This website created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

 EERIE EXPERIENCE AT THE CHURCH

 Copyright Valerie Martin 2000

First published in Along the Furlong, June 2000.

I have a spine-tingling experience to relate. This episode harks back to the mid 1950s to the days when John Ockenden was the churchwarden at St. John the Baptist Church and around the time that the Reverend R.F.G. Adams was the vicar..

John Ockenden also ran the woodyard in Nepcote, which was his full time job. However, there were many duties as churchwarden that he had to attend to. He finally decided to enlist some help with a few of the day-to-day tasks at the church that were taking up so much of his time.

Harry Pelling was in his fifties and worked at the woodyard in Nepcote. He readily agreed to come to his employer's aid in 1954 and assist with odd jobs at the church.

Harry had been a countryman all his life and had previously lived at North Farm where he had given general help on the land throughout the summer months, such as harvesting, and assisting with the sheep. When the tenant farmer, Eddie Mount gave up in 1943, Harry had helped drive the dispersal flock of around 100 to the Findon Sheep Fair.  Well, that does not sound very far but … in 1943 the Findon Sheep Fair was held at West Grinstead. With the country gripped by the war it was deemed unsafe to hold the event as close to the coast as Nepcote Green. It was a long walk to West Grinstead but Harry did catch the bus home after the auction and his hard day's work. From then on Harry lived at Rogers Farm with his wife Violet (who was also John Ockenden's cousin).

John Ockenden was pleased to get help from someone such as Harry. He delegated to him the job of sweeping the leaves from the paths to the church that autumn. He was looking forward to not sweeping up confetti after weddings himself that coming summer too.

The coke boiler at the church was also put on Harry's agenda. This old faithful had to be stoked and the radiators checked each weekend during the winter months. The chore was in preparation for getting the church warm for the congregation on Sundays. This involved someone going round the church on a Saturday evening and feeling all the radiators and making sure there were no airlocks.

Harry either cycled or walked from the cottage at Rogers Farm to the church as the fancy took him. Late one particular cold February night he was due to stoke the boiler and made his way along the path beside the field at the back of Findon Place. He was used to being out in the countryside after dark in all weathers. The old manor in the distance was in darkness. He walked beneath the high flint wall of Findon Place, turned left up the track to the church, passed the hollow where the old dew-pond had been, and on beyond the manor house entrance. Church Hill loomed dark and impenetrable behind the church. It was about 10 p.m.

The lychgate squeaked as he opened it and at that point he could hear very faint unmistakable organ music. The organist often practised during the day but he thought it was rather unusual for him to be playing so late at night in the church.

Harry made his way passed the dark shadows of the tombstones to the boiler room at the side of the church. The music droned on. He picked up the shovel and rhythmically heaved coke into the old boiler. As he finished the stoking, the continuous organ notes became clearer again.

Just the radiators to be attended to now, he thought. As the music continued he secured the boiler door behind him and walked to the main church entrance.

He fumbled with the door and it swung open. Much to his surprise he found the area was in darkness. He stopped dead and felt a shiver of apprehension. There was silence. It was uncanny. Who had pumped up the bellows to the organ that he had heard playing? His heart missed a beat and he caught his breath. The heavy door slipped out of his hand and clanged shut behind him.

Harry's footsteps echoed and, for some unknown reason, he found that he was trying to walk quietly. He knew there was no one around but he was very frightened. He clicked on the light and proceeded to check the radiators. Harry tried to reason with himself that the organist could not have possibly left, as he would have had to pass him.

Harry walked through to the Lady Chapel where the organ was situated in those days. (It has since been re-built and re-sited). He was scared as he checked the radiators even though he had been in the church and done the task many times before.

On his way home walking between the fields beyond Findon Place, he tried to find a reason again for his experience. He suddenly remembered that there was an ancient organ in the ballroom of the manor. Although the building was in darkness, he just wondered if the sound of the music had floated over from there.

After the weekend, Harry returned to work on Monday morning to the woodyard and decided to tell John Ockenden of his experience.

"Is the organ used at Findon Place?" He tried to sound casual.

John who had listened intently to the story replied that he knew for a fact that the organ had been not used for many years. He had never heard of it being played. He too was puzzled by the night's events.  It was a mystery.

Both Harry and John continued with their duties at the church but always had an ear ready to pick up any phantom organ music after dark — but it was never heard again.

Harry Pelling talked about his eerie experience at Findon Church until the day he died in 1971 at the age of sixty-eight. To this day the mystery of the organ music has not been solved.

In June 2002, Neil Rogers-Davis of Angmering in West Sussex wrote to me —

Here's yet another little tale regarding the organ at St. John the Baptist Church in Findon but this time it is not a spooky story.  It comes from Bill Day who was born in 1929.......

The Reverend R.F.G. Adams (who was the Vicar of Findon at the time), wrote in 1971 ....

"Downland villages are still to be found but we do not live in one here.   The rural character of the village has already gone.   It began to depart when Findon ceased to be "a mucky old place" when the wells and the underground cisterns and the cesspools ceased to exist".

The Reverend was quite a character....he rode a Norton Atlas motorcycle and started the A24 Motorcycle Club in Findon in 1966... here is its badge....

In October 2007, ex-Findonian, John Linfield who now lives in Horsham, told me about the club.   He said that he joined the club also in 1966 and there were quite a few members, but the club was relatively short lived.    John says The A24 club was started at the time the 59 club was a big bike meeting place in London [and still is]".

Lawrie May (ex-Findonian) and now in Antigua, West Indies, emailed......"You are a naughty girl Valerie – you knew the badge would get me going !

Yes the A24 Motorcycle Club was quite famous as it was run by the biking vicars of both Findon and the valley. I think the Findon vicar was Reverend Adams, his bike was a Norton, The Findon Valley vicar rode a Matchless or AJS 250 I seem to remember.

We used to have treasure hunts (on bikes of course) that took us around the rural area. The Vicars used to remind us before setting off that it was not a race and we were to observe speed limits. Imagine what effect that had on a bunch of teenagers !

Chas Mortimer – a top racer from Peacehaven or thereabouts was an honorary member."

 

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