Oxney Bottom - Ringwould

Aim:
To investigate and further our studies into possible paranormal activity at this location.

Background:
Well what can we say about Oxney that we haven't said before? We like this place so much that we are drawn to it time and time again and every visit gives us a different take on this place. What we feel, what we hear, what we sense always confounds us and adds to the mystery. When we have a spare evening without a booked venue this is always top of our list for an impromptu outdoor investigation. During our visits here we have heard footsteps around us, been physically touched, seen things, heard things, felt happy , felt sad and even threatened to the point that we have left. We have been here during the day and even on a beautiful sunny spring morning you do not feel alone. This is a very active, emotional and evocative place that has to be experienced to be appreciated. Little wonder that as we had a free night we ended up here again.

Apparatus:

Video camera:
Sony DCR HC-24E with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light

Digital Camera:
Fuji Fine Pix S5000
Fuji Fine Pix S5500 x 2
Nikon Coolpix 3100

Voice recorder:
Olympus VN-2100PC
Olympus DM20

Thermometer:
Calibrated thermometer with probe

Other:
Tripod
Torches
Tapes (MiniDV)

Investigators:
Kim, Ian, Paddy, Dave

Method:
Our methods this time were to be simple, to simply sit quietly conducting vigils whilst asking for communication and see what results we got. We had no preset plan for the night, simply to use our camcorders, cameras and voice recorders to record our time there.

The Investigation:
We started the evening in the traditional way with a visit to the Chinese takeaway and dinner on the beach in Deal, before a few swift non-alcoholic drinks at The Five Bells in Ringwould. When night had drawn in we chose to leave the pub and make our way up to Oxney.

We parked in the usual place at the bottom of the driveway and entered the woods about 11.15. First impressions were that it was so black, as we got a few yards up the driveway we could not see each other even though we were only feet apart, this set in our minds that it could be an interesting night. As we neared the top of the drive and entered the woods we noticed some loud distant drumming, we stood and tried to locate it for a few minutes and concluded that it was coming from the old cottage on the other side of the woods. This concerned us a little as it sounded like a full hard core rave and knowing the reputation these events have we had to be aware that those attending it might see fit to go for a late night stroll into the woods where we were.

The walk into the area of the chapel was interesting, especially given the musical accompaniment. The ground was very muddy and damp and you needed to watch your footing. Paddy commented on being tapped on the chest while walking through the woods, this could of course been an unseen branch but we make a point of mentioning anything and everything that occurs in case there is a relevance later on.

We made camp under the yew tree which appeared to have been damaged, possibly by a large storm the week before. We had a brief walk to the area of the chapel just to see if anything had changed since the last visit but didn’t’t venture far due to the darkness and the fear of being seen by whoever was occupying the cottage. We did see that the broken Ouijia board found at the south end of the chapel during our last visit had been displaced and was now four feet outside the chapel in the bushes.

We returned to the yew tree and sat in a circle facing each other for a while, soaking up the atmosphere. The noise and voices coming from the cottage were to remain with us for the entire night and provided a constant distraction and cause of worry for the team. There was also a fair amount of traffic noise from the main road near by. Unusually there was a great deal of noise that we presumed to be that of being animals, this was different as normally we hear nothing, the place is silent when you would normally expect such noises, possibly the music had disturbed them. There was also a degree of “other” movement that caught our attention. There was a heavy dark atmosphere and it felt as if the woods were alive and had been woken up! It was not raining but there were drops of water falling from the tree canopy, Kim caught one of these in a still photograph which clearly shows how such things can be misconstrued as paranormal anomalies.

Above is the board that was found at the chapel, written on the reverse is pictured below.

As time went on and Kim began to feel sleepy with the rhythmic drumming of the distant music, she in fact drifted off and says she began to dream of demons and the like! She woke with a start as she heard movement behind her. We remained seated for the whole time we were there and all of us were apprehensive at some point. We all felt that once again we were not alone, as though something was there watching us the whole time and had the “other visitors” in the cottage not been so loud , then we would surely have had some results. It was very dark, even darker than when we first arrived. There were lots of animal noises around us, which as already mentioned is very odd for Oxney. Usually the whole wood is quiet. Then suddenly Paddy says he has shivers down his spine at the same time Ian can feel a sudden cold breeze to the right, Dave confirmed this as he was sitting to Ian's right. Then there is a high pitched noise heard by Dave and Paddy, we can only explain this as possibly a rodent of some kind. While Dave was calling out he happened to have his hand aloft, whilst in this position he felt his hand was struck by something unknown. In the same way as Kim's experience he felt this could not have been something that fell as it appeared to come from the wrong direction.

We had a break with a few cups of coffee and some food before resuming our places for another sitting. The music was pumping and the voices getting louder and we were becoming ever more wary of the living rather than the departed, and the traffic noise from the road was less. More movement is detected all around us and Kim thought she heard whispering to Dave’s right, he thought it was him doing his coat up and recreated the noise but Kim confirmed that this was definitely not what she heard.

We continued for a couple of hours simply sitting, talking, observing, listen to the throng from the cottage and voices that came along with it. This did not change what we were feeling and as we continued we all agreed that the atmosphere was certainly charged and had remained so all night. We continued to feel the same sensations we were feeling earlier and combined with the movement all around we agreed that the night had not been wasted or spoiled by the debacle going on in the cottage. With nothing else of note we chose to end our investigation, packed up and left the woods. As we left the woods we decided to drop the kit and venture along the other path that led to the cottage, a bit risky but curiosity got the better of us. Silently the four of us approached the edge of the wood where we could see the cottage and it's garden. Dave an Paddy ventured a bit closer but there was not as much to see as there was to hear. The music and voices were so loud but at least being the only occupied property in the vicinity they were not going to disturb anyone, only the occasional passing paranormal investigator! We walked back to the top of the driveway and walked back to the car.

Firm results were few and far between. The groups high level of apprehension could have been caused by the knowledge that there was the party going on in the cottage. The large amount of movement sensed all around us could have been caused by the unusually high level of animal activity. It was a very close, damp and muggy evening, which would had added to the atmosphere created by the music we were listening to all night. The over all effect was very hypnotic, who knows how this could have affected us. Nothing was caught on our still photographs although the nice shot of a water droplet that Kim got is a very interesting experiment in how easy it is to take a picture of something unusual and misinterpret it as paranormal. Further scrutiny of all the video and audio footage is needed but so far nothing out of the ordinary was recorded, should anything be found later this report will be updated.

Update - The video footage of the incident where Kim felt a blow to her chest is visible on our footage.

It shows the event quite clearly. Kim is visible within the range of the IR light. She can be seen sitting perfectly still prior to the incident. None of the rest of the team is near enough to cause the effect she felt either deliberately or by accident. Nothing can be seen physically on the footage to cause this effect on Kim but what is interesting is that a split second before she reacts her right hand can be seen to raise slightly from the armrest of the chair she is sat on. In a split second her right hand clasps to her chest and then pushes away as if pushing something from touching her. This causes the light of her DM20 mircophone to be visible as it is pulled from her jacket. There is nothing on the footage to explain what she felt and therefore this remains a mystery. A clip of this incident will be posted on the web site in due course.

This was a difficult investigation, one we were looking forward too a great deal and sadly one that was unfortunately spoilt by what we found there. Despite this we all agreed it was another of those unpredictable nights we always seem to experience at Oxney, and as always we left feeling we had furthered our ongoing investigation of this evocative place.

There was an amount of information forthcoming of a clairvoyant/psychic kind, but this cannot be validated. 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.