The old St Mary's Church, Clophill.

I took a drive out to Clophill this afternoon to have a look at this old abandoned Church. It is famous or infamous hereabouts for ghostly goings on.

It was built around 1500 on the site of a much older church.The first recorded vicar was Robert, priest of Clophill in 1145. However the village of Clophill is much older and evidence suggests that the site has been considered holy since Celtic times, as evidenced by the fact that the church is situated on a hill to the north east of the village.

During the Victorian era it became too small for the growing population and had to be replaced by a new church built in 1848 in the centre of the village.

The lead off the roof was stolen and it was decided to remove the roof and windows and let it become a ruin.

In March 1963 an 18th century tomb was broken into and the bones arranged ritualistically in the nave of the church. Again on Midsummer's Eve 1969 graves were broken into and bones arranged. A further desecration occurred in 1973.

This, and the proximity of the village to Dead mans hill on the A6 the scene for the Hanratty murder of 1961, combined to give the church a sinister reputation for the occult and myths have grown that the church is haunted.

It is a nice ruin set in spectacular countryside. It's reputation makes it popular for teenagers to visit and scare themselves silly. Unfortunately that also attracts vandalism, litter and all the rest of it.

I've lived here long enough and heard about it often enough but never visited. Now Blip has given me the incentive.

It was a fantastic sunset here this evening and the skies were just starting to turn as I was out and about. It's been a good weekend dnd still no work tomorrow. Can't be bad.