THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

PHONE CALL FROM FINDON

Copyright Valerie Martin 2007

Originally published in Along the Furlong in April 2007

I will make it perfectly clear from the start that I am not into the spooky paranormal of Clapham Woods, Satanic rituals, UFO sightings (strange lights seen in the sky....in 1967 a large black mass moving at speed in the sky), nor doggie disappearances in the woods (these canine sacrifices are supposed to be made to the triple headed Underworld Goddess Hecate).

Explanation and background to the hauntings at Clapham coming up.  The nearby village of Clapham has been under a curse since 1288 when Robert Le Faulconer lost a court case brought against its local parson, Adam le Gest, for some alleged bodily harm.  I cannot find a record of what this actually involved.   Anyhow, annoyed by his defeat in court, Le Faulconer announced with some force —

I will jump a few centuries now and relate at this point the notorious mysterious death of an unfortunate retired Clapham vicar, the 65-year-old Reverend Harry Neil Snelling.  The photograph shows St. Mary’s Church on the very edge of Clapham Wood.   He had been the Rector of Clapham and Patching from 1960 until 1974 and after that moved to nearby Steyning over the Downs. 

He departed from his Steyning home on Halloween, 31st October 1978 and was said to be in extremely good spirits by all who met him that day.   He visited his dentist in Goring and talked to other passengers on his bus journey.  

On the return trip he alighted at Findon and rang his wife from a telephone box and asked her to come and collect him.   When she told him that their car was out of action —  he gallantly replied that he would walk home over the Downs.    He set off in the direction of Steyning.

The Reverend did not arrive home.   Mrs Snelling waited and grew anxious and eventually telephoned the police and twenty-five officers were sent to search the surrounding Findon downland with tracker dogs.  Even a light aircraft assisted.   He had disappeared off the face of the earth somewhere between the villages of Findon and Steyning.

The retired Clapham vicar's remains were not discovered until three years later in August 1981 near Wiston Barn and an Inquest subsequently declared an open verdict.   At this point, the reader will not help but remember the curse on Clapham and its clergy.

Some facts about Clapham Woods….. 

There is said to be a noticeable lack of wildlife and birdsong in the woodland. 

There are indeed eerie clearings in the trees containing the rubble from the ruins of ancient cottages.  

There is a crater in the woods (some say caused by a Second World War bomb...likely or not?)

Walkers in the Clapham Woods have reported feeling sick, suffered from dizziness, felt stomach cramps, vertigo...a feeling of being pushed over.... or just merely feeling an eerie presence whilst amongst the trees. 

Some drivers on the nearby A27 (bordering the woods) say they have experienced a very weird force directing their steering wheel — as if the vehicle had a mind of its own and was taking them towards the trees.

Last but not least, two walkers fled from the woods one evening when a vision of mist transformed itself before their very eyes into the unlikely form of a large bear.

During the latter part of the 1970s and early 1980s there was a series of blazes in the area — there were nine during the autumn of 1978.   These could have been at the hand of an arsonist seeking attention, but one occurred in the engine of a car that caught fire on a section of the Long Furlong, A280 road from Findon.

 I would agree the thick impenetrable woods are a wee bit sinister and dark and I would not choose to walk through them alone..... but I did so in 1999 in  the company of my stalwart Chihuahua.   My mission was to get a good photograph of a crop circle on the other side of the A280 — and nothing befell me on that occasion.

Continue if you would like to read about A Scrawny Rubber Chicken, a Blunderbuss and a Cake

This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.