Oxney Bottom

Ians Account

There are far more places I'd rather go than to Oxney Bottom, as my account of our last visit on the 1st July 2005 should have made clear. Need less to say it is a place that ranks very high on the list of GCUK's favourite places, and one you just can't decline to experience given the chance, The one thing that helped me convince myself to go back was that the full team was going this time, and there's saftey in numbers!

We started with a drink at the now infamous local pub waiting for the light to ebb away and eventually drove up to Oxney in time for the light to fall about 8.30. It is not advisable to try to find the chapel in full darkness for fear of being lost in the woods or hurt falling down one of the many trenches dug during WWII.

Once at the chapel we started by checking the surrounding area outside the chapel and in the clearing that we know to be frequently used for "alternative worship". There were signs that it had been used since we were last there which made me feel uneasy as before. The thought of other people turning up was more unerving than the thought of the appearance of spirits.

Satisfied that we were alone we went into the chapel, and after taking some pictures started a vigil, this lasted only a few minuets before the first sound was heard by all of us. The sound of a bottle hitting the ground was heard outside the chapel which we left to investigate. Nothing was found and first thoughts were that of kids drinking but nothing and no one was to be seen, so we returned to the chapel to continue. (This noise and the teams reactions were captured on the video footage I was taking!)

The rest of our time that evening was spent furthering our vigils in the chapel, and in the clearing immediately outside of it. A reoccuring noise was frequently heard by most of the team at one point or another, this being a heavy thud or two, like heavy footfalls, I myself was hearing these repeatedly while the team took a break, so much so that I had to ask for quiet to hear more, and we did. We all heard "thud, thud, thud" coming from the woods, but these noises came to nothing, and sadly I did not catch them on the camcorder audio.

We were there for two and a half hours and left about eleven o'clock. I personaly experienced nothing more that evening, but read the other personal accounts from the rest of the team to hear more about that night.

I have to say that although slightly uneasy, this visit did not proove to be as unerving as the last one. And I did not sense the same heavy, unwelcoming presence that both Kim and I had felt before. But needless to say, once again Oxney had given us plenty to talk about, and remains a place I think we'll never become tired of returning too.

I have been to Oxney bottom several times over the last couple of years, but this was to be my first on an investigation with our group.

To describe Oxney Bottom I would liken it to an out door movie - horror set from the 1800s, a black and white scene with ivy and moss clinging to every tree, the place of course is in colour but the trees are all described as above, and among these heavily burdened trees resides a small chapel roofless and about 300 yards or so from the main road.

They say only a fool ventures into the woods and that is during the day, but for what we were about to do the cover of night was essential.

Living closer to Oxney then the other core team members, I made my own way to the Duke of York brewers fayre, where in the outside carpark I was shortly to meet the others, in fact within two minutes of arriving.

The team tonight was Kim, Ian, Paddy, Colin and myself this was to be a core team investigation, we made our way over to the local pub which was a mile or so from the venues location, not for alcohol as we have a strict no drinking policy on all our investigations, but to go over the itinerary for the evening and a general brief.

We left the pub within half hour of our arrival and made our way to Oxney Bottom corner, which starts at the dog kennels and continues on for a good few hundred yards up the road, we pulled over on the left the same side as the kennels but at the end of the drive to Oxney Bottom Court.

The gate to the drive was shut but there were no warning signs to heed so we continued, the five of us went through the gap to the left side of the gate and made our way up the dark and gloomy drive.

We all knew the way and upon arriving at the top of the drive directly opposite the iron gates of Oxney Court, you have to do a hairpin bend, almost doubling back on yourself to access the wooded path, so into the unknown we went ,there could be no quick get away on this investigation as the roots and branches could easily break a leg or two.

We arrived at the chapel around 2100 hrs you never see the place until you are almost upon it, it is very well camouflaged with all the green and moss upon the walls.

We set up base under a large yew tree to the north and east of the chapel , the team were all kitted out with rucksacks so moving around with our belongings was made easier, we lit my gas lamp and using the torches we started to make a tour of the area being investigated, in a clearing to the east of the ruin we found some evidence of occult activity as there were various symbols of pentagrams etc, to me it seemed harmless witchcraft or some other pagan activity, we also found a pentagram carved in a tree which is not a very pagan thing to do, as all pagans respect nature so this was unusual.

We also found a stone altar with the pentacle carved into that, we had by this time taken plenty of photos the area seemed secure so we headed back to the chapel.
We entered the ruin and headed over to the far side there are several graves inside the chapel, a family that use to live in Oxney Court used this chapel as a personal mausoleum.

We had some quiet time in the chapel and it was five minuets into this that we heard outside what sounded like a bottle being thrown against the ground by the east wall, this startled everyone and in just one instance the whole team had now become on edge ,we turned on the torches and as a team we checked out the area ,no bottle or any other object could be found that may have made that sound.

We continued to scour the area until we were convinced we were on our own, the woods and area surrounding is to large to be 100% certain. We continued the quiet vigil inside the chapel with no further incidence.
We went back to the base for a break and it was during this time and the quiet time that followed that a loud thudding could be heard(only heard a couple of times by me ) it was also during this quiet time that I thought I heard a whisper.

We moved to the east of the chapel taking photos and the rest of the night passed with no further incidence.

Always a scary place especially within a small group the atmosphere did not seem as menacing as it can do, the noise of the bottle hitting the ground was interesting this still remains unknown there could be 101 things that it could be, it did have the affect of unnerving the group.

The thudding that was heard by all team members could have been Rabbits ?, and the whisper that I heard myself may have been a breeze through the branches.