St. James Church at Bicknor stands aloof from its village atop the north Downs amidst farms and orchards. A single track road runs past the open churchyard and there are no immediate houses although a couple can be seen in the near distance. There is nothing else to shatter the tranquility of the location. The church itself unusually made of chalk and faced in flint was considerably restored by the Victorians and outwardly resembles a Victorian Gothic structure which belies its mediaeval roots.

Aim:

To investigate reports of paranormal activity at Bicknor Parish Church.

Background:

The area around Bicknor and the North Downs has been subject to various reports of paranormal activity and unexplained sightings including strange beasts. In pursuit of these sightings at various locations Ghost Connections started at St. James Church were other Paranormal Groups have reported various events.

Apparatus:

Video camera-
Sony DCR HC-24E with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light
Sony DCR-HC30E with night vision and Sony HVL- IRM IR light
Samsung VP-D351 with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light

Digital Camera-
Fuji 4900 Finepix
Fuji Fine Pix S5500
Nikon Coolpix 3100

Voice recorder -
Olympus VN-2100PC
Olympus DM20

Team:

Kim
Paddy
Dave

Method:

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

Investigation:

Taking note of the physical and natural conditions on the night during which included a howling easterly wind. The sky was clear though. There was no background noise attributable to any other sources and only two cars went past on the road outside the churchyard. There are no streetlights or security lights within visible sight of the church.

We sat in the south porch. This is windowless and has no door covering the arch from the churchyard but is separated from the nave by an ancient wooden door. This door was noted to have a piece missing between the vertical planks of wood. This meant that numerous whistling sounds from within were audibly due to the wind passing out through the gap in the wood.

On a couple of occasions a banging was heard and this came from the door itself. None of the team were leaning against it or touching it any way. When the door was manually pushed it made the same noise.

A noise that could only be likened to a 'flapping' was heard from outside the porch.

Another noise from outside that was heard a couple of times was likened to the sound of a train passing on a rail track as the wheels go over the joins in the tracking.

Kim was sat opposite Dave and Paddy for a time and Dave sees lights illuminating the area of the porch above her head where the roof of the porch meets the walls. This happened on a couple of occasions.

From Dave's view point it would appear that the inner archway of the porch was occasionally being illuminated by something. This was an interior surface and we had no lights on or torches on at the times this was seen. It appeared to be lit from below due to the angle of illumination on the surface of the stone.

Dave comments that he clearly hears a voice say 'Oh no' and questions Paddy. Paddy denies making the comment.

Dave calls out for spirit to create some evidence of their existence and none is forthcoming.

A squeaky noise similar to a gate opening on its hinges is heard by the team just outside the porch.

Investigation concludes.

The rattling of the door could similarly be caused by the same means when not enough wind is able to escape through the hole and therefore the door rattles and appears to do so of its own accord. When pushed the door made a similar sound as it was ill-fitting around the latch area. It must be stated though that this sound did not occur with any regularity in accordance with the gusts of wind that could be heard from other means.

The lights illuminating the area above Kim in the porch are currently unexplained. They were not witnessed by anyone else in the team. No vehicles drove by or were close at the time and the houses in the near distance did not create enough light from their windows to cause this. No security lights were activated at these times either. The surface of the wood and stonework is not reflective in any way.

The illumination of the interior surface of the arch from the porch to the churchyard was later established. The night sky was lighter than the interior of the porch and remained visible throughout. Due to the angle of refraction through the top surface and edge of Dave's spectacles this would, under certain angles, create the impression of the illumination on the interior of the porch due to the lighter nature of the night sky.

Due to the above result the same was attempted to be produced for the area above Kim. This proved not to be able to be achieved.

The flapping noise was not accurately located. There were the odd leaves present on the ground and trapped in the grass just outside the porch. These may or may not be responsible due to the wind.

The sound of passing trains was unexplainable as there are no immediate lines nearby. It is not believed that even given the speed of the gusts of wind that the sound from the nearest railway line (Sittingbourne) could travel that far.

The sound of a gate could well have come from any point nearby as the area does have fields and gardens some distance away but, again, due to the wind this may have traveled.

The voice heard by Dave cannot be explained as there were no other persons there and it was not Kim or Paddy.

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

The audio and visual recordings produced nothing of interest.

Ghost Connections may well return on a less windy night.