Minsden Chapel, England Investigation

Minsden Chapel was constructed in the 14^th century and only about three centuries later had fallen into disrepair. Some marriage ceremonies continued into the 18^th century. There is legend or story that during a wedding ceremony of Enoch West and Mary, a chunk of stonework knocked the prayer book out of the curate’s hand on July 11, 1738.

During the 20^th century the chapel was associated with historian Reginald Hine from nearby Baldock. He was a frequent visitor here and eventually purchased a lifetime lease of the building. He warned trespassers to stay away from the building especially those whom had ill intentions. He was quoted as saying, “…trespassers and sacrilegious persons take warning, for I will proceed against them with the utmost rigor of the law, and, after my death and burial I will endeavor, in all ghostly ways, to protect and haunt its hallowed walls.”

After Hine died, he was not buried at Minsden, his body was cremated at Golders Green and his ashes were scattered at the chapel. His family erected a memorial stone at the site which was damaged by vandals in the 1980s.

David Farrant once visited this building in 1984.

The arch of the chapel fell in 2008 due to time and erosion from the elements and by 2012 most of the north facing wall had also disappeared. In 2017, it was reported that the Church of Commissioners for England, who own the site, were intending to sell it to a surrounding landowner, sparking fears that the public could lose access to the site.

Work to repair the chapel by Historic England started in March 2022 with the intention of stabilizing the arch openings of the south wall, to conserve the overall structure and to install hard-capping over the wall head.

Address: B651, Whitwell, Hitchin S64 7PW, Hertfordshire, England

Owner: Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England

Hauntings: In 1907, Thomas William Latchmore, a local professional photographer and friend of Hine, took a photograph that supposedly showed a ghostly monk. Rumors of paranormal activity first appeared around this time. The most frequent haunting reported is of a single monk climbing stairs, which no longer exist to the northeast area of the chapel. However in an 1930 interview by Elliott O’Donnell, the Latchmore family admitted that the photo was a hoax and an experiment in double exposure.

This was alleged to occur at midnight on Halloween. Other reported experiences include the sighting of a glowing cross on the wall (reportedly seen by ghost hunter, Peter Underwood) during his investigation there in the late 1940s. He also reported the sounds of distant music. He was reported as saying, “it could possibly have been a trick of the moonlight, as a full moon was shining down through the trees at the time. “

Some have heard distant music or the ringing of the stolen bells. Legends also exist of a lost tunnel built during the time of the Crusades that extended to nearby Temple Dinsley and another of a murdered nun.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Minsden Chapel, England on June1, 2023 and the team members included: Paul Adams and  Dale Kaczmarek, with help from Sylvia Shults.

Equipment setup: Phasma Box, digital recorders, Samsung Galaxy S21 Slim Ultra cell phone for pictures, Melmeter with telescopic probe.

Experiments performed: A single Phasma Box session was conducted inside of the ruined chapel.

Personal experiences:

Dale Kaczmarek: I did not experience anything out of the ordinary. It was an extremely windy and cold day at the peak of the hill where the church was sat. We tried to stay out of the wind during our EVP session in order to stay warm and to limit possible wind contamination that was blowing constantly and quite briskly.

This was a very remote area and did require a bit of a walk from the car just to reach the location. There was a plaque on the pathway to the church and the only other living soul was a biker who arrived just before us and only stayed for a few minutes.

Evidence collected:

Church Minsden.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “Why are you still here?” The device responded with, “Church.”

Underwood Minsden.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “Can you tell us what famous English ghost hunter was here? What was his last name?” The device replied with something that resembled the name, “Underwood.”

Words spoken by the Phasma Box: stop, grab, it’s in the cave, find it, criteria, eventually, why, puppet, beautiful, involvement, church, Underwood??, (scream)

Conclusions: It was a long and tiring walk for me from the car, through a field, up alongside a hill before even reaching the church but it was well worth the trip. It was a brisk and chilly day but little did we imagine how much colder it would be when we arrived at the church. There wasn’t much left of the building with the roof and several sides missing. On top of a hill with not much to shield us from the elements, we huddled together at one of the remaining walls for some comfort against the biting wind.

Paul showed us the wall that Peter Underwood claimed to have seen what looked like an illuminated image of a cross and I attempted to recreate him pointing to the spot with a twig, unfortunately I use the wrong arm in pointing to the area and the wall apparently has changed over the many years. This was also very close to where the alleged 1907 Latchmore photograph was taken albeit it was later determined to have been a hoax. Following in the footsteps of Peter Underwood is always a thrill and this was one of those times.

I only wish it wasn’t so cold and so far away from the car as I would have loved to have spent more time there using different types of equipment and taking a lot more pictures. One can never predict the weather conditions at any given time but maybe the spirits had something to do with it!