St. Peter's & All Saints Church, Battlesden, England Investigation

The church lies in the ground of the now demolished Battlesden House. The original house built in the later 16^th century with it successor buildings from the 1860s being demolished and cleared after World War II.

The church consists of a nave and chancel with a tower built onto the southwest corner. The original south door and porch have been removed and access is now via the north door. The earliest part of this church dates back to the 13^th century. The church was in the possession of Ralph Passelewe  in 1280 and its descent subsequently followed that of the manor, the Duke of Bedford presenting at the present day.  

There is no vicar or pastor and the building is left unlocked so that visitors can wander inside like the three of us did. There is also a cemetery that surrounds the church. There was a bit of a musty smell inside; otherwise it was a beautiful little church.

Address: Battlesden, Milton Keynes MK17 9HW, Bedfordshire, England between the A5 amd A4012, north of Hockliffe

Hauntings: The church at Battlesden is believed to be haunted by a lay friar. A boy playing the organ in the church had seen a monk in a brown habit with blue eyes and ginger hair and the verger and a helper, on the same occasion, had seen a man in a brown overcoat, as they had thought, leaving the church. The nearest monks were at Woburn Abbey and they were Cistercians, with a white habit indicating that this "monk" must have been a lay brother, or some wandering friar, or a past rector who might have belonged to an Order.

A member of Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service had an unnerving experience in this church in 2000 when experiencing a sudden very cold sensation on the back of the neck, as if breathed upon by something from beyond the grave; on rational examination, however, it proved only to be the wind through the large keyhole of the door! However, this same member of staff, on a later visit with their young son, whilst feeling nothing themselves, observed their child cry unhappily and try to hide in a corner as soon as they entered the church.

The Ghost Research Society investigated St. Peter's & All Saints Church, Battlesden, England on May 29, 2023 and the team members included: Paul Adams and  Dale Kaczmarek, with help from Sylvia Shults.

Equipment setup: digital recorders and cameras and the ParaTek app.

Experiments performed: A single ParaTek app EVP session was conducted near the front of the church on the north side.

Personal experiences: As I walked inside, I noticed a very musty odor but other than that, I did not have any paranormal feelings while inside this pretty little church.

Evidence collected:

Voice Battlesden.MP4 – while conducting a ParaTek app near the front of the church, a comment was made, “Lady Elizabeth, I’ve been noticing all your beautiful monuments here.” A strange voice or gurgle was recorded. (It could have been someone’s stomach growling.)

Water Battlesden.MP4 – while conducting a ParaTek app near the Baptismal Font, a question was asked, “Can you tell us a name of a child that was baptized here?” The device replied with, “Water.”

Words spoken by the ParaTek app: you bet, use, fishs, talk, water, sheep, ground, six, seven, radical, usual, designate, not, developed, seen, page, hi, quick, young, carry on, paranormal, queen, day, Rachel, Y, view, else, upstairs, developed, terms, Jacob, Debbie, foe, group and old.

Conclusions: While it was very calm and peaceful here, we did get what I believe was an intelligent response with “water” by the Baptismal Font. It wasn’t an exact response to the question asked but it was extremely relevant to the location where we were standing at the time. We did a very short session here because we had a lot of places to see.

We did not see any visual apparitions or “monks” that had been reported in the past nor did we hear any disembodied voices or strange sounds. It was definitely worth the stop here and Sylvia and I both appreciated this visit that Paul had set up for us. Just being inside such an old structure, whether it was haunted or not, was still a thrill. There are so many much older buildings in England than here in the United States.