| Grovely Woods |
| This is the avenue of trees, along the Roman road upon which we walked. It certainly does not have the same tranquil atmosphere when darkness falls. Image: Twilight Shadows Paranormal As we started off along the Roman road the atmosphere was charged and I must say quite scary. It may have been sensible to turn back at this point but being the intrepid paranormal investigators that we are, we continued forward. We were hoping (or not) to see some Roman soldiers marching along the road that they had constructed so many years ago. We all felt a little spooked at this point. Vikki is usually one of our bravest investigators and she did not feel happy. But when Marian said that she was feeling uneasy, everyone's level of fear immediately increased as Marian never feels uneasy or afraid on location. A little further down the road, Vikki stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around and said "can you hear that?" I could hear a slight rhythmic sound and Vikki said it was drumming. It sounded like ancient drumming but every so often a note was out of the beat. Vikki could also hear murmuring. I could hear something but I could not discern the noise as voices. We carried on walking and passed the trees where the Handsel sisters were allegedly murdered. My colleagues who have visited this area in the day say that gifts and offerings are left inside a hollow of one of these trees. We were wondering if we would see the 'Burcombe Woodsman' who is said to haunt the Grovely forest. James said that he kept thinking that he saw figures leaning on the trees. This happened four times throughout our time there. Vikki kept hearing a sound which she described as a 'throaty cough.' She felt that it was someone trying to get our attention. It was difficult for everyone to hear noises clearly as it was raining quite hard and the sound of the raindrops was quite loud. We heard all the obvious animal noises but some noises just did not seem to be of a natural origin. Suddenly as we were all walking quietly alone, I felt my jacket being tugged really hard twice. I swung around quickly convinced it was one of the team and was quite amazed and a little frightened that it was not. Vikki was the nearest person to me and at the same time that my jacket was pulled, she felt as if she had been shoved out of the way. James kept seeing flashes of light in the trees. We wondered if it was lightning seeing as it was raining so hard. It was not torches and we were too far from any road for it to be car headlights. It did not seem to be thundering so we drew no conclusion as to what the lights could be. We walked a long way into the woods. Sometimes the atmosphere was terrifying and then sometimes less so. (We did notice when walking back that the atmosphere tallied with certain areas). Eventually we decided that it was so late that maybe we should turn around and make our way back. We stood talking for a while and Vikki said nervously "lets walk, I have to keep moving." As we started to walk (with James,Vikki and me bringing up the rear) we suddenly heard footsteps running behind us. They ran heavily and quickly and stopped just as they reached our backs. We both jumped and James quickly looked around. There was nobody there. At the same time I heard a scream (sounded like a female) but I cannot be sure that this noise was not attributed to an animal. We had walked just a little way on and I heard a deep throaty sound like the clearing of a throat (a male). Vikki also heard it and she said that this was the noise that she had heard previously. I must admit that it really did sound like someone trying to get our attention. We carried on walking. James, Vikki and myself kept hearing footsteps on the road behind us. Every time we looked around, there was no sign of anybody or anything walking behind us. I was thinking about the feeling of the tugging of my coat which I experienced earlier when suddenly I felt my trouser leg (left) suddenly pulled up to my knee. I was really shocked as I could tell it had not been hooked up with a twig as I had felt the hands touching my leg. My trouser leg was then pulled back down. If the situation had not been so frightening I would have found this funny. Vikki and I discussed whether I should ask the perpetrator to pull down my hood but I thought I would either freak out or laugh hysterically if it happened. We commenced our walk. I looked over to James and I saw a person walking by the side of him but just a couple of steps ahead. This person was hooded and was walking with his head bent down. I looked in front of me and saw the rest of the team, everyone was ahead except for myself, Vikki and James. I looked back to the figure and it was gone. This was a split second and there was nobody within the vicinity. Vikki then said that at the same time she had also seen a shadowy figure walking beside James. If the ghost of the 'Woodsman' does exist, the apparition that Vikki and myself witnessed fits that category perfectly. We heard chains and asked whether it was James jingling. He said that it was not. We heard more voices murmuring, at least three male voices. We stopped and looked into the woods where the voices were coming from. There was definitely nobody there. After a very long time of walking (with certain areas of the woodland having an absolute terrifying and oppressive atmosphere) we finally reached our cars. As I got into the passenger side of Vikki's car, she locked the car doors (or tried to as my lock suddenly did not work), this really is not like Vikki at all. Our walk through Grovely Woods was an amazing and somewhat terrifying experience. We plan to return and I think this is a location to which we will return frequently as our encounter at Grovely was so awesome. I would urge any paranormal group to investigate Grovely Woods. I am used to being in the woods at night to perform Sabbat rites. Dark woodlands do not usually faze me at all but Grovely Woods is an exception. Written by: Maria Williams UPDATE: We have captured some strange sounds in Grovely Woods. After careful analysis we have decided that only one of these sounds may possibly have a paranormal cause. We have captured what sounds like a woman crying, really sobbing. Unfortunately the team are talking at the same time and over the sound, so we will not be including this EVP on the website. Throughout our walk in Grovely Woods, Matt walked at the front of us. He seemed to be walking quickly and we had to keep telling him to wait for the rest of us, as we did not want the team to separate on this occasion. Talking to Matt at a later date, he described that he was compelled to walk (almost march) on his own, ahead of the team. Matt appears to be a natural 'sensitive' to spirit so we are left to wonder if he was affected by a Roman Soldier as he was marching along a Roman road. Upon returning to our cars after the investigation, Vikki quickly locked the car doors in a panic. I was sitting in the passenger side of the car and the lock on this side would not lock. Vikki said that there has never been a problem with her car-locking system previously. After leaving the area, the locking system returned to normal and a mechanic has informed Vikki that a place which has a high magnetic field would affect the locking systems of cars and so we think that this may be the reason that Vikki's car lock malfunctioned. Maria |
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| History Historically, Wessex was an area which encompassed much of central Southern England. Wilton was its ancient capital and remains steeped in history. Its market square remains a hive of activity as in bygone years and the town is picturesque with its famous Italiante 19th Century church and Georgian houses.Wilton is well known for its carpet factory, the foundations of the weaving shed dating back to 1655. The first Wilton loom was patented in 1741, and by 1767 between 60 to 80 people were employed at the factory. Wilton is also known for its stately home - Wilton House, in which William Herbert, the 18th Earl of Pembroke, resides. Grovely Woods ls situated on the outskirts of Wilton. With a Roman road cutting straight through the woodland and prehistoric earthworks contained within the area, Grovely also has a historic story to tell. Grovely Woods has two specific and most interesting stories associated with its area. The first story is that of the Handsel sisters. The four Handsel sisters were of Danish origin who lived in the Wilton area. Unfortunately for the sisters a strong outbreak of smallpox erupted in Wilton, claiming 136 lives. The local people became convinced that the Handsel sisters were responsible for these deaths and accused them of witchcraft and an alliance with the devil. Without an official hearing the sisters were taken to Grovely Woods and murdered by being bludgeoned over the head. The sisters were then buried in the woods a little way apart from each other so they they could not conspire against their murderers. There are four incredibly ancient and gnarled beech trees which have two theories, one of which being that the trees were planted to mark the Handsel sisters' graves. The other theory is that the trees mysteriously grew on top of the unmarked graves to remind the locals of their dreadful deed. Since the atrocity sightings of the sisters have been reported over the years. There is a hollow at the back of the largest tree where people leave offerings for the Handsel sisters. The second story associated with Grovely Wood tells the tale of the Burcombe Woodsman. He is thought to be a poacher who was hung from a tree for his 'crimes', or possibly an artist who painted in watercolour and was accidently shot in the woods during a deer cull. It is said that he lodged in Burcombe thus earning him the title of the Burcombe Woodsman. Sightings of him have been reported, usually after hearing the cracking of a twig. Grovely Woods is a place that I have always wanted to investigate. I have been fascinated by these woods ever since a small child as people used to talk about them. I had only visited the woods once when I took my dog for a walk one afternoon. I was with a friend and although I did feel as if I was being watched, the feeling was not sinister. However my friend was afraid and could not wait for the walk to be over. Other people have also told me stories of their experiences. Recently one of my colleagues told me that she was walking through the woods with her child in a pushchair and her dog and the atmosphere was so intense that she could not bear it. She also felt as if someone was watching her and she turned around and fled from the area as she felt so unsafe. Two other people also approached me and told me they had been going to Grovely woods in the day. They had discovered the Handsel sisters' trees. Vikki has also had many strange and frightening experiences in Grovely woods when she was younger. Report On Sunday17th June 2007, the Twilight Shadows Paranormal team went for a night walk in Grovely Woods. Outside temp: 12 Degrees Celsius Moon phase: Waxing Crescent 10% of full |
| Caz and Marian in Grovely Woods Image: Twilight Shadows Paranormal |
| Matt in the woods. Image:Twilight Shadows Paranormal |
| Vikki and Matt heading off along the Roman road. Image: Twilight Shadows Paranormal |
| Copyright: Twilight Shadows Paranormal 2007 |