Number four in a series of selected articles taken from the popular UK Decay Community forums from 2004 to present.
The story behind the cover design of UK Decays seminal Black 45 EP, released in early 1980. The ruined Church of St Marys in Clophill Bedfordshire was the venue behind the shots. An extraordinary event just after the photo shoot captivates the band. Here the article originally written in 2004 and since updated, explores some of the ghostly and historical myths and legends surrounding the legendary ruins of Clophill Church.
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In the midst of one of Englands middle shires and nestled amongst a ridge of sandy Pine and Chesnut wooded hills, lies the little village of Clophill.
Now blighted by a busy arterial road junction just off the roundabout lies the old high street.Passing the Flying Horse Inn and past the picture postcard cotts to the far end of the village,there is a turn, a green lane that drifts up a low hill and dwindles to a very rough track. Eventually round a few twists and turns and near the summit lies a knoll crowned with a ruinedchurch.In 1979 a young punk rock band from nearby Luton had the idea of taking some cover shotsfor their forthcoming record release. It was around the time off, but not the day off - Halloween.The photographer was booked for an evening shoot to capture the atmosphere and also to take advantage of when it was (hopefully) quiet.
The Story below is taken from the UK Decay Communities Punk Gothique Forum.
The ruined Clophill Church of St Marys
This church has had a rich history of myths and legends within the world of the Paranormal and the Occult, eg. it is down on record as being the site of the last reported incidence of Necromancy in the UK!
Situated 10 miles north of Luton, Clophill Church lies in ruins some 3/4 of mile north east of Clophill village on a lonely hilltop. God only knows why they chose to build a Church there or why it was abandoned, but it can be accsesed via an unmettled lane winding its way through deep ancient hedgerows slowly up a low hill. The Church is situated on a knoll of high ground near the summit. One mile to the west lies 'Dead Mans Hill' infamous for the A6 murders that led to the last instance of the death penalty being impossed on the convicted perpatrator, James Hanratty These days the gravestones have been moved and the terrain surrounding the church, flattened and grassed over, so it has lost some of its former 'spooky' atmosphere.
The Ruined Church today
At the time of the photo for the 'Black Cat EP' in late 1979, the graveyard of the church with decaying tombs and crumbling gravestones was completely overgrown. The path leading up to the entrance to the church had sunk 3 or 4 feet below the level of the graveyard and with mist rolling around, it was truly terrifying to walk up alone on a dark night!
Going there in the dark of the night became a 'rights of passage' ritual for kids living both locally and in the nearby towns. It is on record that Black Occultists have also used the church for their ungodly rituals. At the time that the band took the 'Black Cat EP' photos, there was a gigantic pentagram engraved into one of the walls and other occult symbols placed around!
Shortly after the shot that appeared on the front cover was taken, the band became spooked, they fled back to the car in blind terror and made of back down the lane towards the main road. Travelling at speed down the dirt track the car rounded the bend and came to a screeching halt as the headlights picked up a magnificent white horse strolling down the lane.
The car came to a halt with hearts pounding and a moment's pause as the horse disappeared round the bend a few yards in front. With that the car pulled of again, the band realising that it must have been an escaped horse had gathered their senses together again and followed the horse round the bend, not five or six seconds behind!
There was absolutely no sign of the horse, neither any obvious place whence it could have escaped in the short time it took to round the bend. The hedgerows were dense and over 10 feet high with no gates, it was if it had vanished before their very eyes!
The band were said to be really spooked by this and that it was said to have had a significant influence on their musical approach. One things for sure with twenty thousand 'Black 45's sold accross the globe, the ruined church of Clophill St Maryscaptured the imaginations of many.
Cursed Earth
The band felt cursed by the above experience! You know that saying ' when you break a mirror, you get seven years bad luck' well that was the impression the band got resulting in the following few months becoming fraught with bad luck.
A number of years later I told the story to an individual who grew up in the villages of Bedfordshire of the incident with the white horse whom on hearing it was not surprised. He had been brought up in the atmosphere's of small-time village myths and folklore surrounding the mid Beds villages. To my surprise, he told me that the ghostly white horse was a well-known local legend of Clophill and the surrounding area and indeed the memory in folklore still exists in the name of the village public house, 'The Flying Horse'. This I found incredible until I visited the Pub for myself a few years back.
The Public Houses sign depicted a flying white horse, reminiscent of Pegasus. This struck me as odd. It got me thinking about the bands story of that night of the photo session, whereupon the white horse had apparently disappeared into thin air. Could it not be possible that the disappearance of the white horse may be explained, by it's sprouting of wings and flying away? Incredible nonsense? Maybe, or maybe not!
Indeed, may the band have been privy to a sighting of Pegasus from ancient Greek legends? It does seem arguably far-fetched but the Greek writers based their myths and legends on older and more profane shamanic deities. The Roman's too had a fertility goddess -Epona who "led the soul in the ride of the afterlife". The Celtic Mabinogi had Rhiannon, whom some interperate as a Horse deity. The iconic Uffington White Horse comes to mind with similar images appearing on celtic coinage. We can only glimps like passing shadows into the ancient mindset and create reallity that pleases the contemporary orthodoxy. We can never know for sure. The 'genus - loci' of the knoll of St Mary would suggest a sense of continuity from the pagan past, to the present day.
One things for certain, It's there in the landscape with a maginficent view of the northern Chilterns hills. The vista is impressive and it would be hard to believe that it wouldn't have inspired anyone anywhere in time and history Some have reported very peculiar earth energies that emanate from the area of Clophill Church, people have seen glowing orbs, heard strange heavy breathing sounds and many have had mind altering experiences here. Most are probably narcotic based, however some are unexplainable.
On a visit there some years ago, I met a chap who was meditating on the newly grassed over graveyard, he told me that he was a member of an occult society in nearby Bedford. He said the church was built there deliberately in the fifteenth century to cap a "negative energy vortex". Before that, it had been a leper colony. He went on to say that the real reason for the church becoming abandoned, was that the church authorities had given up the fight to cleanse the 'negative energies' and had built a new church closer to the village instead!
He went on to say that people who do not see or respect the powers of the ruins will become 'cursed'. He particularly said that it was extremely unwise to actually touch or 'lay hands' on the stone or substance of the ruined Church.
Cainho and the barony of Albini
One mile to the south east of Clophill Church on the other side of the river Flit, lays Cainhoe Castle; today all you will see are ruins in a field to north of the Shefford road. The hamlet of Cainhoe, is mentioned in the Domesday Book and William the Conqueror granted this area to one of his top baron's. Cainhoe was the center of the Barony of Cainhoe, held by the d'Aubigny family from the Conquest until the mid thirteenth century. Nigel d'Albini who probably built the castle, is said to have been a powerful mover who controlled a huge area and was involved in the crusades and he was said to have been a member of the order of the Knights Templar. Around the castle, a small town grew up and for a while prospered but by 1272 it had vanished! All that's lefts of Cainhoe today, are the castle ruins and a large farmhouse that is named Cainhoe Manor, where legend has it that Queen Anne Boleyn, one of Henry the 8th's six wives, spent some time. It is proposed that for some reason that the mysterious disappearance of Cainhoe may be explained by the relocation of the town, to the higher ground north of the river. This 'new' area was on the hill around where the current ruined church now lies. This did not last long however, as the village was decimated by the endemic plaques of the Middle Ages.
In the early 16th century, the future site of St. Marys Church was said to have been a leper colony. However, later in that century, the church of St. Marys was built on the site. In Victorian times the village again relocated from the hillside adjoining the church, to it's current position; at the foot of Dead Mans Hill and a new Church built closer to the village center. Therefore it is probable that the 'lost' town of Cainhoe physically and phonetically mutated into the current village of Clophill. The Church of St. Marys, somehow kept going until the middle of the last century but sometime during the 1950s, it fell into disuse.
Spon ( to the left), Hughie Byrne ( on the right, photographic artist ) and Matt Love ( Scotish Film Director, who took the pic!) made a trek to the deepest depths of the occult landscape's of Bedfordshire, UK. namelly Clophill and its mysterious ruined church.
Spooky!
Here is Spon posing the same way he did in that cover shot - he is probablly wondering what the other three guys in the band are up to!
It was a pleasant afternoon and the guys took some good shots and marvelled at the combinations of a bright evening light and Urban and Occult graffiti that carressed the multi structured layers of red sandstone masonary of the ruins. Of there being a certain resonance to the 'sense of place'. Well on a nice sunny day with tourists and dogwalkers enjoying the sunshine it would be difficult to detect the legendry negative or haunted vibes. But as the evening progressed and the sun made its exit the guys made a 'sharp exit'!
On leaving, a large white owl startled, flew rapidlly out of the bell tower. The guys gave chase with the cameras cliking but it was too fast for them. Later the same owl was ducking and diving in the fields next to the lane, perhaps he was out for his evening meal. We all had the impression that the bell tower of the church was its domain and what a fine gaurdian spirit providing your not a field mouse or vole!
Our welsh seer told us later that it was a good omen! ..we shall see.
Hughie made a youtube movie of the day, Spon provided a sound backdrop
PostScript
The original post in the popular UK Decay Communitiy Forums has achieved 55,000 views and has proved somewhat of a controversy. Kids and Youth will be Youth! The excitment of a haunted ruined church is bound to inspire adventure and missfit. I have been there myself on many occasions and for many reasons including when I was an excitable teenager. But now all these years later I am standing on the summit of Noone Hill, which is directly opposite, about five miles to the south. With my binoculars on a pleasant sunny day I can see the little knoll on the distant hills and on the summit, lit by a golden sunburst is the tower of the iconic ruined church of St Marys of Clophill. A moment later the sun went behind a cloud and so too the church and knoll it was standing on. It had dissapeared into the gloom of Dead Mans Hill in the background....... My youthfull sense of adventure, had evolved into a quest for deeper information.