13th July 2007

General: As it was Friday 13th we decided to do an investigation and chose the ruin of the c1100 St Peter’s church at Stanton Low which stands in an area where there was once a mediaeval village and later quarrying for gravel in the 1960s. When we first arrived there were a few spots of rain but the forecast said it was supposed to be dry so we parked the cars on the road near Stantonbury Wharf (Grand Union Canal) and set off along the canal and across the fields to Stanton Low. The church lies just off the Hanslope Circular Walk and is surrounded by low walls and fences isolating it from the surrounding fields. Access is through a gate to the north. The site itself is very overgrown with massive Burdock plants everywhere. Two team members visited the site in February when the vegetation was a lot lower and several old and mainly damaged gravestones could be seen.

On arriving at the site we spent some time walking around and photographing the site as it was still daylight. We then set up video cameras to monitor the chancel, nave and the south side of the church before splitting up to do individual vigils of 45 minutes. Elaine chose to sit on an old wall to the west of the church, Andy covered the nave, Richard the chancel whilst Steph and Bill headed out to a large earthwork which runs south across the field about 100m from the southeast corner of the church. Steph chose to sit on one side facing northwest and Bill the other side facing east. The vigil commenced at 21:46 but by 22:20 Bill called it off as it was then raining quite heavily which would not do the video cameras any good. By 22:30 we had packed our equipment away and were leaving the site.

From the detailed reports below it seems that this site has potential so we will definitely return to it later (preferably when there are no mosquitoes around).

Andy (Team 1): Sat on church wall facing the main area of the church

Equipment: Camcorder, Sound recorder, Camera, EMF Meter, Temperature gauge.

21.38 EMF readings taken but no activity.

21.40 Temperature reading 17ºC.

22.05 Unknown sound heard behind me on the path.

22.08 Unknown sound heard again and none of these are picked up by the sound recorder.

22.10 Temperature reading 17.4ºC inside church and 16.7ºC on pathway, when the temperature was checked again the inside of the church reading was 16.1ºC.

Photographs taken show only insects.

Sat and watched a bat catching mosquitoes which was good after they had attacked me sitting on the wall. Nothing paranormal except possibly when vigils had ended and the group was walking away from the area and the name Bill was clearly heard by the entire group. This sound came immediately to my left and I thought it was Richard.

Some of the group thought it may have been myself as I was talking to Richard at the time however I have no recollection of this and I heard the name Bill coming from the right.

Recommendation Although there is no paranormal activity on the sound recordings or my photographs I feel the site requires further investigation.

Steph (Team 2): On the way to my vigil, I walked out of the gate and past the end of the church (west end with the window). About half to three quarters of the way along I felt as if I had become detached from my body and was someone else. As I walked I looked down and saw a long brown skirt, which had several layers and was heavy and worn. This lasted three or four steps.

When I reached my vigil point (on the mound under the tree branches south of the church, facing northwest) I sat down and suddenly felt like I had a really bad cold. Feelings of being blocked up with catarrh, phlegm and a heavy chest. This lasted a couple of minutes then gradually faded (maybe a cold coming).

Later, I was looking at the trees behind me (Bill spotted an owl) after a minute or so I was looking back across the field (from right to left) and had the impression of either marching soldiers or a marching band with red or partially red tunics.

Bill (Team 3): Undertook a vigil on the north end of the earthworks to the south of the church between 21:46 and 22:20. Nothing to report.

Though I picked up on nothing during the evening (apart from 12 mosquito bites during my vigil, teach me to wear a short-sleeved shirt and no jacket) the evening did end in an interesting way. As mentioned by Andy, we were all walking back from the church at 22:30 along the Hanslope Circular Path and were by some trees just beyond the end of the church site when my name was called. At the time I was at the front on the left with Steph to my right. Behind me was Elaine with Andy to her right and Richard to his right (so Andy was midway between Steph and myself and about 3 metres behind). I heard Andy and Richard talking then they appeared to stop and I heard my name called. This was seperate and did not appear as part of the conversation. To me it sounded like Andy and it appeared to come from over my right shoulder. I turned round to enquire what he wanted and so did Steph as she had also heard my name coming from over here left shoulder, again from where Andy was. Andy stated that he had not said my name and did in fact hear my name called thinking it came from Richard. Richard and Elaine heard nothing. Interesting.

Elaine (Team 4): Sat on wall to west of church

22:10 Heard a cough to the left of me

22:12 Someone standing near the post at the side of the church

General Report by Bill King