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THE PRIORY INVESTIGATES: QUEST NUMBER THREE

• ST MARY’S CHURCH, AKENHAM SUFFOLK

St Mary’s Church situated near Akenham in Suffolk really is right off the beaten track; up the grass track in fact. It winds past Rise Hall (formely Rice Hall); one of the church’s ancient manors and nestles timelessly in the beautifully serene English countryside or so it would seem. For this lovely little almost abandoned church does hold some secrets to a very interesting past. It also has the nickname of ‘St Mary’s in the Fields’, standing on a rise amidst the meadows, over a quarter of a mile from the nearest road and so a challenge in itself to actually locate it in the first place. Once at St Mary’s the vews across the surrounding countryside are truly stunning. But yet again another church that seemingly no-one wants ‘outsiders’ to find and like Borley Church there are no road signs or direction to it. We ended up having to ask  directions a few times to folks who seemed reticent to give them. So thus St Mary’s here became quest number three…

To read more about the church and it’s history please see the links below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary’s_Church,_Akenham

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akenham

This flint-towered church from the later middle ages lies hidden in the heart of the rural English countryside.

There are several interesting tales about St Mary’s church; stories of  strange ‘happenings’ occurring; people seeing ‘ghosts’ appearing at the church windows and as was mentioned briefly in the previous clip, the bombings of world war two and reports from the village of the bells ringing for no reason. It has even been said that one can ‘raise the devil’ by walking thirteen times widdershins around the church – well we are going to put all this to the test later.

Obviously the church is clearly not in use and is currently being restored to its former glory. What is further interesting is that Queen Mary 1st of England, King Henry 8th’s and Catherine of Aragon’s daughter was quiet heavily envolved in this particular area of the land. It is interesting to note that when we went to Borley Church, Sir Edward Walgrave, who was buried in one of the tombs there, inside of the church, was the chief adviser to Queen Mary 1st and when she had her coronation, it was at this very church, St Mary’s of Akenham pretty much in the middle of nowhere, that there was a major celebration to mark her coronation on becoming Queen after Henry died. There was also another ‘mystery’, that of a very young child who had died and who was buried not in the graveyard, but on the actual boundary of the church.

The church was actually built, we think in the thirteenth century but there are reports of another church on this site pre the thirteenth century,  but we cannot be sure that this is fact. What is more important is that the church was involved under the ‘Burial Reformation Act’ in one of the most major cases of the time in England. This act gave people the right to be buried and it all came about because of a man named Drury who was a a reverend here; he was very devout to his religion and faith and the last of the ‘line’ of reverends who shared the same name.The case is quiet well known and has been documented in many publications over the years.

The Strange Tale of Little Joseph Ramsey: One of the most interesting stories is the fascinating account of  a young lad called Joseph Ramsey who died when he was only two years old, in according to varying accounts, in quite suspicious circumstances. Because he was classed as what is known as a ‘non conformist’ he was not allowed to be buried within the church and it was agreed between Drury and the other reverend that Joseph could be buried on the outer part of the fences of the church boundary. But something happened for Rev Drury to agree to bury this poor lad in the church but on un-sanctified ground. There is a small gravestone to the edge of the church boundary which to all intents and purposes seems to be Joseph’s gravestone and many people of the nineteenth century believed this to be so but in fact this is NOT his stone; his small stone which is said to have been blown down by the wind and was subsequently moved and re-erected is to be found even further out still.

See our Youtube link to discover more about the tale and the mystery of little Joseph Ramsey….

AKEMAN CHURCH & JOSEPH RAMSEY

PART TWO: RAISING THE DEVIL….

•  ST MARY’S CHURCH AKENHAM

As our ‘willing’ volunteer made his way widdershins (anti-clockwise) around the church we did notice some strange changes in the overall atmosphere of the area and more than one of our party experienced pressures to the forehead occurring round about the 3rd lap. On completing the laps a weird ‘darkness’ had descended and the atmosphere had become decidedly ‘heavy’. So was it the ‘devil’ or something else or maybe just coincidence? Though as anyone knows there is no such thing as coincidence….. Of course one has to keep an open mind and decide for one’s  self.

Follow our Youtube link to see our willing volunteer on his journey to ‘raise the devil’

AKEMAN CHURCH: RAISING THE DEVIL

We were very privileged to be able to obtain the keys to the church from Jeremy at Rise Hall nearby and thus were able to enter in. It was a fascinating experience as there were several points of ‘energy’ within the church, mainly within the lectern where one could also sense other strong ‘anomalies’ too, at the altar where the energy was very strong yet very calming and from the ‘real’ cross itself, the priests staff which was buzzing with healing energy. The feel and power of the energies at this site were not at all unlike the powerful energies we experienced at Spooks Hill.

Summary of the day and points to ponder on…

1. Important to note that when our researcher went round on the 6th lap of the church, the black cloud arrived, yet ONLY above the church and the immediate vicinity and thus hail stones happened;  BUT NOT down at Rise Hall or anywhere else!
2. The distinct vibrations occurred from the Lectern in the church and were strong in sense and being, BUT the main Priest Altar was a calm flowing vibration; this is significant
3. The Priest Staff had a lot of power to it; oddly it had healing power
4. Joseph Ramsey’s gravestone was certainly worth the visit to make the connection to previous quests.
5.  Joseph Ramsey’s tombstone is of relevance and interesting, as its another link to the past and a certain future
6. On our researcher’s 6th lap widdershins, our lead researcher had an intense pressure in the front and side of his head and that is also when the black cloud arrived as previously mentioned
7. We seemed to have two people ‘walking their dogs’ and lurking about nearby when we first arrived; similar to the Borley experience
8. Speaking with Jeremy Hall, a really nice chap. He gave the true account passed down to him by his past family members and confirmed the issues raised over Joseph’s burial which led to the Burial Reformation Act and was covered in the national newspapers for some 12 months.
9. Drury when he stormed off from the burial service, actually locked the people in the graveyard by locking the main gate! That piece of information is not recorded anywhere, but clearly true.

The three areas of the church where the various ‘energies’ were focused; namely the priests altar, the lectern and the priests staff (the REAL cross). The eagle-eyed and astute amongst you, may already have spotted certain connections to our other quests this far and that a ‘pattern’ seems to be emerging to form the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The answers as always are hidden between the lines often in plain sight.

If you are interested in joining us in our quests please leave a message here or email: moon.willow@ntlworld.com

if you are interested in joining The Priory itself please contact us by email or via this webpage

‘The Keeper of Scrolls’