once you're up here

mmm-hmm pretty that's the story this is

all car

I think it's cardboard as its tone okay

where is actual stone this is an

absolutely exquisite piece of artwork

it's beautifully carved and there's a

history to Salisbury and she died in

1614 there's a funny smell here up and

smell fish we hadn't lived yeah there

you pick up but I'm not actually feeling

anything from her at all and of course

she would be very somewhere in the floor

mm-hmm and there's also black up here

mm-hmm

to a Julia Sarah Hayfield I can hear

talking the the core area as I said was

down at the bottom so I want to go back

down really serious any persons of this

church we come in what fine piece will

be no armor offense we just wish to make

friendly a peaceful contact if there's

anything that anybody would like to say

that you say so now please as we sit in

quiet contemplation and admiration of

this beautiful building

please could you give me a sign of your

presence there's somebody here with us

man

measuring around it

please give us a mutation in your

present

article article sling article

you tell me you're sending a face

sorry my old dog Donaldson where's your

connection here please

and the impression is this person a

parishioner who wants to know what we

here what we're doing a kind of

spiritual curiosity

I definitely heard noises like a chair

no I think it's

but I

just see the flash across there you know

where that's common to chair is just so

way before like done across the back of

it

the same frame can you come closer

please

now now standing while I fly out

actually it's a woman this lady

yeah you can take that yeah

yeah it was very very faint and they

just moved from the chair across the

faculty there so those of you watching

there is a display of the flowers near

what looks to be a Dutch carved chair of

the 17th century and I saw a very great

shadow of mist to move across the back

very things across the back of the chair

and then onto the flower display and

Mary's also you picked it up from the

clown Sydney yeah so that was definitely

yeah so we're being watched and I have

suddenly filled with lips there is she

was saying certain curiosity for us

being here Mary and I then went to the

flower display where we earlier saw the

mist yeah and it went down it went down

those leaves and if you go to that chair

that's where I actually saw when this

first appear actually went across that

the back of the route that chair yeah

just know it just melted away and it was

just my curiosity and I felt that it was

there for a couple of well a few seconds

before it decided to disappear

it's so strange isn't it it is very dark

we've actually got a light on at the

moment to to make sure that we get as

much detail as we can