Clophill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Clophill | |
  Clophill shown within Bedfordshire |
|
| Population | 1,710 (est.)[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | Mid Bedfordshire |
| Shire county | Bedfordshire |
| Region | East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BEDFORD |
| Postcode district | MK45 |
| Dialling code | 01525 |
| Police | Bedfordshire |
| Fire | Bedfordshire and Luton |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| European Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | Mid Bedfordshire |
| List of places: UK • England • Bedfordshire | |
Clophill, recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Clopelle; meaning tree-stump Hill in old English, is a small village located in the Flit river valley, Bedfordshire, England. The village has an unjustifiable reputation for the supernatural, and its Flying Horse pub forms part of the legend of Dick Turpin; who reputedly stopped there en route to York. The legend goes that he was confronted here by bandits from the nearby "Jug" public house who were angry at a game of bowls being disrupted. It is thought the Jug crowd told Turpin to "Turn it In", which is where the localised "TII" phrase stems from. The Jug still remains a popular public house even now, with the phrase "You going down the Jug" still very popular amongst its customers from far and wide.
This village received some fame when TV dog behaviourist, Victoria Stilwell, from the Channel 4 show It's Me Or The Dog featured a client with a problem Chihuahua.
[edit] A6 Murder
James Hanratty was a professional car thief, convicted of the murder of Michael Gregsten at Deadman's Hill on the A6, near the village of Clophill, Bedfordshire, England, on August 22, 1961. Gregsten's companion Valerie Storie was also raped and shot non-fatally during the incident. Charges on these additional crimes were "kept in reserve", but did not form part of the charges on which James Hanratty was tried and convicted and hanged. In subsequent years there was a concerted campaign to give Hanratty a posthumous pardon, as many believed he was innocent.
[edit] Clophill Church
St Marys Church, Clophill, now abandoned Church, is estimated to be up to 400 years old, but was replaced by a Victorian church built in 1848 in the centre of the Village.
The Clophill church has a long steep track leading up to it, and on numerous occasions when people have been walking and driving up there, they have reputedly seen a faint light of some sort following them up the hill, but as soon as they have reached the ruins of the church it disappears. Other visitors to the site have noted numerous other 'paranormal' phenomena. In the 1960s, a number of graves were desecrated, as reported in the national press, with some bones arranged in a ritualistic way with cockerel feathers.
There are rumours that the church was abandoned because it was built facing the wrong way and that it was facing Satan instead of God. Apparently the church couldn't be demolished because Satan was sitting on top of it. There is no evidence for this but the graveyard on top of the hill, was the scene of a supposed Satanic styled ritual, some say black magic ritual during the 1960's.[2] Another fact about Clophill Church is that it was built on a leper hospital which monks and nuns used to run. When the plague hit Clophill the villagers moved down to the bottom of the hill and left the infected to die in the church at the top of the hill.
It is also the last reported site of necromancy in the UK.[3]
It is also known that on the night of Hallowe'en many people gather at the church ruins, hoping to catch sight of a ghost. However, residents rely on the police on this evening to help maintain order and prevent large groups of people congregating at the unsafe building's shell.
