Oxney Bottom - Ringwould. Revisit

Aim: To further our groups ongoing research and investigation of paranormal activity in this derelict chapel at the heart of this unique piece of ancient woodland.

Background:
We have been to Oxney many times before each time we leave having had a different experience, no two visits are the same. By day in the summer months it is a beautiful piece of woodland, by night the character changes drastically and there are very few people that would stay the night in and around the derelict chapel. Oxney is thought to have once been a thriving medieval village with the chapel serving the religious needs of it's residents, it is also thought that the village fell into decline and eventually vanished after the population was wiped out by the Black Death. Since then it would seem that the chapel served the occupiers of near by Oxney Court until that use also ceased and the chapel too fell into decline. We have all had odd experiences of one sort or another which is why we make repeated visits to Oxney, and as a group we feel that this is a paranormally active site. One day we hope some of it's secrets will be unlocked!

Apparatus:

Cameras:
Nikon Coolpix 3100
Fuji Finepix S5500
Fuji Finepix S5000

Camcorder:
Samsung VP-D351
Sony DCR-HC19

EVP:
Olympus DM-20

EMF:
Gauss EMF Meter

Thermometer:
Digital Probe Thermometer

Other:
IR Emitter Sony HVL-IRM (x2)
Tripods
Torches
Tapes (MiniDV/Cassette)

Investigators:
Ian, Kim, and Paddy.

Method:
Use of EVP questioning, still photography and camcorder to record the evenings events in the hope of capturing evidence of paranormal activity.

The Investigation:
We spent the afternoon in Deal followed by a pool session in The Five Bells waiting for dusk to fall. We eventually arrived at Oxney at 8.30pm and entered the wood via our normal route up the main drive. We arrived at the area of the chapel at 8.50pm and started setting up our equipment. This is a very familiar place to us now but every time we go we always seem to feel different about it, sometimes unnerved, other times not bothered at all, this time all three of us fine and very calm about where we were although the atmosphere felt quite heavy, probably due to the weather conditions being damp and warm under the canopy of the trees. There was a lot of insect life and moisture for us to be aware of as this would affect any photographs taken. Temperature at 8.55pm was 15.2 degrees centigrade.

At 9.00pm we moved into the chapel, we spent sometime taking photographs and exploring the area to see if anything had changed since our last visit. There was a bit more rubble on the floor than before (from the declining chapel walls) and when we exited the chapel we decided that although we still felt calm about things we all felt a bit more apprehensive within the chapel, as though it was good to get out of it. Paddy commented that this was not always the case as he often feels more apprehensive outside the chapel, as though once inside he often feels secure and less exposed. We moved on to the adjacent clearing which shows signs of being used for ritual worship. We always have a look here when we visit to see if there has been any recent activity. Kim was taking notes and Ian was filming the walk around on camcorder while Paddy was scouting the area. Paddy was feeling a little apprehensive so began a thorough look about. The "alter stone" was still there although appeared to have been moved showing the carved pentagram face up. We had to assume that other people had been there and moved the stone but not replaced it as they had found it. At 9.15pm we walked back to the area of the chapel and as we passed to entrance to the chapel Kim smelt a scent, a flowery almost perfume like scent, Ian could also smell it. There were no flowers around the area and it was not any of the team as we do not wear strong scents on investigations for this very reason. We could not explain why we had smelt this.

After a brief break we started our first EVP experiment of the night in the clearing outside the chapel. The temperature was 13.7 degrees centigrade. Kim recorded the session on her DM-20, Paddy set his camcorder on a tripod to record the session and Ian kept his camcorder on as well. Ian introduced the team to any spirit that might be present and explained that we were going to ask some questions, he then proceeded to ask a set of questions such as What is your name? What was the date? Why are you here? etc leaving a pause to hopefully record an answer on our equipment. During this session there was a distinct cold breeze that came across the group from left to right which was odd as it was quite a warm pleasant balmy night. We ended the EVP session at 9.40pm

We continued to sit in the clearing after this to simply see what happened. By 10.00pm the temperature had dropped slightly to 12.8 and Kim was feeling quite cold. We realised that apart from the noise from the adjacent road there was no noise in the woods whatsoever, no natural animal noise or movement, surely this was not normal and there should be noises of some kind? It is so quiet there that when you do hear something it startles all the more! Then Paddy and Ian heard a voice, almost a chanting like Islamic prayer coming from the area between us and the main driveway, Paddy described it as an exclamation! At 10.10pm Ian decided to try calling for spirit activity and we carried on with this till 10.45pm when we had a break. This was not much of a break as whilst having a coffee we started to hear more strange noises all around us, like music or a woman’s voice similar to what we had heard earlier. We decided this could be noise from Oxney Court or people in a car parked in the lay by at the bottom of the drive, but we were not able to truly explain these.

As it was proving interesting we decided to stay where we were, the team were starting to feel less at ease with the place and Kim even admitted to feeling scared with the apprehension that more than one person was watching waiting to jump out! Kim doesn't normally get scared! At 11.00pm more cold air blew across our camp followed by quite a loud noise behind Paddy which clearly startled him. Ian stayed on his feet panning the area with his camcorder as he felt to nervous sitting with his back to the wood. There were noises coming from the chapel area now and the group was certainly becoming more apprehensive. The temperature had now dropped to 11.5 degrees centigrade and Kim could smell burning wood! We were close to the remains of an old campfire but this was so old there was no smell coming from it, but this cannot be discounted. The whole team were beginning to feel nervous and vulnerable.

At 11.05pm Ian had to change his cam tape so we broke from what we were doing and at 11.20pm moved into the chapel. for another EVP session. Kim felt apprehensive still and wasn't keen on going in the chapel as there is only one door in and out and wasn't liking the thought of being "trapped" in there given her earlier fears that we could be jumped on. However, once set up in the chapel we all felt more at ease probably because we felt protected by it's walls and away from the open vulnerability we were feeling outside. In fact we all decided that it was unusual for us to feel safer and so comfortable in the chapel as it is normally the opposite.

Once again as with outside Ian ran through an introduction and some questions whilst we recorded the session on both Kim's DM-20 and Ian's camcorder allowing time between each question for a possible response. We did this till 11.45pm when we decided end the experiment and leave the chapel. We walked around the chapel area for a bit more but by the time 12.15am was upon us we decided that tiredness has taken it's toll, ended the investigation and left Oxney via the main drive

Results