Waverley Abbey

[blessmycottonsocks]

This is a pretty mundane story compared with some of the remarkable accounts posted here but, just reading someone's experience at Glastonbury abbey, reminded me of an inexplicable experience I had in April 2007 <corrected - see below>.

I had just treated myself to a new digital camera and was eager to try it out on some dramatic outdoor scenery. Even though it was getting a bit late in the day, I decided to make the half hour drive to the impressive ruins of Waverley Abbey, near Farnham in Surrey.

The place was almost deserted and, after a few minutes, I was happy to see the last couple of other folk who had been walking around the ruins, head back to the turnstyle exit and start along the long riverside walk to the car park. I was relishing the rich atmosphere, having the place to myself, and had been happily snapping away for 20 minutes or so, when I noticed the light was starting to fade. So I made my way towards the most spectacular part of the ruins, where a vaulted ceiling was still partially intact, keen to get some dramatic shots before the light went completely.

As I approached, I heard distinctly what sounded like monastic chanting. The sound came on suddenly - as if someone had turned on a CD player near me, lasted maybe 4 or 5 seconds, and then stopped as suddenly as it started. I looked around, but there was no-one else on the site. I didn't feel at all spooked at the time. It actually felt kind of wonderful.

I took a few more shots and then drove home. I examined the photos I took (and had added the date stamp to them, hence my knowledge of the exact date I took them) but there was nothing remotely unusual about them. I've been back several times since - even taking some deliciously evocative photos in the fog there just a month ago, but have never experienced anything at all Fortean there since.

I'm a pretty down to Earth, even sceptical bloke and always look for rational, scientific explanations, but have none about this. I certainly don't think I imagined it, but will acknowledge that the powerful atmosphere of the place could possibly have affected me. Can there be any truth in the "stone tape" theory, where a place that has seen centuries of spiritual devotions may, just occasionally, play back some sounds from the past?

 

[Mythopoeika]

Fascinating!
Please could you post your pic of the bit with ceiling intact? It might help us build up a 'feel' for the events.
Thanks.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

This is the photo of the same spot I took just a month ago. My original photo is now at home on a hard drive somewhere.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Thanks!

 

[rynner2]

I went to school in Farnham, but I never heard of Waverley Abbey before. (I lived in Guildford, so had to catch the bus home soon after school each day.)

Looks interesting, down by the River Wey. (I knew the Wey fairly well, as it flows on through Guildford.)

 

[Frideswide]

I like your photo blessmycottonsocks - I'm getting Pareidolia of owls from it

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Forgive me! I've just got home, checked out my old hard drive and see I got the date wrong - it was 2007, not 2008. Here is my original photo taken just after I'd heard what sounded like monastic chanting. I'm right inside the vaulted part of the ruins here:

 

[Frideswide]

Did you come up with any local legends or rumours? looks as though it ought to have lots!

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

There was something in the FT a year or so back I recall, and there is the witch hole cave thing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Ludlam's_Cave

 

[RyoHazuki]

Are/were the ruins actually a 'managed' site, or have they just been totally abandoned to nature? If the former, is there a possibility the owners might have toyed with concealed speakers & motion sensors, to enhance the visit?

(Now I've written that down, it looks like a daft suggestion)

 

[Mythopoeika]

Are/were the ruins actually a 'managed' site, or have they just been totally abandoned to nature? If the former, is there a possibility the owners might have toyed with concealed speakers & motion sensors, to enhance the visit?

(Now I've written that down, it looks like a daft suggestion)

Not so daft...I did consider it myself for a minute or two.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

It's managed by English Heritage but, apart from the entrance turnstyle and a couple of (sadly vandalised) information plaques, I am not aware of any modern infrastructure at the site. An interesting thought though!

 

[Andy X]

Thanks for that, 'cottonsocks (can I call you BMCS for convenience? )

Nice and concise IHTM tale there...it's a great looking place which I'd love to visit if I get the chance. Frideswide is spot on about the owliness.

I wonder if there was any wind around the superstructure that might have accounted for Gregorian chant style sounds coming out of nowhere? But I'd prefer to think you brushed shoulders with another time, if only passingly.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Be my guest Andy and, if you're ever down near this neck of the woods, then there is plenty for the FT aficionado to visit. Waverley abbey is a spectacularly atmospheric sight and nearby Farnham is supposedly one of the most haunted towns in the country!

 

[IbisNibs]

. . . I had just treated myself to a new digital camera and was eager to try it out on some dramatic outdoor scenery. Even though it was getting a bit late in the day, I decided to make the half hour drive to the impressive ruins of Waverley Abbey, near Farnham in Surrey.

The place was almost deserted . . . I made my way towards the most spectacular part of the ruins, where a vaulted ceiling was still partially intact, keen to get some dramatic shots before the light went completely.

As I approached, I heard distinctly what sounded like monastic chanting. The sound came on suddenly - as if someone had turned on a CD player near me, lasted maybe 4 or 5 seconds, and then stopped as suddenly as it started.

I wonder if there was any wind around the superstructure that might have accounted for Gregorian chant style sounds coming out of nowhere? But I'd prefer to think you brushed shoulders with another time, if only passingly.

Wind is my first guess, too. Once, while walking across an urban parking lot near some high rise buildings and a couple of electric wires, I heard what sounded like some of the most beautiful choral singing I've ever heard. It was windy, and the wind above me was much stronger than down near the ground. I figured the circumstances were just right to make the singing sound.

Having said that, since I don't know what your experience actually was, and I've never been to Waverley Abbey, my guess is just a guess. Besides, I'm a dreamy romantic and would love it if it had actually been real chanting.

 

[escargot]

Once, while walking across an urban parking lot near some high rise buildings and a couple of electric wires, I heard what sounded like some of the most beautiful choral singing I've ever heard. It was windy, and the wind above me was much stronger than down near the ground. I figured the circumstances were just right to make the singing sound.

Yup, if you hear a sound that your brain can interpret as music then that's what you'll get. We once carried the metal frame from a futon on a roof rack and as we travelled, it made unearthly moaning sounds like a drunken bagpipe lament.
Funniest thing we'd ever heard!

 

[Min Bannister]

Are/were the ruins actually a 'managed' site, or have they just been totally abandoned to nature? If the former, is there a possibility the owners might have toyed with concealed speakers & motion sensors, to enhance the visit?

(Now I've written that down, it looks like a daft suggestion)

They have that in a section at Dryburgh Abbey which is also unmanned. Freaked me out the first time! The music went on longer than a few seconds and I found out where it was coming from.

I have never heard of Waverley Abbey. I wonder if that is where Walter Scott (incidentally buried at Dryburgh Abbey) got the name?

(Edit, I may be mistaken about it being manned. It is now and I did the Four Abbeys cycle ride and may be muddling things up a bit. The music was definitely at Dryburgh though)

 

[Coastaljames]

Forgive me! I've just got home, checked out my old hard drive and see I got the date wrong - it was 2007, not 2008. Here is my original photo taken just after I'd heard what sounded like monastic chanting. I'm right inside the vaulted part of the ruins here:

View attachment 41

Great story and all, thanks for sharing. That place looks absolutely stunning!

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Just found this on YT - a recent night ghost hunt at Waverley Abbey by a couple of amateur paranormal investigators.
They claim to have contacted an entity called "Aden" on a previous visit although, if that were based on snippets of noise from the "spirit box" a hefty shovelful of salt should be added.
Interesting to see the selection of paranormal paraphernalia being put to use.

 

[CharmerKamelion]

Hi Bless MCS. I'm relatively new around here. Just read this thread and find it deliciously intriguing. Particularly the fact that your initial reaction was not to feel spooked. Can I ask you a few questions? Forgive me if it sounds like a questionnaire - or an interrogation! - but what always intrigues me most when people post their odd experiences are the details, and their feelings about what they experienced.

You refer to the sound as 'chanting' - so does that mean that what you heard was definitely human vocalisation? Do you think it might have just been a sound that sounded like voices? Do you recall noticing if there was anything that sounded like musical accompaniment?

Also can I ask how loud it sounded? And if you got any sense of how close to you it seemed to be? Could you determine if it was coming from a definite direction, or was it just 'around' ?

You say it started and stopped abruptly, but were there any other sounds heard before, during or after? I'm thinking here of things such as a click when it started or stopped, or crackling noises as you might get on an older recording.

Did you feel curious enough to scour the place for anywhere it might have come from, such as concealed speakers? And how certain were you that there was no-one else in your vicinity that might have had some means of playing it on a device?

I know it was some time ago that you originally posted this on here, so I am not expecting forensic exactness in your answers! But thanks for posting it. It is exactly the kind of thing I love hearing about. I have had a couple of vaguely similar aural experiences myself, which I fully intend to get around to posting on here fairly soon. Neither of them involved hearing chanting though! Given the location that it happened, in a way it must have felt quite nice.

Thanks!

Kam

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Hi Kam.
This was all some 14 years ago now (long before I joined this forum or became a Fortean Times reader), but I can recall it quite vividly.
My first impression was that I wasn't alone at the site and some other visitors must be nearby and had just turned on a tape or CD of Gregorian chants.
The sound came on and stopped suddenly, but I didn't recall any clicks to indicate a mechanical switch being operated.
It definitely sounded to me like unaccompanied human chanting and the volume was very approximately as unamplified voices might sound as if they were maybe 30 or 40 metres away.
I did have a good look around, but the site was definitely deserted and, to the best of my knowledge, there are no concealed speakers.
I've visited Waverley Abbey several times since then and have never experienced anything similar.
The odd thing was that I had only gone there to try out a new digital camera and certainly didn't have any paranormal expectations for the site.
If you read my other posts here, you will see that I tend to be sceptical about ghosts, UFOs, cryptids and such like, but I honestly still have no explanation as to what I experienced that day.
Welcome to the forum BTW!

 

[bugmum]

They claim to have contacted an entity called "Aden" on a previous visit

Oh dear, somebody's played a little bit too much "Beyond Two Souls", methinks.

 

[CharmerKamelion]

Thanks for the full and detailed reply Bless. It really sounds like an intriguing and puzzling moment. If there is a 'rational' explanation for what you heard, it seems unlikely it will come to light so many years later, so I guess we'll never know. One positive thing to add is next time I am in the vicinity, I will definitely be taking a look around Waverley Abbey - and I will keep my ears open .... well, I don't usually close my ears, but you get my meaning

 

[SimonBurchell]

I've wandered around Waverley Abbey quite a few times and I'm now a bit miffed I didn't hear any spectral chanting. As a note, there are no overhead power lines there, in fact there is minimal infrastructure, there have never been any speakers etc. on any of my visits.

 

[SimonBurchell]

Also linked to Waverley Abbey, William Cobbett famously saw an unusually large cat nearby:

I showed him an old elm tree, which was hollow even then, into which I, when a very little boy, once saw a cat go, that was as big as a middle-sized spaniel dog, for relating which I got a great scolding, for standing to which I, at last, got a beating; but stand to which I still did; I have since many times repeated it, and I would take my oath of it to this day. When in new Brunswick I saw the great wild grey cat, which is there called a Lucifee; and it seemed to me to be just such a cat as I had seen at Waverley.

Rural Rides by William Cobbett (see page 279)

 

[SimonBurchell]

Peter Underwood's Haunted Farnham mentions that the ruins are meant to be haunted by the ghost of a white lady, and by the ghosts of monks. Of particular interest regarding the original post, "various stories are told of monk-like figures and the sound of chanting coming from the Abbey ruins." (my italics).

 

[catseye]

I walk past a local farm which has its name spelled out in horseshoes on the top of the gate at the end of the lane. When the wind is in a certain direction it whistles through the horseshoes, making a sound like the chanted 'llaaaaaaaaa' . Just to point out that the most unexpected things can catch the wind.

How windy was it during your visit, if you remember, BMCS?

 

[IbisNibs]

I suspect BMCS is referring to his 2014 IHTM thread:

Waverley Abbey
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/waverley-abbey.58339/

Time to this, then!

 

[Floyd]

This is the photo of the same spot I took just a month ago. My original photo is now at home on a hard drive somewhere.

View attachment 40

Whenever I see beautiful stonework like this I always marvel at the skills of not only the masons but the carpenters too, as they would have made all the formwork for the stone arches.

 

[Mr_Hermolle]

This is a pretty mundane story compared with some of the remarkable accounts posted here but, just reading someone's experience at Glastonbury abbey, reminded me of an inexplicable experience I had in April 2007 <corrected - see below>.

I had just treated myself to a new digital camera and was eager to try it out on some dramatic outdoor scenery. Even though it was getting a bit late in the day, I decided to make the half hour drive to the impressive ruins of Waverley Abbey, near Farnham in Surrey.

The place was almost deserted and, after a few minutes, I was happy to see the last couple of other folk who had been walking around the ruins, head back to the turnstyle exit and start along the long riverside walk to the car park. I was relishing the rich atmosphere, having the place to myself, and had been happily snapping away for 20 minutes or so, when I noticed the light was starting to fade. So I made my way towards the most spectacular part of the ruins, where a vaulted ceiling was still partially intact, keen to get some dramatic shots before the light went completely.

As I approached, I heard distinctly what sounded like monastic chanting. The sound came on suddenly - as if someone had turned on a CD player near me, lasted maybe 4 or 5 seconds, and then stopped as suddenly as it started. I looked around, but there was no-one else on the site. I didn't feel at all spooked at the time. It actually felt kind of wonderful.

I took a few more shots and then drove home. I examined the photos I took (and had added the date stamp to them, hence my knowledge of the exact date I took them) but there was nothing remotely unusual about them. I've been back several times since - even taking some deliciously evocative photos in the fog there just a month ago, but have never experienced anything at all Fortean there since.

I'm a pretty down to Earth, even sceptical bloke and always look for rational, scientific explanations, but have none about this. I certainly don't think I imagined it, but will acknowledge that the powerful atmosphere of the place could possibly have affected me. Can there be any truth in the "stone tape" theory, where a place that has seen centuries of spiritual devotions may, just occasionally, play back some sounds from the past?

This is a pretty mundane story compared with some of the remarkable accounts posted here but, just reading someone's experience at Glastonbury abbey, reminded me of an inexplicable experience I had in April 2007 <corrected - see below>.

I had just treated myself to a new digital camera and was eager to try it out on some dramatic outdoor scenery. Even though it was getting a bit late in the day, I decided to make the half hour drive to the impressive ruins of Waverley Abbey, near Farnham in Surrey.

The place was almost deserted and, after a few minutes, I was happy to see the last couple of other folk who had been walking around the ruins, head back to the turnstyle exit and start along the long riverside walk to the car park. I was relishing the rich atmosphere, having the place to myself, and had been happily snapping away for 20 minutes or so, when I noticed the light was starting to fade. So I made my way towards the most spectacular part of the ruins, where a vaulted ceiling was still partially intact, keen to get some dramatic shots before the light went completely.

As I approached, I heard distinctly what sounded like monastic chanting. The sound came on suddenly - as if someone had turned on a CD player near me, lasted maybe 4 or 5 seconds, and then stopped as suddenly as it started. I looked around, but there was no-one else on the site. I didn't feel at all spooked at the time. It actually felt kind of wonderful.

I took a few more shots and then drove home. I examined the photos I took (and had added the date stamp to them, hence my knowledge of the exact date I took them) but there was nothing remotely unusual about them. I've been back several times since - even taking some deliciously evocative photos in the fog there just a month ago, but have never experienced anything at all Fortean there since.

I'm a pretty down to Earth, even sceptical bloke and always look for rational, scientific explanations, but have none about this. I certainly don't think I imagined it, but will acknowledge that the powerful atmosphere of the place could possibly have affected me. Can there be any truth in the "stone tape" theory, where a place that has seen centuries of spiritual devotions may, just occasionally, play back some sounds from the past?

What was said here about the monastic chanting was exactly

This is a pretty mundane story compared with some of the remarkable accounts posted here but, just reading someone's experience at Glastonbury abbey, reminded me of an inexplicable experience I had in April 2007 <corrected - see below>.

I had just treated myself to a new digital camera and was eager to try it out on some dramatic outdoor scenery. Even though it was getting a bit late in the day, I decided to make the half hour drive to the impressive ruins of Waverley Abbey, near Farnham in Surrey.

The place was almost deserted and, after a few minutes, I was happy to see the last couple of other folk who had been walking around the ruins, head back to the turnstyle exit and start along the long riverside walk to the car park. I was relishing the rich atmosphere, having the place to myself, and had been happily snapping away for 20 minutes or so, when I noticed the light was starting to fade. So I made my way towards the most spectacular part of the ruins, where a vaulted ceiling was still partially intact, keen to get some dramatic shots before the light went completely.

As I approached, I heard distinctly what sounded like monastic chanting. The sound came on suddenly - as if someone had turned on a CD player near me, lasted maybe 4 or 5 seconds, and then stopped as suddenly as it started. I looked around, but there was no-one else on the site. I didn't feel at all spooked at the time. It actually felt kind of wonderful.

I took a few more shots and then drove home. I examined the photos I took (and had added the date stamp to them, hence my knowledge of the exact date I took them) but there was nothing remotely unusual about them. I've been back several times since - even taking some deliciously evocative photos in the fog there just a month ago, but have never experienced anything at all Fortean there since.

I'm a pretty down to Earth, even sceptical bloke and always look for rational, scientific explanations, but have none about this. I certainly don't think I imagined it, but will acknowledge that the powerful atmosphere of the place could possibly have affected me. Can there be any truth in the "stone tape" theory, where a place that has seen centuries of spiritual devotions may, just occasionally, play back some sounds from the past?

I had exactly the same experience with monastic chanting that rhe OP had. 1997 / 1998 - sat in the basement / living room of a student house in Wdistubct, very late at night / the small hours. Three of us hear it at the same time - the sudden sound of monks chanting. Very clear. Very distinct. We look at each other - ones of my friends said 'am I hearing things?' the sound of chanting monks does not resolve into anything else - a car passibg by perhaps - it just stops, as if someone has turned a CD player off.