PEAR TREE LOG

pear tree log: I started this blog to keep my younger son, Jonny, in touch with life in Lincolnshire, while he spent a year working in China. That year turned into five! Now he is home and training to become a physics teacher. This is simply a patchwork quilt of some of the things I enjoy - life in rural Lincolnshire, our animals, friends, architecture, books, the gardens, and things of passing interest.



Monday 7 May 2012

Reputedly The Most Haunted Church in England

St Botolph's Church, Skidbrooke, is reputed to be the most haunted church in England.

Up until last week I had only viewed it from across the fields, as I drove past, on my way elsewhere.  It has been unused since c1960 and in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust since 1973.

The reason I had not paid it a visit was because of its reputation for being such a site of paranormal activity and, I hate to say, it was known to have been abused in the 1970's -1980's by Satanists.  That is more than enough reason to stay away, in my book.

I have never liked the area around this church, the land is very flat and it has always felt uncomfortable to me - which is really strange because my all-time favourite church lies approximately 2 miles away - a church which I will post about next week.

I have visited all the surrounding churches, quite happily,  on my own.  Last week I felt that I wanted to visit St Botolph's - but only if George would come with me.  I deliberately didn't discuss the history of the place with him as we drove there.  I didn't want to build up the fear factor or anticipate atmosphere.

We had to park the car at the end of a gated lane and walk the few hundred yards to the church, which stands isolated and partly hidden behind trees.  It looked like any other church as we approached and crossed a ditch to enter the churchyard.
Credit to Leigh Cade, his photograph is far superior to mine

We entered the building and got a big shock as a couple of very large, black crows flew around and up making a loud noise as they went.  The church was icy cold and I wanted to turn tail.   I followed George inside and realised that the church felt icy cold for a very good reason, all the glass has gone from the beautiful windows, there are no doors, and a cold, bitter, easterly wind was blowing in and around.

The church has been stripped bare, it was quite shocking to see just how bare it is.  One advantage is that you can see where the church has been altered, added to, tweaked and adjusted over the years.   Even the three bells have been taken to another church along with a few bits of decorated stone which have been saved.

 It is a magnificent, lonely building which filled me with great sadness.

It receives lots of visitors.  Most of them are desperate to have some sort of paranormal experience.  They come in the dead of night and scare each other silly.  Some come with ill intent.

Luckily there is a group formed from local people who keep watch and they inform the police if they see any odd happenings, or notice groups of people heading down the road.  Of course, they can't watch it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, etc.   You tube is plastered with lots of footage making lots of claims about strange lights, noises, orbs, figures, you name it and it has probably been seen by someone, or so they claim.

I don't think those are the groups which particularly bother the Friends of St Botolph's.

I still feel sad that such a beautiful building which dates from 12th century and has seen so many hundreds of years service - baptisms, weddings, burials, worship - now stands stripped and naked, isolated on the marshes and always vulnerable to misuse by a few people.


28 comments:

  1. I would love to see that church, not for its reputation but for its age. Even stripped, the architecture is appealing.

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    1. Hi Janet, Even the Churches Conservation Trust describe it as being "like a medieval great hall". It is a hidden gem and should be celebrated for the treasure that it is. I know you would like it.

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  2. Even the pictures have an eerie feel to them. Elaine I think one of your sentences describe it to a 'T' - 'A magnificent, lonely building which filled me with great sadness.'

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    1. Hi Molly, It is such a shame. I must visit it again on a bright, warm day and see if that changes anything...

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  3. Hello Elaine:
    Yes, this is indeed a very sad situation and it is difficult to see how the fortunes of St. Botolph's can be improved. Even empty and stripped of all adornment, it is striking in its bold simplicity and does exude a sense of history and of time passing within its stone walls. Its situation looks very bleak and that certainly does contribute to a feeling that all is not well here. However, it is heartening to note that there is a 'Friends' group of the church who watch over it with care.

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    1. Hello Jane and Lance, Lincolnshire is very fortunate to have a lot of country churches, many are still in use but a number have been made redundant. A few were sold, but many are 'maintained' by the Churches Conservation Trust. This one has been stripped bare, in an effort to preserve what they can. Despite the attacks it is still standing and there are people determined to ensure that it is not abandoned. All is not lost.

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  4. Nice pictures but for some reason I don't feel comfortable with this church.

    Hugs
    Elna

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    1. Hello Elna, The weather and poor light didn't help to make it look very nice, I will try again on a brighter day. Then we can see whether light affects the atmosphere.

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  5. Hello Elaine....I feel sad just reading your post about St. Botolph. It is bare to the bones. I plan on doing some more research on it. All I know about St. Botolph is his feast day is June 17th.

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    1. Hi Meggie, I must confess, it was a big shock to find it lacked glass in the windows and had no doors. I understand why they have done it, but it is a bad situation when this becomes necessary. I was very grateful to be able to move on to another church, which is at the other end of the scale. The next one will lift your spirits.

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  6. Thanks for sharing all of your shots from England!

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    1. Hi Amy, I'm so pleased you are enjoying them. I love having the excuse to go out and explore.

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  7. lonely buildings should be left alone

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    1. Hi John, They certainly should. It would be interesting to see what someone made of it, if they visited it without knowing the history of what has gone on over the last few decades.

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  8. In its heyday it must have been beautiful and as you say many wonderful events happened there. What a waste. Good to know the locals are watching over it as best they can.

    Happy belated Birthday! I knew we were kindred spirits.

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    1. Hi SAS, Happy Birthday to you, too!

      I am determined to go back on a bright, sunny day to try to recapture a lighter mood. It is an old building and previously loved by many over hundreds of years, surely there should be some essence of that remaining, despite everything.

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  9. Sad people have no respect for history, or property to which they have no privilege. The paranormal spooks are fabrications to incite stupidity. My little town is touted as the most haunted, fed by the fabricated internet stories. Not finding what they look for, youngsters topple headstones, and that's the nicest thing they do. People's families are buried there, but some nasty 16 year old who can't find a ghost takes revenge on six or eight headstones. Well, enough.

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    1. Hi Joanne, I understand, and share, your anger. The churchyard here has an extension, which is still used for burials. There were no obvious signs of damage, but I confess the church building was my main focus. Next time I visit I will scout around both churchyards too.

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  10. Filled me with melancholy. Churches should be happy places filled with voices rasied heavenwards.
    Jane x

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    1. Hi Jane, That is what saddens me. This building was filled with voices raised heavenwards for hundreds of years. At the moment I see it as a symbol of Good v Evil. It may be stripped and bare, but it is still standing. People are joining in the battle to save it.

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  11. It really is sad that such a magnificent building should be stripped, abandoned, and at times abused. I hope that somehow it can be preserved and maybe someday restored.

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    1. Hi Evlyn, The interior of the church is truly magnificent, with that double arcade of arches, and the height of the roof. It would be lovely to have it fully reclaimed from the bad element. It should be preserved.

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  12. It would make a nice house. Is it for sale?

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    1. Hi Cro, Fortunately not! I can't, for one moment, imagine Lady M living out in the marshes.

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  13. What an absolutely wonderful building even when it is stripped bare. The people who have passed amongst these walls would surely have left some stories which the church could tell if only it could talk.

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    1. Hello cuby poet, I could well imagine that you would be able to write the most poignant poetry about the place. It is magnificent and so very lonely and isolated. You could do it justice.

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  14. My first thought was that the church seems oddly out of place in that location. It amazes me that there were so many churches built over the centuries when it must have been a huge undertaking. In this country, most country churches were built with a wooden frame and wood siding. With everyone helping, it could be erected in a few days. Of course, many of those old churches are now obliterated from the landscape as if they never were. A small cemetery is the only evidence they ever existed.
    The sturdy stone churches of England do not disappear so easily.

    I would be VERY honored if you planted trilliums in Owl Wood! I have only seen white ones around here but recently learned there are a variety of colors. In fact, I just checked Google Images and found an incredible assortment. I hope you find one that is as much at home in your lovely woods as I would be.

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    1. Hello Ms Sparrow, You would really enjoy the sturdy churches around here, that is a particularly ill-treated one, most of the others are in a completely different situation. It still amazes me that there are so many.
      I think that wooden churches, built in the way you describe must have a special charm of their own - thank goodness some still survive.

      Consider it done, the Owl Wood will have some trilliums (white ones) planted in it before too much longer. They will be known as the Ms Sparrow trilliums - I'm sure they will do splendidly and I'll be posting photographs of them before we know it.

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