The Society for the Investigation of Spectral Phenomena
Inquest upon the Smoke in the Walberton Vestry
St Mary's Church, church, Walberton, West Sussex
I.Background & History
St Mary's Church stands in the village of Walberton, in the Arun district of West Sussex. Its origins lie in the eleventh century, though these are now largely hidden behind restoration work carried out since the eighteenth century. Fragments of Saxon-era work survive, and reused Roman building material may still be seen in the walls.
The churchyard holds an extensive collection of eighteenth-century gravestones, some of them especially macabre in their carving. The church is protected as a Grade I Listed building.
II.The Entity
The Scorched Bellringer
A tall figure in the remnants of a ringer's smock, blackened from crown to heel, its outline wavering as heated air does above a road in August. It gives off no light, only a dry heat felt at twenty paces, and thin grey smoke rises from its shoulders without ever thinning. Its hands are always raised as though holding a rope that is not there, and the fingers keep closing.
Assessment of Peril
Class IV: Malignant
The heat it throws has blistered paint, plaster and, in two recorded cases, the palms of those who stood in its path. Those who watch it for long are drawn, step by step, towards the bell-chamber stair.
III.The Account
The Society reproduces here the transcript of the inquest held in the winter of 1943 at the Walberton village hall, before the district coroner and a jury of eleven, upon the death of Mr. Josiah Pellew, aged sixty-eight, verger and sometime ringer of St Mary's. The Society's annotations are set in the margin and are marked thus: [Ann.].
The first witness, Mrs. Ada Crouch, air-raid warden's wife, deposed that in the autumn of 1941 she noticed smoke issuing from the vestry window on nights when no fire was laid and the blackout was strictly kept. She fetched the warden, who found the vestry door cold, the room cold, and the smoke gone. She said, 'It was the smell that was wrong, sir. It was not wood. It was like a woollen coat held to a grate.' [Ann. The Society notes that no fire is recorded at Walberton church in any register examined, and the parish chest holds no account of a burning. The smoke was seen on eleven further occasions before Christmas.]
Dr. H. Lanyon, who attended the church at the request of the rector, stated that he was a man of science and expected a flue. He found the vestry plaster raised in blisters the size of florins, and the varnish of the ringers' board curled from the wood in brown scrolls, though the room was bitterly cold to the hand. He observed, on the second night, a standing shape near the tower door, which he described to the coroner as 'a man made of the heat above a kiln'. He admitted that he did not go closer. [Ann. Dr. Lanyon retired from practice within the month and is recorded as sitting up nightly with a basin of water by his bed. He declined to be interviewed by our officer.]
IV.Recorded Manifestations
- ✦Grey smoke from the vestry window on nights when no fire has been laid, smelling of scorched wool.
- ✦Paint and varnish blistering on walls and boards in rooms that remain cold to the touch.
- ✦A dry heat felt at twenty paces from the tower door, without any visible source.
- ✦The tower bell-ropes swaying and warm to the hand, though the bells are chained.
- ✦The sensation of being regarded, followed by a pressure of heat upon the back of the neck.
Testimony of Witnesses
“I saw the smoke go up straight as a candle with no wind to hold it, and I smelt a coat burning, and there was not a soul in the place.”
“It did not move, sir, and yet it came nearer. I looked at the clock and then I looked back, and the heat had reached my face.”
“I found the ringers' board scorched in the shape of a man's two hands, and the paint still bubbling as if it were freshly done.”
V.Rite of Expulsion
Difficulty: Perilous
Requisites
- ☐A pail of water drawn from the churchyard tap before dusk
- ☐A length of undyed hemp rope, knotted seven times
- ☐Seven tallow candles, unlit
- ☐A clean linen cloth, wetted
- ☐The ringers' board, taken down and laid face upward
The Rite
- I.1. Enter the church at eleven at night and leave the vestry door open behind you.
- II.2. Lay the ringers' board face upward on the tower floor and set the seven candles upon it, unlit.
- III.3. Soak the linen cloth in the pail and drape it across the lowest step of the tower stair.
- IV.4. At midnight, loop the knotted rope about the foot of the stair and say the name of each ringer upon the board aloud.
- V.5. When the heat rises, do not retreat and do not look at the hands; keep your eyes upon the water.
- VI.6. Pour the pail across the threshold in one movement as the bell-chamber glows, and speak the Commendation.
- VII.7. Leave by the south door without turning, and do not return until the rope has been burnt in the open.
Caution. The figure takes the shape of whatever grips the rope. The Society's Mr. Dacre looked up during the fifth step and was never again quite himself.
VI.Hauntings of the Surrounding District
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Yapton Free Church · Church · 1.5 miles
The Chapel Ewe, spectral animal. A grey ewe is seen standing in the aisle at dusk, and it is always found to have been standing there for a very long time.
St George's Church · Church · 1.7 miles
Mrs. Larkin of the Lych-Gate, white lady. A woman in a pale shawl stands at the gate each Advent, and those who bid her good evening hear their own voice answer from behind them.
John Baker's Mill · Old Mill · 1.1 miles
The Miller's Dust-Child, poltergeist. Flour sifts down from the empty upper floor in the shape of small handprints that climb the walls toward the sack-hoist.
Slayer's Slab · Tomb · 3.2 miles
The Flint-Capped Man, revenant. The slab is found warm each dawn, and the grass around it bears the imprint of a body that has lately risen and lain down again.
St Mary Magdalene's Church · Church · 2.0 miles
The Candle-Snuffer of the Nave, spectre. Each lit candle is pinched out in turn by an unseen hand, and the last one is always the nearest to the watcher.
Bilsham Chapel · Church · 2.3 miles
The Bilsham Bearers, phantom procession. Six hooded shapes carry an empty bier across the field at night, and the seventh place beside it is left open.
Arundel Castle · Castle · 3.1 miles
The Armourer of the Barbican, headless apparition. A mailed figure walks the wall-walk carrying its helm under one arm, and the helm is heard to speak your name.
Arundel Blackfriars · Abbey · 3.1 miles
The Grey Brothers' Compline, phantom procession. A low chanting rises from the meadow with no singers to be seen, and it grows louder with each step toward it.
Arundel and District Hospital · Hospital · 2.6 miles
The Ward-Sister's Lamp, unclassified entity. A small lamp drifts down the corridor at three in the morning, and the patient it stops beside does not wake.
Lyminster Priory · Abbey · 3.2 miles
The Marsh-Nun's Lantern, will-o'-the-wisp. A pale light moves across the water-meadows in the posture of a woman walking, and it turns toward those who follow.
Arundel Cathedral · Church · 2.9 miles
The Borrowed Choirmaster, possession. A chorister is taken in mid-hymn and continues singing in a voice that is not his, in a language no one will name.
Arundel Priory · Church · 2.9 miles
The Quarry Hound of the Priory Stones, phantom hound. A black dog with pale eyes paces the ruined foundations and leaves no prints in the dew.
Fitzalan Chapel · Church · 3.0 miles
The Earl's Heron, spectral animal. A heron stands motionless by the chapel wall at night and its shadow falls the wrong way against the moon.
Trinity Congregational Church · Church · 3.0 miles
The Deacon's Hammer, poltergeist. Knocking is heard from the sealed vestry at the exact hour of a long-forgotten service, each blow nearer the door.
South Marsh Mill · Old Mill · 2.6 miles
The Marsh Miller's Brother, revenant. A drowned man in a miller's apron is seen at the sluice and he walks toward the village, leaving wet footprints at every door.
