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St Marys Cemetery
Reigate
25th September 2009
Introduction
Photographs
Team Reports
 Team 1
Team 2
Members Views
Introduction
Following the Burial Acts of 1852 and 1853 local authority burial boards were created and many typical Victorian cemeteries opened. Among these was Reigate Cemetery, which opened in 1856. The cemetery is located next to the St. Mary Magdalene Church and Churchyard in Chart Lane, Reigate.
Within the cemetery there are many impressive mausoleum and memorials in a wide variety of styles. The two Victorian buildings, the cemetery chapel and the original public mortuary are now solely used by the grounds maintenance staff.
Investigating Team Members
Val
Ken
Becki
Jacqi
Pat
Louise
Gary
Laura
Steen
The Investigation
The entire group walked around St Mary’s Church and Cemetery and we were surprised how large the cemetery was.
The vigil area’s area to cover was divided into pathways, far end, right side, and left side.
Back at the cars we had a short break and divided into two teams.
Team 1
Val (team leader)
Becki
Gary (on cam)
Louise
Laura
Team 2
Pat (team leader)
Steen (on cam)
Jacqi
Ken
At 10.00pm we started our vigils team 1 on the left with team 2 on the right this way we would not hear the other team only contact would be on our walkie talkies.
Photographs
Team Reports
Team 1
Vigil 1 Left area of cemetery
Half way through the gravestones we stopped to conduct a séance, Val calling out to spirit nothing was heard, and we walked on through the shrubs and trees carefully avoiding the many graves that had sunk with time. All the team felt peaceful here. Several attempts were made to contact spirit but all was very quiet.
Vigil 2 Right area of Cemetery
This side of the cemetery seemed quite different from our first vigil we all felt apprehensive each of us turning to see if there was someone following us. Val had the name of Mary, a child who seemed to be tagging along with us and she was holding a rag doll. Then Gary had the strangest feeling of dajavu he explained he had been here before but knew he hadn’t. Then of a sudden he walked away from the group and quite assertively made his way through many gravestones (with us trying to keep up with him) and then came to a stop in front of a gravestone with a Celtic cross. He said he was drawn very strongly here but did not know why.
We all carried on walking finding the pathway again, holding hands and standing in a circle Val called for spirit to copy her. Val was calling out HELLO immediately Hello came through in a soft quiet tone on the walkie talkie, which then seemed to switch channel to music. Finding the channel again we use Val asked team 2 if they had tried to contact us saying hello. Team 2 was as mystified as we were as it was not them.
Gary then wanted to return to the place he was drawn to earlier although we were quite a distance to the first pathway. He started to walk across the graveyard with us following him trying to avoid sunken graves and pieces of headstones they littered around. Within minutes Gary stopped and yes he had found the exact headstone and grave he had previously been drawn to. Several minutes later and before we left Gary took some photographs of the grave. We made our way again through many graves to find a pathway were we stopped. Gary was looking at the pictures he had taken and the writing on the headstone he was drawn to and the date the lady had died was September 16th. Val remarked that the date was the 15th so the lady would have died the next day. Then Gary asked Val the time and it was past mid-night which meant the lady had died on the date of which Gary had been drawn to the graveside.
Team 2
Vigil 1 Right area of Cemetery
All the group felt uneasy in this area Ken called for spirit to join with us but there was no response, Ken felt we were being followed by a little girl, Steen calls for spirit and again nothing came through to us, although Steen also said there was a little girl here with the name of Emma or Elizabeth and she was close by. We walked all around the pathways but there were no occurrences.
Vigil 2 Right area of Cemetery
This side of this enormous cemetery felt quite different from the right side, the entire group had noticed this. We all felt calm and relaxed and all made several attempts at contacting spirit without any results. Jacqi heard someone say hello at the same time as Val contacted us by the walkie talkie asking if we had said hello to her group across the other side of the cemetery Val said someone had said hello on her walkie talkie and thought it was us, but we had not used it. We held a séance but spirit was not coming through to us on the night.
Vigil 3 Far End of Cemetery.
The entire group walked to this area which seemed to be the oldest part the grass was very overgrown here with sunken graves and made walking difficult. We joined hands and held a séance but despite several attempts to contact spirit nothing was coming through to us. On walking back along the pathway Jacqi remarked how the breeze was getting up. Val and Jacqi walked on and in and out of a strong breeze this was unusual as the grass and trees in the vicinity were not moving one little bit and again there was no explanation for this to happen. On the way back to the entrance of the cemetery walking along many of the pathways we asked Gary if he could walk in the dark to the grave he was so drawn to. Without hesitation he quickened his pace and without looking or stopping marched straight to the very spot. We were all amazed that he actually found it as there are hundreds of graves in this vast cemetery and in the dark all look very similar.
Members Views
Val
Cemeteries by night are quite daunting but it was a warm September night and I felt very calm. On the left side I felt very uneasy compared to the right side. I thought a young girl was tagging along behind me clutching a rag doll and her name was Mary. The far end area I did not like perhaps it was because my footing was uneven as there are so many graves that have sunk and it is littered with pieces of headstone and curbs that have been broken. I did notice a breeze on the pathway coming and going although looking around the leaves on the trees remained still.
Ken
The scene was set with a beautiful church floodlit in the middle of this cemetery, no wind or rain, just peace and tranquility and the moon shining. Walking around I felt quite at ease although several area’s I felt a little girl was following me. I had called for spirit to come and communicate with my team but unfortunately nothing came through to us on the night.
Steen
The return visit to the cemetery had a different feel to it!! I had the feeling we were being watched by a guard or grounds keeper. I heard a girl humming and I got the name 'Emma Jane/Jayne', but wasn't sure about the 'Emma' as I also thought of 'Lizzy'… later on Gary discovered he was drawn to the grave on an 'Eliza Jane' who dies 80 years ago to the day!! There was A LOT of movement, but that could be a trick of the eye and all the shadow cast be the grave stones?!?! All in all, it was a very interesting night!!
Becky
In all I didn’t feel too much here. It seemed a pretty quiet night and a few things that did happen I’m not sure if they can be put down to paranormal or just the natural elements. The evening became very exciting right at the end. Lou and I had said we should see if we can find a grave stone with today’s date earlier in the evening. Much to our amazement the stone that Gary had felt drawn to had the death date of 26th September, this was the date as it had passed midnight and was now the 26th. Could be coincidence but I think it was a pretty involved coincidence. It wasn’t until after we were leaving that the photo of the stone was viewed and the date was seen. We hadn’t even realized even though we were looking for that date and even though Gary was taken back there 3 times! I thought that’s was pretty cool.
Pat
The night was set no wind, clear night, and a nice glow from the moon couldn't wish for more to investigate a cemetery.
I was team leader in team two in my team I had Ken, Jacqi and Steen, we started of on the walk about and I felt comfortable most of the way round did not feel at all comfortable at the old top part of the cemetery and I don't know why, my team started on the right hand side of the cemetery first and not long into the investigation I'm sure we were being followed for quite a while, ken also picked up on this, and called out on several occasions, but no response, Steen picked up on a girl’s name to which I believe was a very similar name was picked up by the other team, as was carrying the radio a few strange things happened on the radio just as Jackie said somebody just said hello to her Val asked on the radio if I’d just said hello to them on their radio, I know it definitely wasn't us as we were finishing of on the first vigil we saw a strange blue light that was seen by all members of my team. And no matter how we tried to explain it, we couldn't and thought it may be a trick of the eye and perhaps shadows cast by the gravestones this light must have showed itself at least 5 times. All in all a good investigation.
Jacqi
Upon entering the cemetery and walking round to the left of the church, a slight breeze sprang up but when we looked at the trees they were not moving!! We had a walk round first and then split into two groups. We took the right hand side of the graveyard first and we soon became aware that we all had the feeling we were being followed. That feeling stayed with us most of the night but only on the right hand side of the cemetery! I felt very restless and almost afraid on the right hand side but when we changed sides and held a vigil on the left hand side I felt calm and peaceful.
I saw a blue light on the front of a building that could not be explained by any of the group who later saw the light as well. We ruled out it was from any cars, torches or anything else that was in the vicinity and on-one could figure out where this intermittent light form was coming from. It came and went and was like a blue mist that swept across the front of the building to disappear.
I felt sick a couple of times but it passed quickly and did not affect me too much. A member of my group came up with the name Emma Jane which later turned out to almost match up with a name that Gary came up with at a gravestone that he kept being drawn to.
On the whole a very interesting evening with some photos taken showing quite a few orbs!!!!
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