S04 Episode 18: The Dark Ascending

Chanctonbury Ring, an ancient and unusual landmark located in Sussex, England, and the surrounding countryside has long been considered by some to be a hotbed of strange and peculiar activity. In the 1970s, one local resident set out to dig a little deeper into the mystery only to find a little more than he bargained for...
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Episode Transcript

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Ambling across the South downs a large stretch of chalk hills,

(01:15):
valleys and woodland just to the north of the south
coast of England, you might chance upon a peculiar collection
of beech trees perched atop a prominent spot on its
northern edge. The trees, first planted by local landowner Charles
Goring in seventeen sixty but later replaced after being destroyed

(01:36):
by a hurricane in nineteen eighty seven, marked the spot
of an ancient circular structure believed to date back to
the Bronze Age, known today as Chanctonbury Ring. The original
purpose of the site remains unknown, with suggestions ranging from
the mundane, such as it having been first used as

(01:57):
little more than a livestock enclosure, to the sublime, with
others believing instead that it may well have been some
kind of religious or mystical shrine. Some, however, have claimed
it to have been used for an altogether different purpose,
and that the ring had in fact been created by
the devil. A worthy feature, you might say, for an

(02:21):
area of England long thought to have hosted more than
its fair share of unexplained phenomena. Some have put the
bizarre activity that seems to plague this quiet part of
the countryside in the County of Sussex to a curse
placed on the local village of Clapham by a disgruntled
resident back in twelve eighty eight, after losing a legal

(02:44):
case against a local parson. Robert the Falconer, was said
to have damned the accursed village and all its meager holdings,
stating that the priesthood of a false god would soon
come to know its fate. Others, however, argue it had
begun a long time before, with chancton Berry believed to

(03:04):
be the site of an otherworldly power, being thought to
have once been the location of a former Druidic temple
used for ancient and mysterious rituals. Back in the nineteen twenties,
local resident and famed occultist Victor Neuburg, along with his
cohort and sometime lover Alister Crowley, was said to have

(03:25):
taken a keen interest in the area. According to local law,
if one were to venture to the ring at midnight
on a Midsummer's Eve and walk its circumference twelve times,
the midnight drew, it would appear, or even the devil themselves.
Other local tales speak of a white bearded Saxon soldier

(03:48):
believed to have been killed at the Battle of Hastings
in ten sixty six, seen scrabbling about the floor looking
for something, while some report the sightings of hazy lights
and strange apparitions seen in the area at night, with
some suggesting that they might have something to do with
a nearby plague pit. Perhaps the most romantic of all

(04:10):
the ghost stories that shroud the area is that of
the ghost of Prince Agasicles Cionisus, a famed astrologer from
Carrier in western Anatolia. As legend goes, it was in
the early seventeenth century that the prince began using Chanctonbury
Ring to observe the stars, when one night, after writing

(04:31):
the words zapelli ubi kakidie bury me wherever I have fallen,
he fell down dead. It is said that to this
day the astrologer can still be seen wandering the ring
of trees at night. You're listening to Unexplained and I'm
Richard McClane smith. It was the more of all Hallow's

(05:01):
Eve back in nineteen seventy eight, when Reverend Harry Snelling
made his way to the town of Goring in West
Sussex for a routine dental operation. Riding the bus into town,
the sixty five year old recently retired vicar chatted amiably
with his former parishioners before arriving at the dentist just

(05:21):
in time for his appointment later that afternoon. Having arrived
in Findon, four miles from the town of Stenning, where
he lived, Snelling called his wife from a phone box
and asked if she could pick him up. However, since
their car had broken down recently and was still in
need of servicing, Snelling had no other choice but to

(05:43):
make the journey on foot. A short time later, with
dusk descending, Snelling was seen heading off the main road
and striking out across the downs in the direction of
his home. As evening turned to night, Snelling's wife waited
anxiously for her husband's return, but Harry never made it home.

(06:08):
The next day, after he was reported missing, twenty five
police officers from the surrounding area were immediately dispatched to
search for him, focusing their attention on the most likely
route he would have taken to get home. For the
best part of a week, the police, assisted by search
dog teams, a raft of volunteers and even a light

(06:30):
air craft tried desperately to find any sign of the man,
but in the end found nothing. A few days later,
the search was called off, With no reason to suspect
anything otherwise. It was assumed that Snelling had either tragically
ended his own life or had collapsed and died somewhere

(06:51):
and was yet to be found. At the time of
the reverend's disappearance, Charles Walker worked as a sales assistant
in Worthing, just five miles south of where the retired
clergyman was last seen alive. In his spare time, however,
Walker had become somewhat of an expert on the peculiar
history of his local area, collecting and documenting evidence that

(07:15):
seemed to suggest that something very sinister had been brewing
there for quite some time. Could it be he thought
that there was a little more to the Reverend's disappearance
than first met the eye. Having always been fascinated by

(07:36):
the possibility of the paranormal, it was back in April
nineteen seventy two that Charles Walker's interest was really piqued.
It was then that the region's numerous apparent mysterious happenings
were given a thoroughly modernized slant. Three friends from Walker's
hometown had ventured up towards Chanctonbury Ring late one night

(08:00):
when they noticed a soft light flickering from within it.
Having assumed it to be nothing more than a bonfire,
they were surprised to find when they arrived at the
trees moments later, that the light had gone out and
there was no sign of anyone else around. It was
only then, as one of the group later recounted, that

(08:22):
a sudden wush from above drew their attention to the
dim red glow of some kind of object that was
hovering just above the tree tops in front of them.
A moment later, they watched it as it shot up
into the sky, though its possible significance to the wider
story was not yet apparent to Walker. It was around

(08:44):
the same time that local police officer Peter Goldsmith disappeared.
It was in June of that year that Goldsmith, who
like Harry Snelling, also lived in Stenning, left work after
completing his shift for the day, but never made it
back home. It wasn't until six months later that a

(09:06):
local farmer, helping to coordinate a hunting party at a
nearby farm just west of Stenning discovered Goldsmith's dead body
hidden under a thick growth of brambles at the edge
of the farm land. The body was found curled up
on its left side, as if Goldsmith had merely gone
to sleep. A bottle of brown liquid was also found

(09:29):
next to the body. While curiously clutched in the hand,
police found what was described as some kind of metal
disk like a token. With many assuming the liquid had
been some kind of poison the coroner was stumped when
it was in fact found not to have been poisonous
at all. With no definitive cause of death, there was

(09:52):
no choice but to record an open verdict, with some
form of suicide thought to be most likely. However, many
were left wondering not only how search teams had failed
to spot Goldsmith's body despite investigating that area extensively, but
also how on earth he managed to place himself under

(10:13):
such a thick, impenetrable mesh of brambles, which had to
be cut away in order to extract the body. Though
brambles can grow up to three inches in a day,
the extent to which the body had been hidden was
something of a surprise. Over the next few years, Walker,

(10:37):
having joined a local paranormal research group, continued to keep
an ear out for any peculiar activity, but what he
craved most was to experience something himself, and he wouldn't
have long to wait. It was in August nineteen seventy four,
but Walker, then in his early twenties, along with three others,

(10:58):
made a late night research trip to Chanctonbury Ring. Walker
would later claim that it was sometime around eleven PM
when one of the group, William Lincoln, stepped into the
center of the ring, only to be suddenly snatched up
by an invisible force and thrust five feet into the air,

(11:19):
and there he would stay for the best part of
a minute, seemingly levitating in mid air as he screamed
to be released, before finally being sent sprawling to the ground.
It wasn't long after that that the dogs started to
go missing. The reports began appearing in local papers in

(11:41):
spring of nineteen seventy five, though many believe it had
been happening for some time. The first to be reported
was a three year old and well trained chow dog
that was walking with its family in Clapham Wood, just
to the north of Clapham Village in an area known
as the Chestnuts, when it suddenly bolted off into the trees,

(12:03):
never to return. Only a week later, a two year
old Collie, an intelligent working farm dog, was being walked
near the same spot when it too shot off into
the undergrowth, never to be seen again. Not long after,
a golden labrador, while walking in the same woods, became

(12:25):
distracted by something unseen in the trees, before darting off
in search of it. The dog's companions, alerted to its
location by the sound of its desperate whimpers, were devastated
to find it in some distress and unable to walk.
After it was later found to have somehow been paralyzed.

(12:45):
The dog was unfortunately put down, and soon more people
came forward to report their own experiences walking with their
dogs at the same location, describing how they or their
dog had clearly out an uneasy, ominous atmosphere in those woods.
Back at his home in Worthing, Charles Walker, as ever,

(13:09):
followed the stories with a keen interest, keeping copies of
the articles for future reference. A few months later, a
body was found in the woods. Are you always taking
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Unexplained podcast. Sixty six year old Leon Foster had been

(14:35):
missing for three weeks when a couple outlooking for a
horse that had escaped a nearby paddock noticed a pair
of boots sticking out from the undergrowth. When police arrived
soon after, they found it to be the body of
Leon Foster. Straw discovered under and around his body, and

(14:56):
the remains of a makeshift shelter tied around the trunk
of a near by tree, suggested that he'd been living
in the woods for some time, with most assuming that
he'd simply died of hunger or exposure while living outside. However,
with the coroner once again unable to ascertain a precise

(15:16):
cause of death, an open verdict was recorded. It was
around this time that Walker began to wander if all
these mysterious incidences, from the disappearances to the UFO sightings,
not to mention the area's apparent supernatural history stretching back centuries,
might somehow be linked. Over the next few years, drawing

(15:41):
on the various reports of peculiar activity and the litany
of local folklore claiming that Chanctonbury Ring and the surrounding
area was somehow a focal point of occult activity, he
wondered if it might be possible that perhaps an occult
organization was using the area for various purposes. In October

(16:03):
nineteen seventy eight, Walker wrote to the local paper asking
its readers for any information they might have on such
a group. Within days, he was inundated with replies from
the mundane to the outlandish, none of it, however warranted.
Following up, Deflated, Walker had resigned himself to having found

(16:26):
nothing useful when one night in early November, having just
settled down to watch TV, his phone rang. Answering the call,
Walker was greeted by an assertive sounding man with a
low voice and an RP accent. Though the man wouldn't
identify himself, he claimed to have the information that Walker

(16:49):
was looking for, and suggested the pair of them meet
up to discuss it further. Though Walker couldn't say exactly why.
It was, Unlike all of the other sponders to his request,
something about this caller seemed genuine. Walker Julie agreed to
meet up with him, assuming they would set a date

(17:10):
to meet, either at his home or somewhere neutral. But
the man had something else in mind. Tonight, he said,
at nine pm. Walker looked at the clock on his wall,
the hands now pointing to eight thirty. I'll be waiting
for you in Clapham Woods, by the crossroads and the chestnuts,

(17:33):
he said, and then he hung up. It was pitch
black when Walker arrived twenty minutes later at the top
of tip Nor Lane, a small rise overlooking the forest beyond.

(17:54):
Making his way toward the entrance road, he noticed the
car park to the woods was completely empty, with only
the sound of an occasional car passing along the road
behind him. Walker pushed on through a gate and into
the trees behind. With the gentle roar of distant traffic

(18:14):
having disappeared altogether and only the sound of his own
footsteps for company, Walker pressed on toward the crossroads, anxiously
listening out for any hint of someone else approaching. Arriving
at the meeting point at nine on the dot, Walker
called out for a response, but heard nothing in return.

(18:37):
The place was deserted. Only then did Walker realize his
hands were shaking, but not from the cold night air.
Lighting a cigarette to calm his nerves, Walker began to
pace up and down, trying to keep warm as he waited.
By the end of a second cigarette, Walker was beginning

(18:58):
to suspect that it had nothing but a practical joke,
But just as he started to make his way back out,
he heard someone whisper out from behind some nearby trees.
Don't attempt to look for me, the voice said, for
your safety and mine, It is imperative you do not
see who I am. Walker froze, immediately recognizing it as

(19:24):
the man he had spoken to earlier. After Walker agreed
to keep looking the way he was facing, the man
began to talk. I am an initiate of the Friends
of her Cartie, named after the Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft,
and the Night. We are the group you've been looking for,

(19:46):
he said, and it would be in your best interests
to stop looking. Unperturbed, Walker asked the man if the
group had anything to do with the recent disappearances, out
going into too much detail. The man replied that their
rituals occasionally required a blood sacrifice, if that was the

(20:08):
answer he was looking for. And so it continued as
the increasingly nervous Walker listened carefully as the man explained
how the group had been operating in that area for
at least ten years because the atmosphere of the woods,
as he described it, was perfect for their purposes. But

(20:29):
when Walker inquired as to what that purpose was exactly,
the man fell silent. He then explained to Walker that
they had friends in very high places, before warning him
again to back off and that they would stop at
nothing to ensure the safety of their cult. Then there

(20:50):
was another silence. When Walker called out moments later, it
was clear he was once again alone. Worrying out of
the forest, Walker was relieved to finally make it back home.
A few days later, while cycling home from work, Walker

(21:11):
heard a car pull up close behind him. He barely
felt the bump before finding himself sprawled on his back
in the middle of the road, watching aghast as the
car sped off into the distance before he could make
note of its details. After lying low for the next

(21:35):
six months, in the spring of the following year, Walker
renewed his search for evidence of the Friends of Hikart's activities.
One morning, whilst walking through the grounds of the Church
of Saint Mary the Virgin, just south of Clapham Woods,
Walker was distracted by the sight of the town's manor
house next door, but more specifically by the medieval barn

(21:59):
that still stood on it grounds. The house had been
occupied for some time, but seeing that the barn door
was open, Walker began to wander. Quickly, checking that no
one was around, Walker leaped over the church wall scooted
up the driveway and ducked into the barn. Looking up,

(22:21):
he gasped at the sight of a bizarre mural on
the wall, about three foot high in size. It was
apparently composed primarily of a demonic looking entity with a huge,
horned head, scaly body, and forked tail. In its hands,
it held a sword and chalice, ancient symbols of fertility,

(22:45):
and behind it a bank of flames licked up from
the ground. Hearing a sound outside, Walker looked out to
see a man running toward him. In panic, he bolted
away as the man gave chase, before managing to lose
him in the woods. Over the next few years, Charles

(23:06):
Walker continued hunting for evidence not only of the apparent
occult group's existence, but also of their connection to the
many strange events that had taken place in the area
over the last few years, but the group and its
members remained elusive. In August nineteen eighty one, officers at

(23:28):
Worthing Police station received a package with a battered and
disheveled wallet inside, along with a crudely drawn map of
some woods located on the Sussex Downs, about a mile
to the northwest of Stenning. Examining the bank cards in
the wallet, police found the name Harry Snelling embossed on

(23:50):
the front of them. As an accompanying letter explained the
center of the package. A tourist from Canada named Michael
Rain had found a human skeleton while walking across the
Downs the previous week, which he believed to be the
remains of Reverend Snelling. Since he had an important flight
to catch, Worried that he would be dragged into a

(24:12):
lengthy police investigation, Rain decided instead to send the wallet
as evidence of his find and a map to explain
where the remains could be located. Following the instructions, later
that day, police found the skeleton at the north edge
of some woodland close to a property known as Whiston House.

(24:34):
Not only were they surprised to find that the bones,
despite having supposedly been there for almost three years, had
not been much obscured by surrounding vegetation, but also that
the area in which they were found had been thoroughly
searched numerous times before. It was long after the discovery

(25:01):
of Snelling's remains that others began to notice the suspicious
number of unexplained deaths and other events that seemed to
be plaguing this quiet, unassuming area of the English countryside.
Writing in the paranormal magazine, unexplained that year Toy Newton,
without any reference to the Friends of Hikati, made his

(25:24):
own effort to document the bizarre collection of events. A
few months later, he received a curious letter from a reader.
Dear Sirs, it began in your article on Clapham Woods.
You ask of the mysterious events a link to a
black coven. I can tell you they are, but it's

(25:47):
much more than that. They are called the Friends of Hikati,
and they meet in the woods and the barn up
by the church and make ritual sacrifices. At the time
of Orion. The Archer people get headaches and strange feelings
at Clapham because the place is building up vibrations so

(26:10):
they can get the force that they want. Sometimes this
strange force has even started fires, but everything is hushed up.
They can make people do what they want. I can't
sign my name, but be warned they are much more
powerful than a black coven, unexplained. The book and audiobook,

(26:39):
featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on
the show, is now available to buy worldwide, who can
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All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, are produced
by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show.
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(27:01):
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