28/08/19
So originally I had planned to visit this location with a good friend of mine today but the weather is horrific and I am unwell so this entry will be starting with some background information.
This is one I remember my Dad (who grew up in the area) had told me about when I was growing up and I always found fascinating but never really looked into it for some reason. I have visited St John The Evangelist (also known as Treslothan) Church many times as a child - with it being so local and frequenting the woods over the years.
My Dad had told me that if you were to walk around the memorial anti-clockwise at night it is said that you will hear the sounds of hellhounds. This is incredibly vague as I'd assume there would be a specific time of night to visit there which is why I have asked him for a little information on what he knows/has heard of it so I'm not recounting his information second hand and potentially getting it wrong!
Naturally this lead me to research the story further online as when you're unwell what else is there to do?
This is where I get a little soppy as I cannot thank the supporters of this page enough as I have been sent countless links to places of interest and conversations of people sharing their experiences. I got very excited when I had noticed a thread where people were discussing the Treslothan monument.
Someone even saying "I've been down there late at night and heard the most piercing scream. Never have I run so fast in my entire life" and "...they used to say something bad happens if you walk around the memorial, never did try it" which confirms that it isn't just my Dad that knows of this phenomenon.
A more interesting account from a local man "I used to play the organ at Treslothan as a teenager. On more than one occasion I felt very uneasy. One winters evening, having practiced in an empty church, I locked the main door. As soon as I turned the key in the lock I heard heavy footsteps move away from the other side of the door. Perhaps my imagination, but I'm certainly not the only one to have experiences there!"
Some light on the origins of the happenings - "There's an old legend that the spirit of Lady Tryphena (buried in the adjacent mausoleum) walks the estate. There's also a reputed black dog ghost in a nearby field, I think the one that Lover's Lane runs through. The field is supposedly the site of a prehistory battle"
Recently when looking further into this I came across images of a mausoleum (also known as Pendarves Mausoleum) in the adjoining churchyard, it is listed as a Grade II building and was designed by the architect George Wightwick, being built in 1842.
"An Early English Gothic Revival chapel built of Cornish granite with a stone slab roof. The vaulted interior can be seen through the double-arched entrance, which is similar in form to a traceried window, but closed by shoulder-height railings. If there is an inscription on the large stone slab in the floor it is now obscured, but the two stone panels propped against the wall can be seen to commemorate Pendarves and his wife."
As it's in the same area I will be including photos of this as a point of interest.
Gemma Gary, a British writer, occultist, artist and official Friend of The Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft had written an article of the nearby Witch's Circle and The Devil's Frying Pan which can be found in two fields close to the woods. She says that in one field close to the church is a field known as The Hound named this because of the spectral black dog that is said to haunt it. This links back to what my Dad had told me about the legend of there being hellhounds in the area and links to many "Black Dog" stories in Cornwall which I will cover in more detail in a later post. Adjacent to this field is the field known as The Devil's Frying Pan (also known to others a Frying Pan Field, The Giant's Frying Pan, The Giant's Quoit, Carwynnen Quoit) marked by a large pile of granite stones - a Neolythic chamber tombe approximately 5000 - 6000 years old around 10 feet long and 8 feet wide, resting on top of 3 support stones.
She says that not too far from the quoit and across a stream is a circle of stones, or a witch's circle, which is hard to come across and remained undisturbed at the time her article was written. Each of the four quarters contained a box, two of them empty but one containing a broken hen's egg (symbolizing fertility) and another containing a used condom, coming to the conclusion that this was evidence of modern traditonal witchcraft, possibly relating to fertility or pregnancy.
31/08/19
Finally remembered to email my Uncle about his experiences at Treslothan, this was by my Dad's recommendation as my Uncle did in fact play the organ there many years ago
02/09/19
Correspondance between my Uncle and I:
DTE: Recently I was asking Dad about Treslothan Church and he was telling me about creepy happenings around there and the memorial. He mentioned that you played the organ there and that I should ask you if you had any odd experiences there or any information about it.
U: How curious that you are interested in “creepy happenings” at Treslothan. Over a period of five years, from 1971 to 1976, (between the ages of 13 and 18) I spent very many hours over there, alone and mostly in the evenings, practising sometimes up until 9pm and beyond. I cannot say that I ever had any strange experiences. Sometimes when alone in the dark in a church or similar building, one can sometimes become a little unnerved; that happened a few times, but not for any visible reason.
I’m not sure what sparks your curiosity in these matters. There are certainly more things in heaven and earth than we know or understand. I would caution against taking too much of an interest in the “supernatural” and related subjects, such as the occult. It’s potentially very dangerous, especially if we open ourselves to them. There are beings and forces invisible to us that are always looking for a way in. As a priest I have first hand experience of this and can assure you that whatever the apparent attraction, the outcome can be most unpleasant and terrifying. Be careful.
04/09/19
For clarification regarding the conversation between my Uncle and I, he is a Catholic Priest but for obvious reasons I have been redacting names from all correspondance with anyone to respect their privacy as well as mine.
My close friend is heading over tomorrow to walk to the memorial with me and do some exploring so expect a lengthly blog post soon and finally some photos!
05/09/19
Today I met up with a close friend of mine in the early afternoon, we revised the notes over a cup of coffee so that we knew what we were looking out for. Naturally neither of us took the notion of getting lost into consideration which resulted in our walking a grand total of 7 miles! The walk to the memorial was beautiful, sunlight streaming through the tunnel of trees overhead.
A little over a mile later we came to a clearing with what can only be described as having a layout not unlike small town squares from centuries ago - it wasn't but it had a sort of quaint feel to it, especially after the wooded walk to reach it.
As soon as we reached the site we saw the unmistakable memorial in the centre of the opening with the little metal gate off to one corner that lead to the church. No strange atmosphere at all, it was the opposite of sinister, in the warmth of the sun and it being broad daylight. Considering a majority of people reported strange happenings during the night it would only be fair to revisit under nightfall.
Upon seeing the memorial my friend had a recollection of having visited there with her Dad. We walked into the churchyard and immediately saw the mausoleum, the resting place of the Pendarves'. Architecturally, it was just as described, now that I reflect on this as I'm typing this up, probably the closest I have been to an actual mausoleum.
The inside of the church itself was very modest, a few windows paned with stained glass and a ceiling held up with a network of wooden beams. As with many old churches it had a slightly earthy smell - old books, fabric hangings and wooden pews. Having grown up going to church as a child this was a very familiar scent to me. It was a little surreal standing on the stone floor that my Uncle had stood on as a teenager decades ago.
My friend and I made sure we took the time to look at the headstones, recognising many of the family names which were prominent in the local area that I had been familiar with since being a child, as well as my family before me.
After exploring around the church and its grounds we set out to look for The Devil's Frying Pan. The walk through the woods and the footpath took me back to collecting holly at Christmas with my family to put around our home. There is something to be said for being surrounded by nature, breathing in the fresh air and feeling cool in the shelter of the trees.
Admittedly we did get a little lost in the woods but that's one of my favourite things about this project, finding places you would never have wandered before and maybe one day discovering something for yourself. When we had reached a road I looked at my phone on the offchance it had signal to double check we were heading in the right direction (Just for the record to those reading this and rolling their eyes at technology - I can in fact read a map but having one for the area I grew up in and supposedly knew so well it seemed a little redundant).
We headed cautiously down the narrow country road until we reached a gate at the side of the road to a huge open field which my friend recognised as being the field containing The Devil's Frying Pan and wandered in to what is known as Pip's Field.
The sign reads:
Known also as 'The Giants Quoit', 'Pendarves Cromlech', and 'Devil's Frying Pan', this monument dates from the Neolithic Period, approximately 3836BCE. It collapsed in 1842 and was re-erected by Lady Pendarves, but in 1967 it fell again. It is unique in the area. The current multi stranded project is the first full scientific study of a Neolithic funery monument in the county.
We are indebted to Cornwall Council's Heritage Environment and English Heritage for their help and constant advice on the enhancement of this site.
At the opposite side of the field sat the quoit, like a miniature Stone Henge, it looked so sturdy that it was difficult to imagine it ever collapsing. There was no mistaking it and I wonder how many people passed underneath it as we had. It was a long walk to cover both sites but a very satisfying day.
References:
Pendarves Mausoleum: http://www.mmtrust.org.uk/mausolea/view/38/Pendarves_Mausoleum
The Witch's Circle/Devil's Frying Pan: http://www.gemmagary.co.uk/the-witchs-circle-the-devils-frying-pan/
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