Exploring Britain’s Most Evil Church (ft. Ghost Huns) | #422

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Red Handed early and ad-free. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Let's be honest, saving in this economy is an absolute nightmare. Most of us are way too focused on just trying to get out of our overdraft to even think about putting money aside. And well, Chime understands that. Chime is banking done right.

With Chime, you can get loads of great features like 24-hour support and getting paid two days early with direct deposits for free. That's right, no maintenance costs or monthly fees. Honestly, I'm extraordinarily jealous. The idea that Chime gives support 24-7 so you know you can get things sorted at any time of day is just unbelievable stuff. Work on your financial goals through Chime today.

Open an account at chime.com slash redhanded. That's chime.com slash redhanded. Chime. Feels like progress.

Autumn is here. And it's officially the start of cosy season, which means it's time to slide into some bombass. You know, bombass, the most comfortable socks in the whole wide world. Made from premium materials that actually make sense for this time of year. Think merino wool that keeps you warm when it's chilly, but cool when it's hot. And it's not just socks. Honestly, bombast slippers are making it pretty hard for me to leave the house ever at all in the best way.

And for every item you buy, Bombas donates one to someone experiencing homelessness. Over 150 million items have been donated so far. And with their happiness guarantee, if you're not left smiling by what you've got, Bombas will source it for you. Head over to bombast.com slash redhanded and use code redhanded for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash redhanded, code redhanded at checkout.

You know that feeling when you come home late from work and those puppy dog eyes just pierce right through your soul? Or when you're packing up for a trip and your cat refuses to leave your suitcase? Yeah, we've all been there. Pet parent guilt is extraordinarily real, especially if you happen to have given birth to a Mabel. It's totally normal. I love trouble and I love my job, but a little bit of my heart breaks every time I have to drop.

Mabel off at doggy daycare and she looks at me like a starving Victorian orphan as I leave. That's exactly why Hill's Pet Nutrition exists. They understand that being a pet parent means being human. with all our imperfections and daily juggling acts. Hills Science-Led Nutrition helps you give more love than humanly possible. They've created science-based nutrition that supports your pet's lifelong health so you can feel confident even when life gets hectic.

Because you're only human, there's hills. Science does more. Ready to let go of that guilt? Find the right food at hillspet.com slash red-handed. That's hillspet.com slash red-handed.

I'm Anna. I'm Saruti. And dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the best of times, the worst of times, the most sacred of times. Here at Red Handed HQ. Red Handed. Towers red-handed ramparts. Because October is in full swing and All Hallows' Eve is fast approaching. This year, we've got something a bit different for you. Something a bit chaotic. Very special.

and a long time in the making. This Halloween, we have teamed up with the absolute legends at Ghost Huns to investigate what's been called the most evil place in England, the ruins of old St Mary's Church. in the village of Clophill, Bedfordshire. A place linked to body snatching, black magic, satanic rituals and more than a few restless spirits. And long-time listeners will know that we've been itching to explore this place for years. And it's where...

our very own Saruti Bala got up to teenage mischief. And now, dear listeners, we are bringing you The Terror of Clophill. Now, in the true spirit of a collab, we decided to do it.

two ways as an extra special spooky treat for you guys first we braved an eerie expedition to clop hill ourselves capturing all the scares laughs and chaos on camera so if you really want to see what happens when four podcasters, three cameras, and many glasses of wine collide in allegedly the most evil place in England, according to, what was his name, Damien O'Dell, writer of Paranormal Bedfordshire.

then get your asses over to our YouTube channel. That is the Red Handed YouTube channel. You can find it there for video. Also, be sure to hit like and subscribe and prepare yourselves for pubcats, creepy stories and ghost hunting escapades in a ruined church. that might just open the doors to hell. And as you will see on that video, the evil spirits, and perhaps the literal spirits at the pub, got us a bit overexcited. So we didn't quite get to cover all the spooky tidbits.

on location. So today we're bringing our lovely audio listeners the complete story from the studio. Though of course with some cuts to our shenanigans with Hannah and Susie of Ghost Hunts.

Ready to hear the full details of Clophill's chilling history? Well, grab a cup of tea and let's begin. The church at the centre of our story has a full name of St Mary the Virgin, just in case anyone was worried. Today, it's just a pile of ruins, commonly known as the Old Paris Church. But once upon a December, it was a thriving hub for the local village community.

Built around 1350, the church was refurbished and extended all the way up to the Victorian area, when it was finally declared too small for the local congregation. In 1848, a new church was built in the village, also called St Mary's. The old parish church became a mortuary chapel, a place solely for the dead. Can I just ask? Yes. So it's obviously called St Mary the Virgin. Yeah. I never thought about that when we were, you know, going up there and acting like fucking...

All the words I'm thinking I'm not allowed to say. Fucking teenagers. Pissing all the locals off when we were, you know, basically screaming our asses off, probably drunk on cider. I didn't actually know it was called St. Mary the Virgin. We just called it Clop Hill, which is obviously the name of the village. That is obviously in reference to Mary, as in mother of Jesus. I didn't know she was a saint, St. Mary the Virgin.

Yeah, so she is a saint, but we don't sort of think of her in that way because she has so many other names that are attributed to her, like Holy Mary, Mother of God, Blessed Virgin. etc etc so yes she is a saint and i can only assume that they dropped the saint mary the virgin to just saint mary because that church is the part of her life after she had more kids i see so it's kind of like you know you go on to become a fucking

genius doctor and then you're still not putting like that you got a brownies badge and like starting fires safely or something i got it and jesus had brothers like it's you know she was a virgin when she shoved him out but she didn't stay one sure sure

When vandals stole lead from the roof of St Mary the Virgin in 1956, it fell into disrepair and ruin and became a grade two listed building in 1961, which for our international listeners means you can't fuck with it. Much to the chagrin of the local council. It has to stay where it is. Honestly, I can't even imagine how fucking fucked off the people at the council in Bedfordshire must be about this bloody church.

Because, yeah, I'll be honest, they have like really made it look a lot nicer in a way that has totally stripped it of its scariness. When we were teenagers and we used to go up there. It was super janky looking, like it was really, really falling down. And like you said, they stripped the roof a long time ago, so it was always kind of open, open sky, unintentionally open sky church.

But it was covered in graffiti. And like, you might not think graffiti is scary, but when scary things are written on a church wall, it is scary. There used to be pentagrams everywhere. There used to be like a big thing that said, hell lies here. And then an arrow. It was scary.

They've really sanitized it. They've really like cleaned it up, stripped it back, repointed the whole fucking thing, put signs everywhere, which I'm sure we'll go on to talk about, about like how no trespassing, blah, blah, blah. And... You can imagine that they're just like, fuck off that we can't even tear this place down. Like, we're telling people not to go up there actively. But people do go up there for the worst possible reasons, like we did. And we can't even tear it down. Yep.

And that's been a bee in the council since 1977 when they took it over. And the council taking it over meant that it was no longer consecrated ground. Yeah, we were told in no uncertain terms that we were not allowed to go up there and do any ghost hunting. We were certainly not allowed to video it. I was certainly not allowed to put it on YouTube for all you fine people to watch.

because they didn't want to encourage any quote-unquote non-secular activities. So if you go up there, do not say we sent you. Now, there's a lot of unsettling facts about this particular church.

before we even get into the black magic stuff that's coming. Because I do want to make it clear what we're going to tell you in this episode. is that this church has a very long history of being associated with black magic. It's not just because it was in ruins and we teenagers used to go up there and act like wankers. It has a long history of this stuff. So let's start with the thing that maybe...

sort of immediately rubs people up the wrong way because when we were in the pub that we were in i think it was called like the stone jug or something and the guy we were speaking to who worked there and he was like you know i saw a load of nonsense but he's like But something isn't quite right about that place. And maybe this is what's it, because most churches face east towards sunrise and towards God. But this church faces west, so the wrong way.

supposedly opening his doors to hell. Now, I don't know why they would have made... Is it a mistake? Was it a conscious decision? I don't know. Now, some claim that this church is also built on an energy vortex or like, you know, ley lines, some sort of portal between the mortal and spirit worlds.

It's also rumoured that the site was once a leper colony, long before it was a church. And local legend says that during the Black Death in the 14th century, locals allegedly left the infected to die at the top of the hill. and sought safety in the village below. I was always told when we were growing up that the church had just become the place that they dumped lepers.

And then they moved the village away because when you go up there, you see it's like it's up quite a long dirt path, which is unusual because back in the day, wouldn't they have just built villages like around the church? Like it would have been in the community, not like set so far away. It's very common for churches to be built in times of pestilence to keep the dying away from the living. So it's not unsurprising that it's so far. Yeah. So that's what I always believed is that it was.

the church just became a leper colony not that it was a leper colony before but you know we're talking a very very long time ago

The modern creepiness associated with this place really kicked off in 1961. A man named James Hanratty abducted a couple called Michael Gregston and Valerie Storey at gunpoint in Buckinghamshire, the neighbouring county. And Hanratty forced Michael to drive around for several hours before finally making him pull over at Dead Man's Hill, which is off the A6, near the village of Clophill, at around 1am.

Hamratty shot Michael dead and raped Valerie in the back seat, then he shot her multiple times and left her for dead at the side of the road. Valerie miraculously survived, but was left paralysed. Hanratty was dubbed the very imaginative A6 murderer and was executed by hanging in 1962 at Bedford Jail. You'd be pissed. You did it on Dead Man's Hill and they call you the A6 murderer. Literally.

Enraged. I get it. Like, let's not glamorise these killers. That's just a much better name, isn't it? Now, despite the A6 murderer, the old church is actually most famous for the real life grave robbings. that went on there in the 1960s, causing it to become known nationwide as the Black Magic Church. And this is what I mean. This is legit stuff. This truly happened.

These incidents of grave robbing created so much hysteria in the 60s that it drove the local vicar at the time to the brink of madness. So here's how it all got started.

Everyone knows that the best holiday outfits, the one you think about for the rest of your life, that one starts with the right foundations. So why spend the season tugging at digging in bras or shapewear that rolls down or up or in? God forbid. Honey love, give you comfort and confidence. Whether you're in sparkles at a party or cosy jumpers at home with your family. I promise, everybody will be pleased to see a Honeylove parcel under the tree this year. I don't trust any other brand.

to keep me feeling confident on the dance floor at New Year's. Using intelligently designed technology to support your curves whilst being comfortable, Honeylove moves with you through every festive moment. And if you're looking for a wireless t-shirt bra, That's light as a feather, the all-new Cloud Embrace bra is the perfect stocking filler for your loved ones. And let's face it, yourself. Treat yourself or someone you love this holiday season to honey love.

And right now you can save 20% at honeylove.com slash redhanded. Just use our exclusive link honeylove.com slash redhanded and grab your discount. After you order, they'll ask you how you heard about Honey Love, so please support our show and let them know that we sent you. Celebrate the season feeling confident and comfortable with Honey Love. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.

So, this November... BetterHelp is encouraging everyone to reach out. Check in on your friends, reconnect with loved ones and remind the people in your life that you're there. Just as it can take a little courage to send that message or grab a coffee with someone you haven't seen in a while, reaching out for therapy can feel difficult too.

But it is worth it. And it almost always leaves people wondering, why didn't I do this sooner? So if it feels good to check in on your loved ones, consider that it might be time to check in with yourself too. BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US. This month, don't wait to reach out. Whether you're checking in on a friend or reaching out to a therapist yourself, BetterHelp makes it easier to take that first step.

The A6 murderer. had already cast a dark shadow over the village of Clop Hill in 1961, and its reputation was about to get even spookier, with a dark discovery at the old parish church in March 1963. It was an ordinary Saturday. Two young lads from Luton, 13-year-old Calvin Smith and 12-year-old Duncan Stein, set out on their bikes to Clophill. Once there, up that massive fucking hill on a bike, no thank you.

It's so far. And it's steep. It's really far and really steep. And I remember we were there and like the team were like, let's just pull over here because it says again and again, no unauthorized vehicles, no unauthorized vehicles. And I was like, guys, it's so much further. It's so much further. I was like, it's got to be like at least a mile up that road.

Once they got there, though, the boys dared each other to climb inside the ruined walls of the church and explore, and that is when they stumbled across a horrifying sight. Close to where the altar would have been in the years gone by, they found a bunch of old yellowed bones laid out in a circle on the ground. In the middle of the circle was an iron spike with a skull impaled on it. Did the boys run off screaming? No, they didn't.

Like any self-respecting young ragamuffins would, they decided to play with the bones instead. A pair of nearby dog walkers tried to dob the boys in with their local vicar, who's called Reverend Leslie Barker, for messing with the tombs.

Calvin and Duncan swore that they weren't grave robbers, that they just found the bones like that. As Reverend Barker and the police investigated further, they realised that the boys were telling the truth, as they uncovered even more signs of chilling black magic rituals.

Chicken feathers were scattered around, along with dried blood spray, suggesting some kind of ritual sacrifice had taken place the night before. Symbols were daubed on the wall in white paint, including a Maltese cross and eyes. The papers would later report that the bones were found to have been laid out in a pattern used in a black mass. They're not real things, or at least their origins aren't real. People do practice them, but they were just made up as anti-Catholic propaganda.

But what we guess the papers mean is that there was some kind of inverted cross laid out on the floor of Clophill, seeming to indicate satanic worship or black magic rituals.

So the question was, where the hell had these bones come from? The police and Reverend Barker discovered that just outside the ruined walls, seven female tombs had been tampered with. And one of them... had been successfully smashed open. The scattered bones were taken from the tomb of a woman named Jenny Humberston, the wife of the local apothecary. Which is, just in case you don't know, an olden-timey term for chemist.

If you don't know that, I worry for you. Damn this off right now. And Jenny had died in 1770 at the age of 22. Her tombstone was heavy. So it was clear that this was the work of more than just one person. And the authorities immediately suspected a cult or sect dabbling in black magic, devil worship or necromancy rituals.

And there had recently been rumours flying around about a witch's coven in the nearby town of Ampt Hill. Could it be that there were real black magic practitioners lurking around in the quaint Bedfordshire countryside? Meanwhile... Reverend Boy Leslie Barker was alarmed and disgusted by the desecration of Jenny's grave, and he wanted to restore her dignity, which he well should as a man of God. He reburied Jenny's bones in a small ceremony with a few locals, but just one week later...

Her grave was broken into again, her bones scattered around the old ruins, just like before. This time, a paranoid Reverend Barker hid Jenny's bones for safekeeping. But yet again, her tomb was broken into. Upon realising Jenny's bones were missing, whoever it was smashed up her tomb and others in an apparent fit of rage. Seems like whoever they were, they were desperate for Jenny's bones in particular. But why?

Well, I don't know. But fun fact. Kind of. Though it doesn't paint an old Rev Barker in the best light. Apparently he kept Jenny's bones in the boot of his car. for quite some time before he decided to like rebury her. And apparently he would drive around to local pubs and show them to people in exchange for a free pint. I don't think he's that bothered about her dignity somehow.

No, no. If a little peek at my remains is worth just a pint, I'd be sad. I'd rather be used in a black magic ritual. Yeah, me too, actually. I would rather my bones be used in a black magic ritual. than just be like driven around from pub to pub in Bedfordshire for a fucking pint. Which back in the 60s, how much would a pint have cost? How much reckon a pint cost in the 60s? I know that the average cost of a pint in the UK now is £4.88.

Because I did a quiz the other day. But how much was a pint, okay, in 1963? Well, they would have been on old money, wouldn't they? This is fucking wild. 50p? 10p. Two shillings and a penny, which is the equivalent of 10.6 pence today. I hate to hear it.

Anyway, these grave robbing incidents put Clop Hill on the map as a spooky tourist attraction and a hotbed of black magic. After the bones were found, Luton Library reported a craze of people borrowing books on magic in the occult. I love that. I feel like I'm really showing my age, but I look at the books in my flat and I'm like, what is the point of you? Why don't I just go to the library? Why don't I just swap them?

Why have I done this to my... I've got all these fucking books. What am I going to do with them? I know. And you're stuck with them. They're the only books you can... Libraries were great. Libraries were great. Bring back the library. There's one literally next door to our office. None of us go. Is there? Hackney Libraries. Oh, never go. Never been. Didn't know it was there. I'm at my parents' house at the moment and I do walk past the library I used to go to. I used to go every Wednesday.

to change my books. I was like, that's great. What kids going to the fucking library now? Well, mainly because there aren't any. I found an audio book that I stole from the library when I was nine.

outrageous in my memory box you're the reason for the library but it's what do you remember they used to come in those like plastic like vhs looking cases core memory of my childhood and you know what it is it's a murder mystery that was i can't remember what it is i'll find out that was almost exclusively what i would go to the library to borrow i was such a fucking just spooky bitch from day one i used to go to the library and i used to

How old would I have been? I don't know, like, obviously secondary school. By audiobook, I mean cassette tape for our children listeners. Of course. Like, probably, like, you know, mid-secondary school years. And I used to go and borrow, like, a Val McDermott book. after Val McDermott book and just read it more. I loved it. If you know the correlation between a pencil and a cassette tape, you're a real one. Where was I? Libraries. Okay, so Luton Library is having an absolute...

rage of occult withdrawals and there were stories of strange men asking locals about occult practices in Clophill and the surrounding area. Reporters flocked to the village for the story and the old church attracted tons of gawkers hoping for a glimpse of something creepy.

Teenagers started visiting the old church ruins at night to cause mischief. Just like a young and innocent Sariti Barlowood in the early naughty, she was just following in the footsteps of those before her. But we are getting wildly ahead of ourselves. With my Val McDermott books. Tucked under your arm. Potentially sparked by the Clophill craziness, there was a spike of black magic incidents all around the UK in 1963. That same April in Bluebell Wood near Luton.

Very close to Clophill, the mutilated heads of six cows and a horse were found scattered under the bushes. Allegedly, the animal's jawbones had been wrenched apart and eyeballs severed. And I was hanging from a tree. RSPCA Officer John Goodenough said, quote, there is no sensible or logical reason. The only thing I can think of is that it's tied up with Clophill.

Black magic. And if John Goodenough says it, it's probably good enough, isn't it? It is for me. Multiple churches nationwide also reported similar incidents of vandalism that seemed to point to bizarre occult rituals. And we're talking about things like smashed statues and graveyards and weird arcane graffiti, creepy clay effigies pinned to church doors, and even bloody sheep hearts pierced with hawthorns. That's punk, I love that.

By late 1964, police said that they'd linked over 200 cases of graveyard vandalism across the UK to black magic. It was a full-on epidemic of black magic fever. But to this day... We're not quite sure who these shadowy vandals were or why they were up to so much spooky mischief. I mean, I think it's just like, you know, you see these phenomenon, you see these kind of like...

social contagions happening where it's like everybody's talking about black magic. I'm sure it would have made the headlines when seven tombs were tampered with at Clop Hill. People start borrowing books. They haven't got the internet, but I'm sure if they did, you know, you would have seen a surge in searches for black magic going on. And yeah, this kind of thing is absolutely par for the course. It's not quite a satanic panic. It's more people leaning into it.

But yeah, social contagion makes total sense. Back in Clophill, Reverend Leslie Barker was almost driven mad by this ordeal. I mean, probably being haunted by the bones in his boot. That'll do it. And this was a man who had already seen his fair share of tragedy in his personal life. Don't want a hammer at home, but he was carrying around bones in his boots. His estranged wife took her own life in 1958 from a barbiturates overdose.

and not long after their daughter was killed in a freak car accident. Throughout the 60s, Reverend Barker became obsessed and paranoid about the black magic craze at Clophill, saying that he felt like his role as the local vicar was cursed. He was constantly afraid that the people responsible for digging up Jenny, who he called ghouls, were watching him and were waiting to strike again. I understand that feeling. I feel like I would feel that way if I was the vicar.

They keep going after Jennys, but it is very weird. And in 1969, he got an alarming tip-off from a parishioner. There were rumours that another black magic ritual meeting was planned at the old church. So he tried to mobilise the villagers, but nobody seemed as bothered as he was. And so Reverend Barker went out to the old church for three nights in a row on a solo stakeout, shivering in the darkness, waiting for the cult leaders to appear.

But they never did. And so, on the third night, he gave up and went home. The next morning, yet more graves had been vandalised and bones scattered. Reverend Barker was disturbed to think. That whoever had been scattering bones must have been watching him the whole time from the shadows, waiting for him to leave. It's enough to drive you mad. Oh, yeah. He's already halfway there. Yeah.

Yeah, the grief, the probable latent alcoholism. You must be having very large feelings to be solo camping up there three nights in a row. Yeah. scary stuff and actually you know i get it because when we used to go up there as teenagers what we would be scared of wasn't really the ghosts or like that we actually thought there was hell there

We were scared of the fucking Satanists who used to go up there and dig up bodies. We're like, if these people are willing to desecrate graves, dig up bodies and scatter bones around of actual human people, what would happen if we run into them? Like, we were scared of them. And so I get it. So yes, Reverend Barker's nerves were pretty shredded. And he followed doctor's advice after this situation and actually retired.

Fittingly, he left Clophill for good on Halloween 1969, with crowds of teens converging on the church like they did every year to party it up, this time safe in the knowledge that the holy man wasn't going to come stop them. And to be honest, Barker didn't care anymore. He was just glad to see the back of the evil old church. And he moved into a cute little cottage in Hitchin, hoping for a peaceful retirement. Until one day, he came home.

to find the very familiar remnants of a black magic ritual on his very own garden path. Was it someone messing with him? Or was Reverend Leslie Barker truly haunted by whatever dark energies?

had amassed in his old parish it's never super clear exactly what he finds on his garden path and i'm like you know a cat that's got a bird gonna make a bit of a bloody feathery mess that you know somebody who's already predisposed to thinking that they're being haunted by dark entities might take in a not so cash way But yeah, I think you're seeing here the real time like psychological decline of a man who really believed what was going on here was fucked up. And again, I will reiterate.

Whether you believe or not that there is something black magic going on up there, there were a bunch of fucked up people going and digging fucking bodies. I would be scared of them. So whatever it was, in 1975, there would be one final desecration at the old parish church.

Remains were taken from a tomb and scattered just like before. A visiting reporter found a skull and a Virgin Mary statuette with its head missing. Later, the tombs were moved to the perimeter of the churchyard rather than inside the ruins in a bid to bring to an end this creepy bullshit. And yeah, if you do go up there today, it's been like this for a very long time.

They basically took up all of the headstones, anything indicating where graves would be, have basically just like put them all the way around the edge of the land so that nobody can tell where specific graves are to try and stop all the desecrations. Which is just like, what a fucking creepy, extreme measure to have to go to. Because people just will not stop. So, yeah. Since then, there have been no official reports of bones being dug up.

But individuals still claim to have seen evidence of black magic rituals over the years. Things like abandoned dolls, animal bones and chilling graffiti. When I used to go up to Clop Hill, like I said, there was a massive pentagram sprayed on the wall with the words, hell is here. So the question is, did Clophill truly put its grave-robbing reputation to bed decades ago? Or did the sinister rituals continue? Now, just in the shadows. We've got another surprise for you.

It's not just black magic that the old parish church is known for. There have always been rumours of paranormal activity at Clophill. Skeptics say that it started in the early 50s when the vicar at the time made up a rumour about a ghost in the old churchyard. to discouraged trespassers. But over the years, there have been countless unexplained encounters. In 1993, ITV Current Affairs show This Week filmed a segment at the Old Church, and the host, folklorist Eric Maple...

was supposed to do a piece to camera from inside Jenny Humberston's grave. But he fainted twice, and the camera film kept malfunctioning for no reason. Something that we all know is linked to ghostly hijinks. There's nothing a restless spirit loves more than fucking with technology. They've got to get their juice from somewhere, you know? How are they supposed to talk to you? Absolutely.

So let's share some ghost stories, shall we? You can't see us right now, but let's just pretend that we're all sitting around a campfire with torches under our faces. As we introduce you to a mysterious lady called Sophie. Local legend tells us of a mournful female ghost who trailed around the old churchyard in a long white Victorian-style dress. She's even appeared in photographs peering through the now-empty windows into the nave.

from a spot where there's a several-foot drop. Impossible for a human to stand in. In the 1970s, archaeological investigators dug up a hidden tomb containing two skeletons. And... A coffin nameplate for a woman named Sophia Mendham, who died in 1893, was found. Locals believe that this could be Sophie. her spirit haunting the grounds in protest against the sick black magic rituals that took place there. And here's another one.

In December 1969, a newsagent and his wife were driving around on their early morning delivery route along Great Lane, which is the road that runs parallel to the old church. They saw a light in the distance coming towards them. As it got closer... They realised it was a hooded man on horseback holding an old-fashioned lantern. It was a dark and gloomy morning because it's the UK, so they stopped the car and switched off the headlights.

to avoid spooking the horse. But the horse and its rider went right through their car. The couple were terrified and agreed never to speak about it to anyone. until a year later when a local woman asked if they'd ever seen the Horseman. Turned out they weren't the only ones who'd been haunted by sightings of the strange figure. One woman had actually ended up moving away from Great Lane.

because he had frightened her so much. And one of the most compelling accounts about this place comes from a woman named Lynette. In the summer of 1996, she was a young photography student taking some snaps at the old church for a uni project. While she was up there, a young guy in motorcycle leathers appeared and chatted to her for a bit while she kept taking photos.

He told her that he had relatives buried in the graveyard, so he liked to visit. Lynette later realised that the stranger had left his helmet on the church window, which was a bit irritating because it would spoil the photos that she'd been taking. But... When she later developed the film, she noticed that the helmet wasn't in any of the photos. But when she told some of her friends who were local to the area, they weren't surprised. Instead, they told Lynette.

about the story of a young man who had died in a motorbike crash near Clop Hill, whose ghost allegedly wanders the old churchyard. Lynette was chilled to realise that the young man she met may have been a bona fide ghost. I feel like there's a lot of motorbike ghosts knocking around, aren't there? Why not? You just hold their ghostly bodies together in their leathers, perhaps. I've got one more. In July...

It doesn't even say July. I tried to read Journalist and 2000 at the same time. In 2001, two journalists from a local newspaper camped out at Clop Hill, hoping to catch paranormal evidence on their digital cameras. Nothing happened and they fell asleep. by their campfire and woke up at 8am. But when developing their film later on, they found six photos that they knew they didn't take of them asleep.

That's the scariest one. I ate it. With white shapes like figures lying next to them. Nope. No thank you.

By the 90s and 2000s, Clophill had a firm and notorious reputation as a place for teenagers to hang out at night and scare themselves shutters. Now, just for the record, it's worth me noting here. that we were quite well behaved and didn't get up to any satanic-inspired vandalism. We certainly didn't dig up any bodies or desecrate any graves. We mainly just wandered around trying to freak each other out with creepy urban legend games like the one that said...

If you stared at one of the gravestones long enough, it'd change to show you the date of your own death. And it would include your name, just so you know it was talking to you. Or we would dare each other to run around the church 13 times anti-clockwise until the devil would appear. Spoiler alert, the big guy himself did not ever make an appearance, but maybe we were doing it wrong.

We'd also say that if you went up and touched the church, you'd be cursed, you know, all that kind of stuff. So it goes without saying that obviously, Clopill's haunted reputation made it the perfect breeding ground for daft teenage antics like this. But, as always, some people took things way too far. The police used to get called out constantly to respond to reports of naughty kids committing vandalism, underage drinking and generally just being a nuisance.

Guys, we are well into jumper and coat season, and honestly, I'm ready for it. And thankfully, Quince delivers layers that last. Sweaters, outerwear, and everyday essentials that feel luxurious, look timeless. And make holiday dressing a total breeze. If you don't believe me, head to Quince and pick up one of their sumptuous Mongolian cashmere sweaters for just $50. And you can thank me later. Then you can head back for more...

pitch-perfect seasonal staples, denim that never goes out of style, silk tops and skirts that add polish, and down underwear built to take on the season. It's perfect for gifting or upgrading your own wardrobe. Step into the holiday season with layers made to feel good. Look polished and last from Quince. Perfect for gifting or keeping for yourself. Go to quince.com slash red-handed for free shipping on your order.

and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash red-handed to get free shipping and 365-day returns.

Quince.com slash redhanded. If you run a small business, you'll know there's nothing small about it. So if you're feeling overwhelmed, you need the right platform to give you all the tools you need for success, like Shopify. Shopify's point-of-sale system is a unified command center that brings together in-store and online retail operations across up to a thousand locations. Shopify POS even helps you build your customer base.

Get all the big stuff for your small business right with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash redhanded. Go to shopify.com slash redhanded.

So, with all of this in mind... It makes sense that the folks who currently manage the land where the old church sits are a bit paranoid about who comes to visit. The site is now managed by Clophill Heritage Trust. a charity that in recent years has spent a hell of a lot of money restoring the ruins, clearing piles of rubbish, scrubbing off graffiti, and installing a watchtower that you can visit on guided tours and with permission. Clop Hill!

St Mary the Virgin, the old parish church, even host weddings these days. I can't believe that. Oh, I can.

Like, just because of how they're like, do not come here, do not come here, do not come here. Not haunted, absolutely not. Yeah, we're not haunted. I can see it, I can see, like... the church is a very beautiful building and like without the roof and all of that if you've got a good day like the big windows stunning but fucking weird that cat though that cat that cat's not going to approve of them weddings fucking weird

Anyway, if you do decide to get married at the church, you can stay in the Clophill Heritage Trust's very new and very bougie eco-lodges that are just next door. And for me, that is more satanic than any black mass. Anyway, all jokes aside, it is genuinely incredible to see how much effort the Trust has put to bringing the church back to its former glory.

with less shopping trolleys and suspicious-looking needles on the ground. But it has lost its... I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. When I went up there, I was like, I'm not even scared. Again, that was the whole fucking point of what they did. Yeah. And I appreciate, like, the last time I went up there, I was still a teenager. And we would always go up in the dark. And we would, like, scare each other on purpose. But, like, when we went up there, I was just like, oh. It's lost something.

I don't know. They should have left the local legend alone, man. I just get that people who live up there would be supremely fucking annoying. Yeah. So anyway, in advance of our visit, we were naturally a little bit anxious to learn that the old church had tightened up its security.

And it's technically supposed to be closed to the public after dark. These days. And we were ominously warned that there would be CCTV cameras and alarm system and even security with dogs on the premises. But were we scared? Well, a bit. But we powered through because we were determined to visit Clop Hill and return to tell the tale. On the day itself, the sun set without so much as a chihuahua's yap to be heard, though I will be honest, the bit where that guy walked...

walked past us. He was walking his dogs up there and I saw his dogs. I was like, oh, fuck, they are here. I should have noticed when those dogs didn't give a single fuck, we were there. And the guy walked off giggling. So yeah, we did take our chances and grab some spooky footage while we could. Whilst obviously being respectful to our surroundings, we certainly weren't up there shrieking or doing whatever. We were a bit disappointed not to get the high stakes chase that we were promised.

But then again, we did have quite a lot on our ghostly plates. And you can head over to our YouTube video if you fancy seeing our very own close shave with Sophie the ghost. Or as it turned out, cameraman Bonnie. And the cat! Don't spunk your load. No, no, I'm just saying go watch the video for the cat because that cat was fucking up to no good. And there was one more surprise.

Hannah and Susie from Ghost Hunts treated us to a few scary stories of their own on the drive back to London, which you can listen to right now.

I only told my closest friend this story and she was in utter shock. I was only 12 at the time and this all happened on a farm. I worked at many different yards, farming companies just as a volunteer. I always went to this farm every Saturday. Every week the farm was old. It had a couple of horses. Every week it was old. Every fucking week. That's how I feel. Every week I feel old.

Anyway, it had a couple of horses and I didn't think much of it I was just so happy to be working with horses again as I'd taken a break I'll give you a rundown of the farm. The only way to get onto the land was through the fields or the creaky gate that was so old it was practically on the floor. There was a small car park and to the left the horses to the right or the facilities and finally behind that was the fields. Lovely. On my first day I was helping with the horses.

Some of them needed saddles fitted as the saddles were getting older. Every week the saddles were getting older and older. I was on my way back with the saddle approaching the horses and a kid ran out in front of me. I found this strange but I'd worked with young children before so I decided to ask him what he was doing here. After all this was private property and all riding lessons had stopped. This was around five in the afternoon. The child didn't respond and just ran off.

I was confused but I assumed he just thought I was someone he knew. I got back to what I was doing and the yard owner greeted me and asked about the child I'd seen previously because it was strange for him to be here past 4.30 which is the end of the riding lessons. I was just as confused and told her I'd seen him run to the car park just a couple of minutes before she got there. She asked me if I was sure because there were no more cars there. I responded with a polite yes.

She thanked me and I got back to doing some jobs. Now this is where it gets weirder. The room where the saddles and bridles were kept was a boxy white room with just one pillar. It was called a tap room. Jesus! That's me! Well that was fucking terrifying. How can you? It's called a 10 minute bus. Fucking hell man. I'll never do that again.

Foxy white room, tack room, with just one pillar in the middle. I was just putting the saddles back on the horses racks, just cleaning up after myself, and all of a sudden, I heard quick... small footsteps footsteps of a child I was getting annoyed now and assumed the little boy from earlier was playing a little trick on the farm I walked into the little room the boy was stood behind the pillar and then ran out past me while giggling

I shouted, you need to leave. No response, he just kept running. I jogged after him, slightly confused, but also slightly scared. What was a boy doing on the farm by himself, and why doesn't he respond to anything? I saw him stop. Like every muscle in his body was paralyzed. I stopped to say, hello? I said it confused once again. And this time he responded, what? He said, but it was firm, almost as if he were an adult.

He still hadn't moved. You need to leave. It's private property. I shook as I spoke. The yard owner saw the boy's face, dropped the rape she'd just hold off, and she screamed. Now I was scared. I didn't know what to do.

He ran away once again, darting from us both. The yard owner came over, still shaking from what she'd seen. What did you see? I asked. My voice trembled as the words got out of my mouth. She replied with a quick... nothing don't worry I'm gonna call your parents I was taken home and only a year ago did I find out what she saw we were at an event and just happened to bump into each other she stood with me

and prescribed what she saw that day. She told me that she'd just finished sweeping the stools, checked her watch, and was about to send me home as there were no more jobs to do. But when she turned round the corner, the boy was staring at her. He had black eyes. and his mouth looked like it had been sewn up and ripped open again as he tilted his head back and ran. This explains why he never responded to me. But why did I see a normal little boy and she a horrible ripped open mouth, I guess?

we'll never find out is that horrible though a sewn up mouth like billy butchering so you know when he ran and then he stopped and then his mouth ripped open backwards That's how badly he needed to say something. Oh, they've always got to say something, isn't they? These eight-year-old comics, ghost boys. Sit down. And there are genders. It's feminism time now. No one cares what you have to say!

I'm going to say before this, because I think it's quite apt, is that she said that she really loves the podcast and then said, right, I'm going to stop licking your ass. So there's nothing wrong with tossing the salad. I've never heard of that. And it's that to do with rimming? Yes. Is it? Someone set up there! There you go, Gammon! Thanks, Gammon! Look, it's like literature. You can really just sit every hour. Go nuts.

Five years ago, I broke my leg quite badly. The doctor said that I may have caused such severe damage to my nerves that I might not be able to walk again. The pain was horrific, but I'd had enough codeine and liquid morphine to keep me out of agony. Ooh, baby! Unless, I know, stunning! Sounds amazing! lucky unless I moved it too quickly or banged it in anyway what I'm trying to say is I was fragile and at my most vulnerable and easy target some might say for the supernatural

I was at my mum's house, in bed, drifting off to sleep with my broken leg elevated when I heard a mank voice in my ear say, Do you want to make me come? Wow. Oh, sorry, sorry, no, it was much more feminist than that. It was... She'll want me to make you come. That's very nice. Me, being the horny bitch that I am, replied, yes. Driver, this is not me. So she's not scared? She's not scared. I had fucking sex with a ghost. You and your listeners might think I'm mad. No.

Kesha's had sex with the girls. Yeah, and oh no, Demi Lovato didn't. She just sung to one, didn't she? That was aliens. Aliens. But I know what happened and it was absolutely surreal. The voice stopped after the question. I could feel so much sexual energy pressed against my body, especially my...

upper half I could feel energy all over my face tits and vagina winky face It feels a bit much to be saying this in front of everybody actually that's always gonna be fine, but no Just completely on top of me it consumed me it felt amazing I was really getting into it then about 20 seconds in and I had the best orgasm of my life. Wow, did you feel a wet dream? Yeah.

All of a sudden, the energy that I had felt on top of me completely disappeared. I think it's important to clarify there wasn't any penetration. Which sounds obvious, but the sexual energy was so intense. Like, when you make out and you're really fucking into it. As soon as it happened, I shouted my mum to call...

You wouldn't shout your mum. That's it. What? Oh, she's had the best orgasm of my life. Mum! Yeah, it's a danger wank. It's a tear. Yeah, that's true. So I shouted up to my mum to go upstairs and eagerly told her about what just happened. Wow. I know.

Bit much, though. I don't have that relationship with my mum. I can't imagine Lucy being like, sorry, darling, what did you do? Got fingered by a ghost. My mum, being the spiritual woman that she is, was dumbfounded and quite disgusted with what I just said. She of course asked me if I was just asleep and reminded me I'd been on a lot of painkillers following the incident, but I know exactly what I felt.

she didn't disbelieve me but she did tell me to calm down and stop being so excited over it for me I felt like I just had the best pump of my life and it was totally risk free in my mind why not fuck a ghost to be fair Yeah, she's right. Clap. Help. I went to sleep every night after that, asking out loud for the spirit to come back and make me orgasm again. I sound crazy, I know, but if you'd experienced the sensations that I had, you'd understand.

Especially being a uni student at the time. That ghost fuck was better than any of those uni boys. Well that's not surprising. They go down like a cat drinking water in slow motion. Sorry. Oh, she's talking about the ghosts going down on her? No, she says most of the boys in uni go down on her. She's talking about freshers, wouldn't you? Yeah. She's talking about lace leaves.

I never experienced the same thrill again. I did have some random dreams where one spirit visited me to have sex. He told me his wife wasn't around. This was most certainly a dream. So she's not unaware. She's a self-aware ghost. My memory of it is very vague and I was definitely asleep so I definitely couldn't say that you saw the dude with the missing wife wasn't anything but a fragment of my dream imagination. If you could make yourself come and you're asleep why would you ever have sex then?

Well, because you can't actually control it. It just happens. Someone once told me. My friend said. I've heard. My friend said. That didn't stop me asking for more. More fool me. oh yeah i was back in my uni flat now recovery oh no there's quite a lot more i was back at my uni flat now recovering my uni may had gone to stay with her boyfriend in another city so i was home alone i started to have really vivid nightmares based in the flat that i was in one day i was on the ceiling

of my living room apartment looking down at the floor being thrown around the room i knew what was exerting so much power over my consciousness was an evil malevolent spirit i could feel it in my soul it was about 10 a.m in summer when this happened which is not the usual time That you'd experience a ghostly encounter is it so I believe it happened everything that was happening to me felt exactly real In my flat in my living room at that time of day

i wasn't able to wake myself up from the nightmare but when i did i had never felt so scared it didn't feel like a dream from a child i've had this skill to notice when i'm having a nightmare and i've been able to tap into my consciousness and tell myself to wake up over and over again i wasn't able to do that here i was completely weak after that i had another dream where i woke up and saw an evil face distorted into my white wall when i opened my eyes one morning

honestly saying all of this makes me feel uncomfortable and i can hear noises upstairs or maybe it's just the neighbors who knows i'm probably don't they're fucking well i'm probably just overthinking but i Honestly think that when you believe in ghosts you open your mind up to so many other realms. I had to get my mum's help with all of this. I didn't want to be in the flat alone as my flatmate was still away. I was scared to go to sleep at night.

I'd stopped asking for visits, obviously. I started to think that whatever I was opening myself up to did not have good intentions. Are you kidding? Obviously it didn't have good intentions. It's a fucking shagging ghost. Oh, no, because it was after her pleasure. Yeah, I suppose so. It did ask first. In a way I think it's one of the best. I had a lovely man ghost.

I had a search online and read stories about where women had reported similar experiences to me, where sex demons attach themselves to you and then turn evil. One woman reported bruises and all sorts over her body. I was terrified that the same might happen to me.

When my mum came to my flat, we read a passage of the Bible and burnt sage. The windows had to be opened to give the spirits an exit route. I honestly am usually very pragmatic and would not endorse any of that stuff. I'm not religious, but I needed help and turned to God. After that I stopped having those evil nightmares and I think whatever attached itself to me knew it was not welcome until evening.

Lots of people have told me that I might have psychic abilities and lots of coincidences happen in my life which have made me question reality and the supernatural atons. They're like, what are they doing? in that boss when my time finally comes I hope that I'm living it up in the afterlife and not wasting my time haunting people looks like some people still can't find anything productive to do even in the afterlife Everyone's got the same 24 hours in the day. Right Huns? Insert Molly Mays.

I know I experienced how the butterflies and sexual sensations quickly turned to very real terror. Some might say the painkillers made me experience all this and I was high, but I can tell you for certain if a voice ever asked me if I want to come again, the answer will always be... Yes. I'm getting very mixed messages from this person. To be honest, I'm glad this is all behind me. So, we've come to the end of our time exploring the spine-tingling history of Clop Hill.

And now you know better than anyone about this creepy little corner of Bedfordshire. We've wanted to cover this case for years and we couldn't think of anyone better to do it with than Ghost Tons. A massive thank you to Hannah and Susie for being the best sports and joining us on this wild ride. and an honorary spooky bitch mention to Mark from the Stone Jug pub, as well as this adorable, not haunted, Pubcat Sky.

Go and check out our YouTube channel and the more engagement we get on these little videos, the more fun stuff we can do for you so everybody's a winner, baby. Like, subscribe and leave your comments on what unhinged adventures you would like to see us go on in future and maybe, just maybe, we'll do it.

And perhaps there'll be less likelihood of hounds chasing us out of haunted churches next time. And finally, just because we love spoiling our listeners at this very creepy time of year, you can look forward to another exciting collab next week. as we continue to celebrate all things Halloween here at Red Handed. Here's a hint. After all that ghost hunting, I could murder a podcast. Until next time, stay safe, stay spooky. And as always, remember...

to pack your best Ouija board, just in case. Don't leave it at Lizzie Borden's house, though. Goodbye. Goodbye.

Picture this. You're standing on the beach when you notice something strange. The horizon doesn't look right. At first, all you can see is a thin white line stretching as far as your eyes can see. Then the line starts to rise. But it's not the horizon at all. It's a wave. A 30-foot wall of water. And it's racing straight toward you. On the day after Christmas in 2004, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Indonesia.

triggering a devastating tsunami. It struck Thailand without warning. No alarms, no cell phone alerts, no evacuation. In this season of Against the Odds, experience one of the deadliest natural disasters in history. through the perspectives of those who did everything they could to survive. Follow Against the Odds on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Against the Odds, Tsunami in Thailand early and ad-free right now on Wondery+.

Nearly 30 years ago, a vicious serial killer murdered five women in and around the city of Mons in Belgium, not far from where I'm standing right now. He taunted authorities. placing their dismembered body parts in locations designed to terrorize the population. There was a macabre and mysterious discovery of body parts apparently dismembered with a saw, according to investigators.

His identity remains unknown, but his name still sparks fear. The Butcher of Moss. Ten trash bags have been discovered so far. Investigators believe it is the work of a serial killer. For the moment, none of the victims have been identified. we've unearthed new evidence new witnesses and new suspects this is le monstre season two the butcher of moss listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.