The Society for the Investigation of Spectral Phenomena
The Vestment That Would Not Lie Folded
All Saints Church, church, Oxted, Surrey
I.Background & History
All Saints Church is a Catholic parish church in Oxted, Surrey. Building work began in 1913 and was delayed by the First World War. Aspects of the interior were designed by Geoffrey Webb. It stands off Chichele Road, north of the town centre and west of Oxted School, and is a Grade II listed building.
The present church is therefore a young building, standing upon ground much older than itself in a district of old parishes, downland and ancient woods. The Society records that its haunting is held to be older than its walls.
II.The Entity
The Warm Chasuble
A woman in a long undyed linen garment, which seems to be the thing itself rather than her clothing, for her face and hands are never clearly settled and the cloth alone holds its shape. She is seen at the edge of a room, back turned, drawing the garment closed about a body that is not there. Those who stand near report a smell of warm wool and candle-smoke, and the cloth is said to be the heat of a living person.
Assessment of Peril
Class III: Hostile
The entity has not been proved to lay hands on anyone, but each person who has folded the garment and put it away has afterwards been found sleepwalking towards the sanctuary. Three of the church's servants left the district within a year of handling it.
III.The Account
The Society took the following statements in the spring of 1927 from persons employed about the church, and sets them down in the order taken. They do not agree, and the Secretary has not sought to make them do so.
Mr. T. Wickens, labourer, who dug the footings in 1913, stated that his spade struck, at four feet, a bundle of grey linen, dry as a loaf and warm to the hand. He laid it on the wall at noon. At the dinner-hour it was folded, he said, though no man had touched it. His mate, Mr. Aldridge, gave the hour as the afternoon, and said the cloth was lying open, as though someone had just stepped out of it.
Mrs. H. Cottle, charwoman, deposed that in 1919, when the works resumed after the War, she found the linen laid in the vestry press under a stole, which she had not put there. She folded it thrice, and thrice it lay across the altar rail by morning. She was clear that it was warm, as a chair is warm that has just been left. The sacristan, Mr. Pound, said that he had never found it warm, only damp, and that Mrs. Cottle was an anxious woman. Mrs. Cottle left the parish in the autumn and would not say why.
Miss D. Lorrimer, who kept the linen, stated that she once woke in the vestry at three in the morning with the garment drawn about her own shoulders and the weight of a hand resting on it from behind. She said the hand was small. Mr. Pound, questioned again, said that Miss Lorrimer had been found in the sanctuary, not the vestry, and that the garment was upon the floor and the candles lit, all seven. He added that the door had been locked from within, and that he would not give further evidence.
IV.Recorded Manifestations
- ✦A grey linen garment found unfolded in places it was not left, however often it is put away.
- ✦A sensation of living warmth in the cloth, as of a body lately risen from a chair.
- ✦A smell of warm wool and candle-smoke in the vestry at three in the morning.
- ✦Seven candles found lit in the sanctuary, the door locked from within.
- ✦A faint pressure of a small hand upon the shoulder of anyone who stands with their back to the press.
Testimony of Witnesses
“"I folded it three times, sir, and each time I came back it was open and warm as a hearth-stone, and I will not go in that vestry again."”
“"I have seen a woman stand against the east window with her back to me, and she was gathering the cloth about her as one does against the cold. When I spoke, the cloth fell and there was no one."”
“"Mr. Ashby's skin was cold, but the garment he had held was warm. I have not been able to account for it, and I have declined to attend the church since."”
V.Rite of Expulsion
Difficulty: Perilous
Requisites
- ☐A new linen sheet, unwashed
- ☐A brass thimble
- ☐Seven white candles
- ☐A bowl of cold spring water
- ☐A length of undyed thread
The Rite
- I.Enter the vestry at a quarter before three and extinguish every lamp.
- II.Lay the new sheet upon the press and place the old garment upon it without once touching the cloth with bare hands.
- III.Light the seven candles, and speak the name of the dead woman, if it be known, three times only.
- IV.Fold the garment in thirds, binding it with the thread, and pass the thimble over each fold.
- V.Pour the cold water upon the floor before the altar, and do not look behind you.
- VI.Leave the vestry before the clock strikes three, and lock the door with the key held in the left hand.
Caution. Do not fold the garment a fourth time, and do not remain once it grows warm. Mr. Ashby of this Society did both.
VI.Hauntings of the Surrounding District
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Barrow Green Court · Ancient Burial Site · 0.8 miles
The Barrow Mourners, phantom procession. Hooded figures carrying an empty bier cross the lawn on moonless nights, and each carries a lamp that casts no light.
Church of St Peter · Church · 0.7 miles
The Chalk-Handed Sexton, spectre. A pale man is heard digging in the churchyard at dusk, and the grave found in the morning is always a little longer than the last.
Tandridge Priory · Abbey · 1.4 miles
Brother Ambrose of the Cloister Wall, revenant. A monk who died unshriven walks the wall and is said to touch the sleeve of the unwary and ask for a confessor.
Titsey Place · Manor House · 1.4 miles
The Pantry Knocker, poltergeist. Cupboards open in sequence down the servants' passage at midnight, and the last door always opens upon a figure standing within.
Woldingham and Oxted Downs · Ancient Wood · 1.6 miles
The Down Lantern, will-o'-the-wisp. A yellow light leads walkers off the path and holds them until the dawn, when they are found standing in the wet with their lips blue.
Botley Hill · Downland Hill · 1.3 miles
The Flint-Pawed Dog, phantom hound. A great grey dog crosses the hilltop without leaving any print, and those who hear its breathing die within the twelvemonth.
Squerryes Court · Manor House · 3.0 miles
The Lady of the Orangery Glass, white lady. A woman in a pale gown appears reflected in the glazing, though no one stands behind the viewer.
Holy Trinity Church · Church · 3.5 miles
The Vestry Heron, spectral animal. A heron stands in the chancel on winter mornings, and the parish clerk who drove it out was found with his hands full of feathers.
Westerham Wood · Ancient Wood · 3.1 miles
The Charcoal-Burner's Wife, headless apparition. A woman without a head walks the ride at dusk, carrying a lantern held at the height of a face that is not there.
Staffhurst Wood · Ancient Wood · 3.1 miles
The Thing in the Coppice Ditch, unclassified entity. Something long and low follows the ditch beside lone travellers, matching their pace exactly and stopping when they stop.
Chartwell · Manor House · 4.0 miles
The Lamp-Lit Draughtsman, spectre. A figure bent over a drawing-board is seen through the study window, and the drawing he makes is of the viewer's own house.
Sacred Heart Church · Church · 4.0 miles
The Borrowed Cantor, possession. A choirboy sings in a man's voice at evensong, in a language no one in the parish knows, and is not himself for days.
Bletchingley Castle · Castle · 4.7 miles
The Rampart Sentry, revenant. A mailed figure stands upon the broken wall and turns its head to follow those who pass below.
St Lawrence's Hospital · Hospital · 4.5 miles
The Ward Orderlies, phantom procession. Silent figures wheel an empty trolley down the long corridor at night, and stop at the door of whoever is to die.
Betsom's Hill · Downland Hill · 3.3 miles
The Hill Ram, spectral animal. A black ram with burning eyes stands on the ridge at dusk, and any shepherd who counts his flock beside it finds one beast more than he began with.
