Posted on December 22, 2008 - by Andrew
Clophill Church – Deadman’s Hill?
Image by bouncer1788 via Flickr
The ruins of the church on Clophill are around 400 years old. St Mary’s church was abandoned in 1848 when a Victorian replacement was build in the centre of the nearby village.
Local folklore has some interesting tales as to why the church was left and a new one built.
One rumour suggests that the church was the wrong way around, facing away from God instead of towards God. It was said that this error had forced the church into becoming a holy building for Satan rather than God.
The church is believed to have been built on top of a leper hospital which was run by monks.
The church is sometimes described as being on Deadman’s Hill. This is not correct as Deadman’s Hill is by the A6 road rather than Clophill Village.
Some of the confusion of the church’s location relates to a horrible murder in 1961 when Michael Gregsten was killed at Deadman’s Hill. James Hanratty was found guilty of the murder and hanged. Many believe that Hanratty was innocent.
There have been reported incidents of satanic rituals at Clophill. In 1963 the grave of an apothecary’s wife was broken into, bones removed and placed in a ritual formation in what was once the nave of the church. Bones where again taken from the graveyard on the hill in 1969 and once again ritualistically arranged.
Hauntings
There a number of reported sightings associated with Clophill Church. Many visitors report a chilly and oppressive atmosphere at the church even during warm days.
Visitors report watching a faint light moving up the hill and towards the ruins of the church before vanishing.
The ghost of a monk has been sighted at Clophill Church but some paranormal investigators have also used projections of a robed monk to scare curious teenagers away from the runes.
In Pure Spirit
What do you think about investigators using the monk projection to keep local kids away from the hill? Have you been to the ruined church and experience the familiar chill?
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May 2, 2009
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I come from hertford in hertfordshire not far from ware and have been to cold christmas church a few time its a very strange place allways cold even in the summer but i have never felt unsafe there or scared. I have also been to clop hill a few times as well and I dont like it as last time I was there some thing grabed my leg and left deep scratch marks. I also did some history on the place and found the exact location of the grave that was dug up on 3 times. there is a,so another old church ruine not far from clop hill which you get to buy crossing a field and it in in the woods at the top of the hill this ruien is very erry and theres a strang feeling abt it there a monk who hauntes it .
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May 8, 2009
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Sorry to spoil the fun but most of the stories about Clophill church are wrong. The myths that it is wrongly orientated, built on the site of a leper colony run by monks or that villagers were left to die there during the black death were all started in the late 1960s as a practical joke by students at a local college.
Other practical jokers have added to this in recent years by spreading the stories and using hidden projectors to frighten people. There have been no actual authenticated ghost sightings and paranormal investigations have found no evidence of temperature changes or other phenomena.
The orientation is easy to prove by looking at the church on a map: it faces due East as it should by tradition, though there is no church law on the orientation of holy buildings and churches can be found facing all directions.
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May 8, 2009
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The church was not actually abandoned in 1848. It was simply too small for the village and agreement could not be found on enlarging it, so a new church was built. The old church continued in use as a mortuary chapel until the 1960s when the lead was stolen from the roof and the parish, lacking funds to repair it, abandoned it to become a ruin.
DNA tests subsequently made in the Hanratty case have proved beyond doubt that Hanraty was guilty of the murder. Moves for a posthumous acquital have now stopped.
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May 11, 2009
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im goin clophill 2mo will let ya kno ppls!!!!
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June 9, 2009
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ive been 2 clophill a few time and once when i looked up i c a lady in white hangging me and a few mate ave seen it if any1 eles has plz let me no
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June 19, 2009
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Ive been a few times,
Once we went up and saw Ghost hunter's. Taking pic's with mad flash's. most of the pics had light Orbs all over the place but there was one that was very strange it looked like a big Teddy with a little girl? i shall try and get the pic.
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June 23, 2009
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i went up to clophill church on the 23/jun/09 had my picture taken when i was up in the tower of the chuch,but what was wierd there is a stears leadin down and up i have been lookin all over the net to find out about the chuch its self but havent come close 2 finding out whats down there, And all so in the picture there is a round figger in front off me i mean i dont believe in that kinder stuff but i dont have any other way of explainin it if any one could help then please do!!!.
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July 2, 2009
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i think i bee here b4 dus it have grav stones all round he outside bit
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July 3, 2009
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The bottom doorway into the staircase was bricked up about 30 years ago to stop people climbing up the tower. The lower part of the stair well is now just filled with rubble. The stairs were checked by the surveyor recently and are very unsafe. There are also owls nesting up there. The rope was removed. Please do not try to climb up the tower. Sooner or later someone will fall and then there really will be a ghost in the church!
Meanwhile there is now CCTV at the church with police monitoring. Plans are in progress to rebuild and restore the church.
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July 13, 2009
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I used to go up Clophill every now and then, I think because of all the stories told about the place it has created a very eerie atmosphere when you go, which isn't helped by the fact that its so quiet. But, if you go up there on a nice summers day, its so peaceful, theres just the birds, and the views are amazing when the suns out.
Too many people have spoiled the image of the place, going up there practising black magic and now doing drug trades etc (hence the police presence). The amount of times I'd be walking aimlessly around the area and find black and red candle wax was unbelieveable. But yeah, I will admit it is quite creepy up there if you choose to listen to all the stories.
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July 14, 2009
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Any 1 no biggleswade? Ibeen to clophil with mates loadsa times nuffin happend lol what idid find weird tho was that the grave stones were all leaning over and lookd like they wanted to get as far away frm the church as possible spooky haha
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July 15, 2009
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i felt the eery feeling up there, its not the nicest place to go but isnt very scary, most of it is figures of your imagination, can anyone tell me of any real haunted places where were allowed to visit?
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July 20, 2009
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i went to clophill church today and i have been there a couple of times before today when me and my friends were there we were look around the church and were taking some pictures, there is loads of graffiti on the walls of the church and there was a peice of graffiti on the wall saying 20.7.09 witch was todays date and then under the date it said human sacrafice. There are people wat do black magic and stuff up there so we fort we be go quick. when i looked at a picture wat i took of the church my phone frooze and then turned off witch was weird because my mates phone turned off aswell. i have also got a picture of a girl about 17-19 years old with dark hair and wearing victorian clothes in one of the tower windows.
If anyone else has been there and seen anythink like this plz write on ere
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July 20, 2009
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oh yh and andrew lambourne up the top there
The sters that you can see is a spiral stair case witch aparently leads to an underground grave yard but i dont think no one has been down there before coz it to scary i dont advise any1 to go down there iver
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August 9, 2009
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who dare come to my and feel my wrath
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August 9, 2009
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who dare come to my church and feel my wrath
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August 11, 2009
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I lived in Clophill for many years and went to the old church regularly. About 1975 they took all of the gravestones that are within the original church grounds and put them around the perimeter, this might explain why some of them are leaning. Many rumours exist about this place but too many people try to go there and expect to find people in the middle of some sort of black magic ceremony. On halloween you get hundreds of people trying to get there but the massive police presence stops anyone from going inside. Adjacent to the churchyard is a secondary burial ground which is still in use ( my frends mum and his brother are buried there), this is why the police are trying to stop people going there just to have a look.
It really is not worth travelling far to see this place, plus it it difficult to find within the village. Plus if you ask a 'local' for directions they will normally send you in the opposite direction – they get asked the same thing all the time and are fed up with it!
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August 14, 2009
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go to Thundridge Church at Cold Christmas in Heartfordshire its Really scary and very active
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August 26, 2009
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i didnt find thudrige that scary wernt there for long though anyone know of any other places?
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August 26, 2009
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does anyone have a postal code for near to the church and is it easy to find?
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September 15, 2009
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i went to clophill with a few of my friends it was a warm summers evening and my mate kev was climbing on the side of the church when he fell off and broke his ankle he is silly and i told him something like this would happen me and paul found it really hard not to laugh
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October 5, 2009
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i went to clop hill recently with friends and we all see something in the top window at the entrance of the church. It looked like the appearance of a woman. We all seemed quite nervous because it seemed to vanish as we walked into the entrance of the church. What this is, we do not really have an explanation for but only wish we took a camera. We did try to obtain a picture using our mobile phones but the picture just appeared purple. Infact every picture taken there had a purple smudge in it.
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October 7, 2009
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DO YOU THINK ITS SAFE TO GO UP THEIR ON HALLOWENN ????
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October 16, 2009
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hi me and my partner went there a couple of days ago we both felt we were not wanted there we took photos by mobile phone inside the church we took pics of the windows and were the tower is then we took pics outside the church of the same windows then walked round to take more pics it get really cold up there and it was sunny it wasnt till we got home we looked at pics in the windows, there was wat looked like a face in the window inside the church then when we looked at the other pics the same face is on the outside window it was like it was watching us the face as it was facing outside watching us
`
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October 30, 2009
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Yes its easy to find, its just up a rough dirt road off of the highstreet.
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October 30, 2009
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I dissagree, Id advise anyone to take at least a look there. Anyone used google earth? you can see the church from the maps! anyone with a GPS reciever and some knowledge of how to get its co-ordinates will be able to easily navigate there. Its definatly worth a visit to anyone who is interested in things like this.
I wouldnt worry about the locals, best thing to do is reserch the location first, so you know exactly where it is, there is nothing more noobish than asking for directions, not only that, but you have advertised your intentions to visit the chrurch, so this could interfere with your mission. you know how quickly this will travel around the local townsfolk, soon everyone will know your plans, this cannot be allowed to happen.
I can understand the halloween thing, and I wouldnt want hordes of raging people walking over graves etc in the middle of the night littering etc, so if you visit be responicble!!! you want to be welcome again???
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October 30, 2009
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ROFL
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October 30, 2009
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I bet the police have some nice paranormal tapes of their own!
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October 30, 2009
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Yes as safe as any other day. Make sure you take some garlic and a cross and salt.
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October 30, 2009
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This is for anyone who cannot find this place, seriously, although you dont need a GPS device, we are issued them as standard, so make full use of them, the co-ordinates are;
Latitude 52.03733
Longitude -0.40956
The road leading upto the church is rough, so although this is passable in a car, an off-roader may be needed in winter months, or wet weather. the entrace to the church is just off the highstreet so you may drive past it, so look carfully! And double check your GPS device.
The area is routinely patroled by the police force, so expect to clear the area if instructed.
Like any risky area, carry a first aid kit in the vehicle, or on your person, and charged mobile phone, and possibly a CB or ham radio for extra cautiousness. carry a torch, preferably one of those big steel bodied ones, your GPS reciever, and if you can afford it, a night vision scope. You may even wish to carry some kind of camera or recording device to capture events during your visit. A gieger counter may be used to check the area for radiation levels, although there is notthing expected you never know if radiation may be present.
Remember Play safely.
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October 31, 2009
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It's Halloween 2nite, and should you feel this place and the stories about it are pure myth, then please explain this to me: Two friends of mine, write their names on the walls of the ruin, BOTH are now dead and BOTH died the same way!!! FACT!!! TRy to get to the church 2nite, you will find the roads on/out are blocked by police, why would such drastic actions be made, if this place is harmless???
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November 1, 2009
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Went to Clophill last night, Police prescence there but only to stop cars, they wernt stopping people walking to the Church…….
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November 3, 2009
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hya i hate to curst your bubble but how did you get up some stair's that lead down an up when it just a shell ? it you keep looking on the net you should be able to find load's of the old church .some on on here was also asking about the grave stones,they were put there because of the black magic that went on .YES it went on as i remember my stepdad coming home an tell us that he went to police but he ssaid basically they were to scaredd to do anythig at time .my nan an grand dad buried there an were dug up befor even 30yrs of there death .hope thiss helps some abit .anymore info i be glad to help .
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November 3, 2009
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aww right i must of left when they borded it up an when come back i took it as just a shell with rubbleall around it .
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November 3, 2009
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barry i agree with you ,it not just because of the peoplewhom live around the church coz when i lived there police was also called there because of the black magic ,i went up there after an you could see the cauldron was ssitting in the middle big black thing .but police in them days back in 60's 70's were to scared themselves to go there lol.an yes it was true as my stepfatherr come an told us halloween night as he see what they were doing ,but he was like that dont want miss a thing lol
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November 4, 2009
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Hi there people, i used to go clophill quite alot with my m8s, when i was about 17 till the age of 20ish. havent been there in two years lol. Anyway ive seen alot there during my visits there. one particular night i think it was halloween or sumthing, we heard a baby crying out load from the graveyard. we all run into our cars n left tho we did go up again that night. and sat there with other youths, we saw people in the center of the church worshipping (devil worshippers). We made a night of it until we heard a scream several times and we left, as fast as we could, the screams were coming from the church as we stood by our cars. we didnt return till midday the following day. (This happed was after the worshippers had left) We know there was no-one else there for fact as the police made petrols of the bushes n the hole perimeter. And it was me my friends and other youths, everyone was near there cars all catching jokes till the screams started.
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November 4, 2009
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Next morning we took pictures there in many pictures there where shadows of spirits in them especailly one with a young girl wearing a white wedding dress. None of this is made if your thinking its rubbish. If i still had me old fone i would love to show you the pictures to show all my proof. buh i fink its those pictures that where taken that stopped me from going there. Also the old man that use to appear on his gravestone round 1.20am and 1.30am. Its the first black gravestoned grave you see when you go into the main cemetery. Most of it was recorded on tape by a friend on his camcorder, dont know if he still has it or not.
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January 7, 2010
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Isn’t it intereasting that all these false facts & stories come from people who don’t come from Clophill or have ever lived there. In a nutshell it was a perfectly normal church until it was abandoned because it became too small for the village. It’s just a shame that the kids ruined it with the graffiti & halloween etc.
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January 24, 2010
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During the 1970's I visited the old church a few times with friends – especially at night, hoping to see something strange.
A friend who had lived close-by told me that locals believed that the americans working and living at the Chicksands USAF practiced black magic at the old church.
All these years later, I now have learned that Chicksands was a surveillance centre claimed to be for the american government but in reality was to listen-in on important phone calls involving huge business deals that could benefit corporation-owning freemasons so that freemasonry could gain power in the world, through corporate wealth.
Freemasons happen to be heavily into satanism.
What a coincidence.
I doubt however, that satanism was ever practiced at the old church.
It's more likely that the old church was used as a decoy to where satanism really was being practiced – probably within the site of Chicksands.
My recent post Copenhagen – Brutal danish police behave like agitants instead of police .wmv
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January 26, 2010
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[...] Local folklore has some ideas to offer as to why the old church was abandoned. Some say the church was built the wrong way around, facing away from God (how do they know which way God is looking?) thus making the church more suited to the devil instead. Another rumour is the church was built on top of a leper hospital. In reality, it would be more sensible to assume that the new church in Clophill was built because the villagers fancied a more convenient place of worship, what with the old church being a fair trot from the village and on top of a hill. Sod that on a Sunday morning. [...]
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January 29, 2010
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back in 1963 me and my friend Calvin went up to the church to have a look around , thats when we found a skull and some bones scattered about inside the ruins we ran and told a couple who were walking towards the church and they went for the vicar . he arrived with 3 policemen, they tried to blame me and Calvin but when we went to the disturbed grave it took the 5 men to move the lid of the tomb and said it could not have been moved by 2 little lads .I remember the name on the tomb it was Jenny Humberstone she was the wife of an Apothecary ,me an calvin were in the national papers and the vicar gave us a book each about the history of Bedfordshire ,Istill have the newspaper cuttings to this day
Dunc.
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January 31, 2010
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i went there yesterday and found it a most enjoyable and pleasent visit ,ghosts ? i dont think so ,orbs ? lol i was a grave digger and ive never seen a ghost in a cemetary ,now in my recent job i have experianced ghosts but they are in shop i deliever to in the dead of night ,oh and one when i was a teenager just about to get me leg over in a countryside car park :)
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January 31, 2010
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yeah its GH0 1ST lol
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February 1, 2010
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so their really rebuilding the church? dont suppose you can fill me in on their progress so far could you?
thanks
sean
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February 3, 2010
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hi emma, i lived in clophill for years and never really believed the church was haunted. I went up there in 2005 one nov night with 3 others and a dog. The dog went mad so i took some pics, to my surprise there is a lady standing in some mist and a little boy and a couple of old men, these pics are very clear. I think the lady could be jenny humberstone. Ive seen pics of her bones and she had one tooth left in her skull. The ghost pic of the lady has one tooth! scary!
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February 4, 2010
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Went there years ago and can still remember the cold and ungodly place with its menacing forboding atmosphere and stench of partly unearthed human remains – as you can imagine I didn't stick around long, only enough to take a couple of photos. I happened upon the photos the other day and on close inspection I discovered that in the main window at the end of the church you can just make out a large pair of bollocks!