Tuesday, 22nd September, 2020
The tiny village of Ruyton XI Towns stands in the borderland between England and Wales, on the very Western edge of Shropshire. Atop a hill in the village, overlooking the surrounding, picturesque countryside, is the mid-12th Century church of St. John The Baptist, which houses - in it's weathered graveyard - the remnants of a small castle......
During our recent trip to nearby Whittington Castle (see the following blog post), John Chance had mentioned to me that he also wanted to view this intriguing site and intended to visit during our journey homeward.
Local legend has it that anyone passing through the graveyard at midnight will be privy to a spectral mist, rolling in from the nearby valley. This fog will eventually engulf the whole churchyard and Ruyton Castle ruins..... At this point, the apparition of a man, seated on a mount, will be seen riding towards the site of the castle keep, before finally disappearing into the ever thickening mist........!?!
Who the rider is, no one can actually say..... but what better setting for such a lovely legend: a castle ruin, situated inside a church yard, atop a wind-swept hill, overlooking such beautiful Shropshire scenery.....!?!
Now, without waffling on unduly, I guess it could be said that regular visitors to this page will, by now, know me as something of a hard-nosed sceptic when it comes to alleged, paranormal matters. I am certainly not a person that flits from one supposedly haunted spot to another, experiencing 'paranormal happenings'; in fact, as anyone who knows me will be able to attest, I have - in an entire lifetime of interest and 32 years of actual, hands-on, paranormal investigation - had possibly 2 or 3 separate experiences that I would go as far as suggesting might have been 'mildly strange' in nature, at best.......
Keeping this firmly in mind, however...... read on.......
At one point during our visit, John and myself were pretty-much standing, side by side, at the spot indicated by the pink arrow in the photograph above. We had been walking in the direction also indicated by the arrow, when we happened to stop and look at the extremely clear inscription on the side of the table-top tomb. The small gap between the wall of the church tower and the side of the tomb - occupied by John and myself - was possibly 5 or 6 feet maximum.
I was bending forward slightly, to view the text, and John was standing up straight, to my immediate right. I believe one or the other of us was saying something at the point in question, but (from my point of view) I suddenly heard a vocal 'Huhhhh...' type noise from - I would personally be willing to bet - just a foot or perhaps two in front of my face, at a position approximate with the top-right / 'broken' corner of the side of the tomb we were facing!? (see pic below, supplied by John Chance). The noise sounded 'vocal' and 'male-ish', to my hearing... i.e. coming from the throat of a 'man'?
I didn't actually say anything as the sound occurred, but John then, instantly afterwards, said (words to the effect): 'Did you hear that noise then...?' I indicated I had indeed heard something and, in trying to emulate the sound, we clearly agreed on having heard the very same effect!? The only possible thing that I could think of to explain away the strange noise was that if an animal of some kind had potentially taken up residence inside the tomb - as occasionally happens with such structures - and had made a sound in an attempt to warn us away from it's home, perhaps? A quick investigation of the row of table-top tombs in question, however, revealed no sign of an opening at all, where an animal could possibly gain entry.....?
In ending this post, I should just like to take a moment to say a MASSIVE 'Thank You' to my friend John for, once again, kindly inviting me to accompany him on this most enjoyable excursion to Whittington and Ruyton XI Towns!! As always, a lovely day out in equally lovely company!!
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