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The Disappearing Gardener

D

Dick Turpin

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Mar 28, 2018
Messages
1,027
I would imagine there is a thread on here about local Churchyards, but I thought I’d share this on a new one.

I took a day off work yesterday, and at lunchtime decided to go to my village pub for a beer and a sandwich.

The pub is a 15 minute walk away from my house, and I have to cross the village churchyard to get there (well I don’t have to, but that is the most scenic route)

The Churchyard was completely empty, save for me and someone who I took to be Churchyard’s gardener. I could see him as I was walking along the pathway, he was wearing a tweed jacket, a green shirt, and a greenish flat cap ( I couldn’t see his bottom half as it was hidden by a gravestone.)

I would hazard a guess that he was no more than 50 yards away from me, when I momentarily looked down at my feet (as the path was quite uneven in places), then looked back up to where the gardener was standing but there was no-one to be seen.

The churchyard is flat, and there were no trees or bushes close by to where he was, so I have no idea where he could have gone.

I’m quite certain he was there, as I noticed him when entering the Churchyard, and was aware of his presence for a full minute whilst walking towards him before looking downwards.

If I had seen the disappearing gardener after my trip to the pub, then I would have put it down to copious amounts of beer I drank lol, but I didn’t, I saw it before I reached the pub and was stone cold sober.
 
When I used to walk considerable distances in the countryside, sometimes in poor light but not always, I got used to misinterpreting foliage and fences and walls as human beings. Sometimes I could make out their clothing, their posture and even their movement, as they perched on fences or lurked by bus-shelters. As I approached, they resolved themselves into their components, which could be a fence, a litter bin and a carrier-bag stuck in a shrub. In my imagination, they were characters with personalities.

I can only see it as a form of self-protection, my mind watching for possible enemies on an isolated route and urging caution. :oops:
 
I've found that gravestones of various types increase the likelihood of me "seeing" something, especially out of the corner of my eye. It's a landscape of roughly human size/shape objects and, like @JamesWhitehead above, I interpret them as people/danger.

Which isn't an answer to your disappearing gardener @Dick Turpin

Is it possible he was digging a grave by hand and went into the hole?
 
That’s entirely possible Frides, I never thought of that.

I have another day work tomorrow, so I may go back to the church and have a good look around.

I think I can remember the spot in the churchyard where I thought I saw the gardener, so I’ll look for any freshly dug graves.

Cheers for that
 
Frideswide said:
... Is it possible he was digging a grave by hand and went into the hole?
Click to expand...

... Or kneeling down / crouching to (e.g.) place some flowers, tidy up something, have a quick prayer, etc.?

In other words ...

If the gravestone was big enough to obscure half of him when standing, wasn't it big enough to obscure all of him if crouching / kneeling?
 
EnolaGaia said:
... Or kneeling down / crouching to (e.g.) place some flowers, tidy up something, have a quick prayer, etc.?

In other words ...

If the gravestone was big enough to obscure half of him when standing, wasn't it big enough to obscure all of him if crouching / kneeling?
Click to expand...

Entirely possible Enola

Have decided to have a good snoop around the church tomorrow (maybe take some pics and post them here)
 
Another idea might be to take a screen shot on a tablet (if one is available) of the section of the graveyard this happened. That way the location can remain anonymous, because you could crop/obscure any details which'd give the place away. Also, you could highlight the route you took, and the place where you saw the man. The angles might be suggestive as to whether EnolaGaia's idea is likely. As it does seem to be.
 
Dick Turpin said:
I would imagine there is a thread on here about local Churchyards, but I thought I’d share this on a new one.

I took a day off work yesterday, and at lunchtime decided to go to my village pub for a beer and a sandwich.

The pub is a 15 minute walk away from my house, and I have to cross the village churchyard to get there (well I don’t have to, but that is the most scenic route)

The Churchyard was completely empty, save for me and someone who I took to be Churchyard’s gardener. I could see him as I was walking along the pathway, he was wearing a tweed jacket, a green shirt, and a greenish flat cap ( I couldn’t see his bottom half as it was hidden by a gravestone.)

I would hazard a guess that he was no more than 50 yards away from me, when I momentarily looked down at my feet (as the path was quite uneven in places), then looked back up to where the gardener was standing but there was no-one to be seen.

The churchyard is flat, and there were no trees or bushes close by to where he was, so I have no idea where he could have gone.

I’m quite certain he was there, as I noticed him when entering the Churchyard, and was aware of his presence for a full minute whilst walking towards him before looking downwards.

If I had seen the disappearing gardener after my trip to the pub, then I would have put it down to copious amounts of beer I drank lol, but I didn’t, I saw it before I reached the pub and was stone cold sober.
Click to expand...
you said it yourself. his legs were obscured by a gravestone. he simply had leaned down, or squatted down to pull some weeds or plant something, and the top half of him also disappeared from view.
 
living-in-ithilien said:
you said it yourself. his legs were obscured by a gravestone. he simply had leaned down, or squatted down to pull some weeds or plant something, and the top half of him also disappeared from view.
Click to expand...

But that wouldn’t explain how I walked past the grave that he was standing next to, say 20 / 30 seconds after he had disappeared and he was nowhere in sight, if he was crouching down attending flowers etc. I would have seen him as I walked past.

Below is a snap taken on my IPhone of the gravestone in question, and approximately where I last glimpsed the “ghostly gardener” before looking down and checking my footing - he was standing just behind the stone immediately to the right of the stumpy cross.

The other 2 were taken either side of the gravestone – you can see there are no flowers and no disturbance of the earth (although admittedly they were taken 2 days after my supposed sighting)

Chruchyard.jpg


grave 1.jpg


gravestone.jpg
 
Thanks for taking the time to illustrate the scene.

The strangeness level depends on how long you were distracted looking downward.

Given the overview photo from your approximate vantage point, I notice it wouldn't have required many steps (leftward in the photo) for the gardener figure to be obscured by the foliage.
 
Dick Turpin said:
But that wouldn’t explain how I walked past the grave that he was standing next to, say 20 / 30 seconds after he had disappeared and he was nowhere in sight, if he was crouching down attending flowers etc. I would have seen him as I walked past.

Below is a snap taken on my IPhone of the gravestone in question, and approximately where I last glimpsed the “ghostly gardener” before looking down and checking my footing - he was standing just behind the stone immediately to the right of the stumpy cross.

The other 2 were taken either side of the gravestone – you can see there are no flowers and no disturbance of the earth (although admittedly they were taken 2 days after my supposed sighting)

View attachment 19778

View attachment 19779

View attachment 19780
Click to expand...
thanks for posting the pictures. it certainly looks quite old and a likely haunting spot. are there any stories about this place ? did the gardeners clothing look modern? any visible names on the gravestone where you spotted him? any church records on the grave? Thanks, ithilien
 
Dick Turpin said:
I would imagine there is a thread on here about local Churchyards, but I thought I’d share this on a new one.

I took a day off work yesterday, and at lunchtime decided to go to my village pub for a beer and a sandwich.

The pub is a 15 minute walk away from my house, and I have to cross the village churchyard to get there (well I don’t have to, but that is the most scenic route)

The Churchyard was completely empty, save for me and someone who I took to be Churchyard’s gardener. I could see him as I was walking along the pathway, he was wearing a tweed jacket, a green shirt, and a greenish flat cap ( I couldn’t see his bottom half as it was hidden by a gravestone.)

I would hazard a guess that he was no more than 50 yards away from me, when I momentarily looked down at my feet (as the path was quite uneven in places), then looked back up to where the gardener was standing but there was no-one to be seen.

The churchyard is flat, and there were no trees or bushes close by to where he was, so I have no idea where he could have gone.

I’m quite certain he was there, as I noticed him when entering the Churchyard, and was aware of his presence for a full minute whilst walking towards him before looking downwards.

If I had seen the disappearing gardener after my trip to the pub, then I would have put it down to copious amounts of beer I drank lol, but I didn’t, I saw it before I reached the pub and was stone cold sober.
Click to expand...


Would the vicar be able to tell you who the gardener is? I have a mental image of him saying: "Ah yes, George worked for us right up until he
passed. We haven't been able to replace him." :Givingup:

There is a thread about graveyards and cemeteries:
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/graveyards-cemeteries.16759/

And another:
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/graveyard-oddness.53833/#post-1497593
 
Last edited:
Yes, it's much better having pictures of the actual place instead of trying to assess the situation based on the images in one's head. Thank you for making the effort to post the photos. It makes sense now why you would believe the gardner disappeared in an unnatural/supernatural fashion.

I also want to add my appreciation for the felicity of your language. "The Disappearing Gardner" is one of my favorite titles, and I love "stumpy cross".
 
living-in-ithilien said:
thanks for posting the pictures. it certainly looks quite old and a likely haunting spot. are there any stories about this place ? did the gardeners clothing look modern? any visible names on the gravestone where you spotted him? any church records on the grave? Thanks, ithilien
Click to expand...

Hi Ithilien

I’ve only been living in the village for 3 and a half years and not aware of any stories connected to the Church or Churchyard, but I could ask the regulars of the village pub which is only a stone’s throw away (if I can think of a way of dropping it in conversation and not come across as a complete weirdo lol)

To my eye the gardener’s attire was befitting of an impoverished country squire, and straight out of Downton Abby - but that said, many elderly folk still dress in that sort of garb, especially elderly country folk.

Nothing on the gravestone in question unfortunately, it is completely weathered.

Cheers
 
IbisNibs said:
Yes, it's much better having pictures of the actual place instead of trying to assess the situation based on the images in one's head. Thank you for making the effort to post the photos. It makes sense now why you would believe the gardner disappeared in an unnatural/supernatural fashion.

I also want to add my appreciation for the felicity of your language. "The Disappearing Gardner" is one of my favorite titles, and I love "stumpy cross".
Click to expand...

Why thank you very much Ibis. It’s not often I get complimented on eloquence – I mean, I had to look up in the Oxford English dictionary what the word “Felicity” meant.!!!! :)
 
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