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CHANCTONBURY AND CISSBURY RINGS - OF
ENERGY IN THE RAPE OF BRAMBER
From an Article by Toyne Newton [1987] pub Blandford 'The past lives on with the concrete present,
nothing destroyed, the layered centuries preserve all, everything exists for
ever, out of sight and sound, waiting to be lifted into the light.'
Leonard Clark CHANCTONBURY RING
This aloof and lovely lord of the southern hills is the most noted landmark in Sussex It was said that sailors marked it from their ships in the Channel, and motorists travelling south could see it in the blue distance as soon as they had breasted the Surrey hills A famous beauty spot, it can be seen clearly from almost any point on the ridge of the South Downs. Rising some 780 feet above sea level, it is crowned with a ring of beech trees which make a conspicuons and beautiful circle on the hill's bold bluff. They were planted in 1760 by Charles Goring in whose large estate Chanclebury, as it was then called, was situate. As a boy, Charles looked up at the bare top and in his mind's eye 'saw it dressed with a grove of trees~, whereupon hc immediately made up his mind to plant them. 'With what delight I placed those twigs,' he afterwards wrote, and so that they should strike root ho carried water daily, for months, up to the hill to thern, at that time writing, in verse, that he had .~an alniost hopeless wish that would creep within
my breast, Oh! could [live to see thy top in all its beauty
dressed!'
He got his wish for he lived to be a very old man
and saw his
young trees established and tbriving. In 1828 he recorded his love of the Ring in a poem: 5av what you wili, there is not in the world A nobler sight than from this upper Down. No rugged landscape here, no beauty hurled From its Creator's hand as with a frown; But a green plain on which green hills look down Trim as a garden pLot. No other hue Can hence be seen, save here and there the brown Of a square fallow, and the horizon's blue. Dear checker-work of woods the Sussex Weald. If a name thrills one yet of things of earth, That name is thine flow often I have fled To thy deep hedgerows and embraced each field, Each lag, each pasture, fields which gave mr birth And saw mv youth, and which must hold me dead Charles Goring of Wiston
Although it is thought by many that Chanctonbury was named after the ring
of trees, the ring was there well before the trees were planted for it derives
its name from the circular earthwork made by the early Celts over 2000 years
before excavations carried out this century have revealed that the ramparts of
the hillfort date from about 300 BC and the several pits that were found,
thought at First to be the remains of prehistoric dwellings, were in fact mine
shafts driven into the chalk about 2500 Bc, The Ring consists of the ancient
fort's ditch and rampart which form an oval enclosure with diameters of about
550 feet by 400 feet It has two entrances, one on the east and the other on the
western part of the rampart, and where the ground slopes away the defensive
works are powerfully developed whilst on the north-west side where it skirts the
steep escarpment of the hill the earthwork is comparatively
slight.
The early Celts erected such hillforts in all commanding positions of the Downs, and with nearby Ciss-bury Ring and Rackam, Chanctonbury Ring forms the 'Devil's Triangle', for legend has it that the devil had a hand in the formation of these three downland hills when he discovered that the inhabitants of Sussex were being converted from paganism to Christianity. Consequently he decided to drown them all, and began digging a gigantic trench down to the sea from Poynings (Devil's Dyke) sending large quantities of earth in every direction. One pile became Chanctonbury, another Cissbury and the third Rackham. Those who came after the original builders of the Chanctonbury hill-fort developed the site still more, especially the Romans, who built a sunken temple and surrounded it with a court in a Romano-Celtic style peculiar to Southern England and France north of Provence and west of the Rhine. Being partlv underground, it may have been a temple to Mithra, an Iranian deity whose original worship in Persia was held in caves, and which was introduced to the Romans in 68 BC, although I have not heard this postulated before. however, Mithraism was very popular with thc Roman legions over here. This worship of the God of Light (which, incidentally, was early Christianity's most formidable rival) entailed secret ceremonies and rituals from which all women were excluded, and which were conducted amid much mystery in underground caves or specially built subterranean chambers Many coins have been found at this ancient shrine, from those made in the time of Nero (AD 54-68) to Gratian (AD 375-83). other coins belonging to Tetricus the Flder have also been uncovered, but these were minted in Britain after the Romans left. This Roman temple must have been in use some 300 years or more by the Romans, for hundreds of little coloured stones - tesserae Of which they made their wellknown pavements - were dug up there in 1908. There was also evidence that an ancient
tile-maker worked there, and the imprint of an animal's foot - his dog or other pet - was found on a tile, obviously having been made by the creature before the tile was fired. In 1977 a team led by archaeologist Dr Owen Bedwin carried out a dig at the Ring prior to the replanting of trees, and he did not think there had been a Roman occupation of the Ring although he thought the temple and shrine uncovered in 1909 had been used by people visiting the site for rituals, though what form such rituals might have taken wasn't known There was a large dew pond at Chanctonbury which never dried up and became as well-known as the clump of trees from 1874 onwards, but during World War 2, when Chanctonbury was used for army exercises involving tanks and armoured cars, etc~, these vehicles left their mark, the dew pond disappeared, and only a slight declivity in the turf marks the spot now. The Long Furlong dew pond at Clapham also dried up after World War 2. Bnt despite all such desecration, Chanctonbury's inherent magic remains, as if sustained by an occult reservoir, and it is probably the magnetic presence of this unseen force which creates its air of mystery and propagates so many unexplained phenomena within the Ring ENCHANTED ATMOSPHERE Stillness and silence are peculiar to beechwoods as only about one-fifth of sunlight reaches the ground, which is often thickly carpeted with fallen leaves, and the remaining four-fifths are shaded and lifeless and, for most of the year, dark and consequently eerie. however, there is much more than this characteristic atmosphere at Chanctonbury where, inside the Ring, no birds sing and the place seems bereft of even the smallest woodland creature, which, as Charles Walker comments, gives you a very uneasy feeling. Pie says: 'Suddenly you realise you are alone, with nothing but the trees - some of
which are dead or dyimg - and yet you feel you're being watched, followed, and
the chill that Comes upon you as you enter the Ring Increases with every step
you take Although the area covered by the trees is not large and they are by no
means densely packed, walking from One end tO the other seems to take forever,
and gives you a feeling of utter isolation~'
Such an atmosphere is naturally conducive to witchcraft, with which
Chanctonbury has long been associated, together with
hauntings, unseen forces and, In more modern times, with UFO sightings. Evidence of practitioners of the black arts was found by Charles Walker in 1979 inside the Ring in the form of the remains of a black altar which he photographed, and in 1982 I photographed a group of pointed tree stumps each about 8 feet high, which suddenly appeared on a plateau inside the Ring at a point where two ley lines pass through from Clapham. One 1ey emanates from Clapham church and the other passes through the crossroads site in Clapham Wood where many leys converge. The tree stumps were arranged in a circle, and were there for only a matter of weeks, after which they disappeared as mysteriously as they had appeared. Among those said to haunt the Ring are a Saxon shade, a midnight druid and a royal Carian ghost The white-bearded Saxon, said to have been killed at hastings, was often seen wandering about Chanctonbury Ring looking for his lost treasure, so the story went, for he was often in a crouching position scrabbling amongst the leaves as if searching for something buried, until 1866 when late that year a ploughman turned up a valuable hoard of Anglo-Saxon silver coins in a crock under the hill, The Saxon shade was not seen anywhere on Chanctonbury after this. If you walk round the Ring twelve times at midnight on Midsummer Night, and presumably only then, it is said the midnight druid will come over the earthwork to you, and in the dimness of the Ring's interior on such a magical night this would not br difficult to imagine. Druids were, of course, associated with Chanctonbury as with many other Celtic hill- forts, which they fortified, for it was they who organised the opposition to the Roman invasion of 55-54 BC when Julius Caesar was forced to retreat. The druidic religion, based on fertility cults which entailed manv cruel ceremonies including human sacrifice, which were always carried out in a grove of sacred oak trees, became firmly established in about 350 BC, and in their capacity as priest- kings, the druids brought about an overall cohesion of the warring Ccltic tribes. Under their specialised instruction the beginnings of a fighting army and warrior class of Celt emerged The priesthood was eventually overcome by the Roman general Suetonius Paulinus in their last druidic stronghold on the island of Anglesey in AD 58. However, the druidic cult, with its unequalled knowledge of Nature's powers, lingers on in many Celtic parts of the country today, its dubious ceremonial worship still being conducted on ancient sites in oak groves (or their equivalent) in the utmost secrecy, one known site being historic Primrose Hill in London The third spectre said to haunt Chanctonbury is the royal Carian ghost. In the early days of the seventeenth century, Prince Agasicles Syeness, an astrologer from Caria (where, incidentally, the goddess Hecate is purported to have originated), seems to have taken up permanent residence at the Ring in order to study the stars. Very little is known about him beyond the fact that; according to a Sussex writer, 'he had no sense of breeches' (a saying which applied to underlings when they unwisely attempted to go beyond their station in life), but several people have reported a feeling of coldness inside the Ring which heralds the sudden appearance of a tall misty shape gliding in and out of the trees No-one has apparently remained long enough to invesflgate the apparition more closely. The Ring's mysterious atmosphere has also been commented upon by author Dr Philip Gosse who lived at Wiston where he could see the Ring from his bedroom window, much to his joy, for, like Charles Coring, he loved Chanctonbury. In an interview in 1935 he said: 'Naturally the Ring is haunted. Even on bright summer days there is an
uncanny sense or some unseen presence which seems to follow you about- If you
enter the dark wood alone you are conscious of something behind you when you
stop, it stops When you go on, it follows. Even on the most tranquil days when
no breath of air stirs the leaves, you can hear a whispering somewhere above
you, and f you should be so bold as to enter the Ring on a dark night, as my
wife and I did
He didn't go into detail, merely shuddered and ended,
'We never shall repeat that visit some things are best forgotten if they
can be, and certainly not set down in a book.'
Obviously, Dr and Mrs Gosse experienced something strange and
frightening, as have many others who have been far less reticent in recounting
what happened, although a group of University students who planned to spend the
night at the Ring to take tape recordings and photographs, left in a
panic-stricken rush, leaving all their equipment behind, when they
were
'frightened out of their wits' by a supernatural incident in 1967. No amount of cajoling from reporters afterwards could tempt any of them to recount what actually happened, and, like Dr and Mrs Gosse thirty years previously, they would only vow that never again would they repeat their night-time visit to Chanctonbury Ring. On Saturday, 15 June 1968, an all-night vigil was held at the Ring by a UFO research group by the name of the Sussex Skywatchers. During the early hours of Saturday morning, one of their members was walking about inside the clump of trees when he suddenly lost the use of his limbs, and fell to the ground shouting to the others for help. When they rushed to his aid they, too, found themselves similarly affected, and although the paralysis was only temporary, they were all acutely aware of an unseen presence which made their feeling of helplessness even more fnghtening. Also in June 1968, a UFO watch consisting of a group of eight men and one woman was organised by writer John Killick, who chose Chanctonbury simply because it was the highest point and the one most convenient to reach from their homes In Brighton, Southwick and Worthing. When they entered the Ring, they had not gone far before they experienced a remarkable drop in temperature. Mr Killick said that waves of coldness swamped them, affecting their feet first, and causing some members of the group to have stomach cramps, others to feel ill, and one to experience difficulty in breathing. They hurriedly left the inside of the trees, and quickly recovered, but all of them were alarmed by the occurrence and the eerie feeling that there was a strange presence observing them at the time. They did not intend repeating their visit In October 1972, Mr Simpson of Worthing was walking over Chanctonbury with two friends on an overcast, chilly evening that was nevertheless pleasant for walking. As they approached the enclosure of trees at about 11.00 pm they saw a flickering light inside, and assumed someone had lit a bonfire. However, as they got nearer the light disappeared and the place was deserted and vcrv still and silent. Suddenly as they approached the centre of the Ring a loud swishing noise caused them to gaze upwards and they all three saw a dull red glow coming from a large oblong object which appeared to be brushing the tops of the trees althc~gh it made no sound itself. 'We were frozen to the spot', Mr Simpson is reported to have said, 'and could not believe what we wore clearly seeing with ot]r own eves , and as they fclt relatively safe whilst under the trees they did not break cover until the object had moved away beyond thc clump. They said it appeared to be illuminated by a blue glow, and after hovering for about 30 seconds it shot up into the night sky at a terrific speed. (This object, or one similar, was sighted again in December 1979 by independent witnesses who said it disappeared in the direction of Brighton.) In the summer of 1974, a brilliant white circular object was seen shooting up the west side of the hill, where it hovered for about 45 seconds before changing its shape to an oblong and disappearing in a north-westerly direction at great speed, and the following summer a bright orange object was seen in the sky over Cissburv Ring. After hovering for a brief few moments it shot off at high speed towards Chanctonbury. Within moments of this sighting, a woman walking her dog at Chanctonbury reported seeing a large round bright orange object land on the west side of Chanctonbury Mill. She said it remained on the ground for no more than a minute, then shot straight up into the air and was lost to sight within seconds. This seems to be the usual pattern of behaviour as regards UFOs or lights reported in the area, for they are first seen at Cissbury Ring travelling towards Chanctonbury Ring, and then independently reported from the latter area. Perhaps the most alarming experience of all happened at Chanctonbury Ring on 2S August 1974, when Charles Walker and three other members of the Ghost and Psychic Investigation Group were walking inside the ring of trees, It was about 11.00 pm when one member - William Lincoln - was suddenly levitated by a force ~at took him some 5 feet into the air, where he hung suspended for about 60 seconds before being 'released' and crashing back to the ground. During this terrifying experience, of which there is a tape recording, he was pleading with the unseen force and crying out 'No more! No more!' and not only was he badly shaken afterwards but his back was hurt when he hit the ground. Needless to say, he vowed never again to visit Chanctonbury and this whole episode was witnessed by the other members of the group, Charles Walker, Dave Wills and Richard Walker. Five years later, Charles Walker and Dave Wills returned with several other members of the group, which did not, of course, include Mr Lincoln, to make a further investigation, and as they approached the spot where Mr Lincoln had been levitated, Mr Wills was suddenly knocked to the ground by an invisible force whilst another member had a crucifix he was wearing around his neck wrenched off and flung aside. Whcn he retrieved it, not only had the fixing link been twisted and broken, but the article was burning hot to the touch. It is of course well-known that all sites of ancient temples whore mystery rituals have been worked generate a strong psychic force, especially at night, those on leys or with druidic connections being extremely potent. Author John Michell, in his book The New View Over Atlantis enlarges on this in his chapter on 'Sacred Engineering' when he writes: It is certain that underground caverns, both natural and artificial,
were the scenes of prehistoric magical rites. In several cases their entrances
have been found directed onto leys or towards significant astronomical
declinations ... The Druids, in common with the shamans of Asia and North
America are said to have accomplished magical flights, often from those very
mounds and hill-tops where the great heroes of mythology achieved their
apotheosis. There may be something about such places which attracts those forces
capable of modifying the normal influence of gravity, or which, alternatively,
reacts upon an intensified field of hurnan magnetism to produce circumstances
conducive to levitation.'
The incidents I have related certainly substantiate Mr Michell's research
and views very fully, and an interesting point in connection with the crucifix
is that its wearer had once lived at Clapham, and while resident there had had
it blessed by the vicar of Clapham church, the Reverend Neil Snelling.
Does not tile abuse of this sanctified artefact prove beyond all reasonable doubt that a druidic or other occult anti-Christian presence really does haunt mystical Chanctonbury Ring? |
