Hypnogoria

In the county of Essex on the marshlands near Mersea Island, there used to be a church. Built in the 14th century, St Mary's Church in Langenhoe had survived an earthquake in 1884, but finally yielded to the passing years in 1962 when it was demolished. All that is on the site now is the remains of the churchyard.

However once upon a time the church was considered to be the most haunted in all of England. And in the late 1930s, the new rector, Reverend Ernest Merryweather, recorded many paranormal happenings in his diary. Bells would ring themselves, objects were moved, the sounds of footsteps and voices were heard and doors would slam themselves. Whatever haunted St Marys seemed to favour the winter months in particular it seemed.

For example, there was a fifteenth-century south door to the church which once opened to a path across the churchyard and on to the old manor house. After the earthquake this door had been blocked up, and in front of it was an Elizabethan altar table, on which stood a statue of St George, a beautiful brass credence bell and two altar lights. One December morning the rector heard, ‘as clear and distinct’ as he had ever heard anything in his life, ‘an old man’s cough’. It seemed to come from the St George statue and a moment later the credence bell rang of its own volition.

Strange figures were seen too. Local legends spoke of a woman in black who was seen walking through the churchyard. On Christmas Eve 1950, as the Reverend Merryweather was walking towards the chancel, a curious vague form seemed to suddenly appear from nowhere. It appeared to be a man in a tweed suit. The figure slowly glided across the nave and disappeared into the pulpit.

In the late 1950s, the church was retired from use and later pulled down. However visitors to the site still report that an uncanny atmosphere hangs over the place, and it's said you can still glimpse eerie figures among the overgrown tombstones.