THE PRIORY INVESTIGATES: BLACK SHUCK AND THE PHANTOM TRAIN

  • QUEST NUMBER SIX PART TWO

Black Shuck

  • St Martin’s Church. Overstrand:
  • The ‘Phantom’ Train:
  • Black Shuck:
  • Queen Boudica:
  • Richard III:

The next port of call on this particular day, after the very interesting time spent at St Andrew Church at Quidenham, where many revelations made themselves known to us, was to be St Martins Church at Overstrand on the North Norfolk coast, not far from Cromer. The main legend that prevails at this church is of a seemingly phantom train that is said to ‘whoosh’ through the very church itself…. but is it an actual train or something else? There was never an actual train line here so why would there be a ‘ghost train’ here? Well we hoped to find out.

Overstrand Church

The church is set in a beautiful churchyard with many shrubs and plantings and a seperately laid out area as a cremation memorial garden and also some beautiful carvings on the outside walls. The church does have an amazing history of survival, for the original medieval church probably fell into the sea, for in 1399 a patent was granted to build a church on the site. In the 18th century the aisle-less church fell on hard times and after the roof collasped it was decided that a smaller church would best fit the needs of the parish. But by 1859 this smaller church no longer filled the needs of a growing community and popular holiday destination, so the old church was abandoned in favour of a new one built in the west of the same churchyard. The old church still survives but is now overgrown with ivy.

  Carvings from the outside of the church, the newer interior, plus a Richard 3rd and a Boudica connection.

Further rebuilding ocuured in 1911 but this time using as much of the older original materials and artifacts from the old church which were still laying in the grass. Some of the older parts of the church such as the remains of the north porch were re-positioned and incorporated into the new design. The church does have a very ‘modern’ feel about it and is much plainer in decor than some of the other churches we have visited, yet the eagle eyed can easily spot the more ancient aspects of the church which date back to a much older time in history long before the present day church was built.

On the floor of the church, at the top of the main aisle are some very interesting carvings upon ancient stone slabs, which i am guessing may have come from the old church remains. Whether they mark the tomb of someone of prominence i do not know but the style of carvings on them are of a much older time, much much older than the present church and there are certain strong clues here that suggest  that one could even relate to Queen Boudica herself. The slab just below it is even more worn and again is probably from the original building. Even though it is very worn there is a strong suggestion that it is definitely connected to King Richard 3rd himself.

Let our lead researcher explain some more about the history of the church, the legend of the ghost train and Black Shuck and most importantly the connection to Queen Boudica, the Crown and to the sites previously visited – click on our link

OVERSTRAND: Black beasts & phantom trains

High up upon the church wall are to be found plaques to Richard 3rd and his wife Lady Ann Neville; not original as such but still very relevant.

     Looking through the original church doorway into the newer part of the building. Also shown is what is know as the ‘water mark’ from whence the priest would have obtained their holy water used for their blessings; their ‘water mark’.

Conclusions of the days visits: As always nothing is ever what it seems and one always has to dig deeper for the truths; there are those truths that we are able to know and those truths that are specifically hidden.

  • The resting place and chambers of Queen Boudica, who she really was and her bloodline, are firmly hidden from the general public; one wonders why?
  • Even today much is still hidden within the vast areas of the English landscape, which no one normally knows about.
  • The ‘real’ and original monarchy of these lands had a purpose not written about in history books.
  • All the sites so far visited are connected and had ‘Guardians’ – why?
  • Why is Knight Templar and Masonic symbolism  found in all  these ancient churches and where did it really come from? What was the Templars influence in those days of old?
  • Sir Thomas Holland was obviously highly esteemed and yet his resting place has been ‘preserved’ out of sight with no record of him – why?
  • Once again we find that ‘secrets’ of the past are often hidden by building over the top of them. What are these secrets and why are they hidden?
  • A pattern is emerging of the connection between the prominent characters buried at all of these sites; a family bloodline is revealing itself….
  • Richard the Third played a very important role and is a big part of the developing jigsaw puzzle.
  • The old churches indeed have a tale or two to tell, but one has to look from a completely different angle for the tales to reveal themselves; often far removed from what the history books tell us…

celtic cross

We can not say for sure,  but this beautifully aged and worn Celtic Cross hiding in a far corner of the churchyard, could possibly mark the resting place of a member of the ‘bloodline’ we are researching….

Please feel welcome to join our team or contact us re The Priory, as the ‘secrets’ are revealed and it is a very fun and social day out too 🙂

email me at ‘moon.willow@ntlworld.com’

‘Seek and ye shall find’