Paranormal Investigations Ltd
" seek and ye shall find "
A Walk Through the Hell Fire Caves
A CELL DIVINE
XXII
THE CAVES HAVE UNDERGONE A LARGE RE-DRESS RECENTLY AND NEW PHOTO UPDATES WILL FOLLOW SOON.
As you walk towards the main entrance from the small carpark you cannot help but get the feeling that you are entering into another world.The gothic style of the flint facade with a healthy splattering of ivy gives you the feeling of passing back through time to the 18th century and the dark nights of the Hellfire club.
After passing through the turnstiles there are a number of story boards relating to Sir Francis Dashwood and to Benjamin Franklin before the original entrance is reached. The remains of where a heavy wooden door was hung can still be seen. After passing this point the tunnels narrow and the temperature starts to drop and the lighting becomes very dim.
At the end of this first tunnel to the right is the 'tool cave' with a tableau set to show the tools of the day. In this particular area we have recorded sudden temperature drops of 3 - 4 degrees, have experienced mists and have found strange anomalies in our photos, the most interesting being of a man who appears to be floating and wearing a long robe.
From the tool cave, the tunnels continue off to the left through a series of high Gothic arches. As you proceed downwards through the very dimly lit tunnel, there is a story board to the left depicting two stories of alleged hauntings at this site. One is of a local Barmaid called Suki who was the victim of a prank by some local lads who had sent her a note asking her to meet her beloved there in her wedding dress so that they could elope. Not realizing that the lads had sent this note, Suki arrives in her wedding dress only to realize her mistake. An argument ensues and stones are thrown, one hitting Suki on the head and killing her. There have been many reported sightings of her both in the caves and in the George and Dragon Pub in the Village. The second story is of Paul Whitehead who was the Steward of the Hellfire Club who left his heart to the caves and is said to wander the tunnels.
Along the right hand wall are some carvings and symbols that are very well engrained and in an alchemic style used in the eighteenth century.There is also what looks like a doorway that has been blocked up, however is this a doorway or a hoax? It is in the right location for an entrance hall or room where coats and cloaks could be stored.
Mediums have picked up on an entity called George, a man who wears a black tricorn hat and black cape. He was the gatekeeper at the caves in the late 18th century and allegedly hated women. There have been reports by female visitors to the caves of being pinched or having their hair pulled. Could this be George?
George ?
On the day this photo was taken we were photographing the alcloves in the great hall ,the pitchure was compleatly black however after useing the photo suite this figure was in the photo, myself and fi were the only people in the great hall at this time.Later that day a girl was pulled to the floor and became very upset claiming she had been dragged backwards i saw the whole event and it did look that way .
As the tunnel widens slightly coming up to the first feature that is the Circle, there is a cave on the right hand side named the 'Paul Whitehead Cave' or stewards room where he allegedly kept the books and ordered supplies as the scene inside depicts. Also at this point there are some interesting carvings on the wall. Look out for the skull bearing a cross on its forehead on the left wall before entering the circle and also a skull with a pointed hat on the circle wall facing the tunnel just left. This carving is particularly interesting as the hat still carries remnents of red paint and we believe that this was indeed an original carving. Also there are many candle stands carved into the walls.
Again at this point, drops in temperatures have been recorded and mists have been photographed although these are very difficault to detect with the naked eye. Reports of a man pacing backwards and forwards have also been made in this area.
The circle has an interesting feature in the form of a gated area. There is no obvious reason for these gates to be here but we can surmise that one reason could be that the interior of the circle was hollow at one time, possibly a wine store with an entrance in the roof, opening out near the avenue which ran from the A40 to the Mauseleum. This would have allowed easy deliveries of wine, ale and sundries. The proximity of the Stewards Room make this a viable reason for the gates.
Assuming the gates were not an original feature, another reason for their existence is that extensive reconstruction work has been undertaken in this area over the years and older visitors to the caves have on a number of occasions claimed that the entrance to the caves was in an entirely different place to where it is now. Possibly the entrance was here hence the gates.Or maybe they are placed here to make us belive there was a reason for them ,when in fact theres none.
As the tunnel progresses around the circle, note the fern and moss growing on the ceiling indicating the nearness of the surface at this point.
Leaving the Circle, the tunnels proceed down a long tunnel with some very dark sections again in the high Gothic Arch style. On the left hand wall is a board listing the members of the Hellfire Club in its heyday. Notice that all of these members are very prominent members of society including high positioned members of Parliament.
As the tunnel continues, more skulls and carved out candle ledges can be seen in the walls. About half way down on the lefthand wall is another board containing two poems highlighting the mystery and intrigue of the caves, hinting at the existance of a hidden tunnel. These are situated below a large, deep carving of the Roman Numeral XX11. It is not really known what the meaning of this numeral is but it appears to have great importance.There were other numerical carvings on the walls throughout the tunnels, alas most of these seem to have now been removed or covered up.The exact meaning of these numerical carvings has now also been lost and we are left only with speculation.
Mists and orbs are reported frequently in this area. The end of the tunnel entering the Catacombes is very dark and atmospheric.
Facing the 'Twenty Two Tunnel' is a scene depicting Sir Francis Dashwood with Benjamin Franklin on one of his visits to West Wycombe. The left hand tunnel has had some extensive renovations and possibly took a slightly different line in Sir Francis's day. This tunnel emerges again behind the scene of Benjamin Franklin and Sir Francis and joins up with the equivalent tunnel emerging from the right. There is a board here describing the Golden Ball on top of the Church. Continuing on the lefthand path, there is another very old carving of a Devil's head painted in the same red paint as seen earlier. Voices have been picked up on a recorder over the top of white noise from the commentary feed in this area. On further analysis, the voices from the 'talk over' registered on a programme that identifies different sounds within a recording. The voices over the white noise did not register at all.
The tunnels at this point bend round to the right, the apex being just past the area described as the Childrens' Cave. Again a large number of mists and orbs have been observed in this area along with sudden temperature drops.
The Children's Cave is a small narrow cave bending to the right in a Northerly direction where it appears to end in a small shallow alcove. There are people who have said that they seem to remember steps leading down in this area maybe this is the doorway to the fabled lower area known as the alter room that was also mentioned in certain diarys of people who were here in the days of the club. There are two models of children by the doorway as the board by this cave describes how Sir George Dashwood and his sister, Lady Mary Berkley played here as children. The floor here is very uneven and appears to be going upwards but if you look very carefully a step can be seen under the surface rubble. There have been reports of mists seen here as well as a strange happening early this year that involved staff at the cave finding the two models ripped from their stands and thrown across the cave to lie infront of the door during their morning inspection of the caves. The cave had been checked at closing time the night before and everything had been in its right place. Nobody has been able to explain this event as the door leading into the cave is and was still padlocked.
Outside the Children's Cave are two boards, one portraying the 'children' story and the other is a layout of the cave. Just to the right of these two boards on a section of the wall is another carving. This is depicting Sir Francis Dashwood in his later years and is reminiscent of a Victorian death Mask. There is a very good likeness of Bart Simpson next to it! The tunnels then continue downwards fairly steeply towards the Great Hall.
The entrance to the Great Hall is the first place in the caves that a tall person will need to stoop to avoid banging their head. Although still in the Gothic arched style, the ceiling is very low. This could possibly be from the floor being raised back in the 1950's when the ceiling in the Hall collapsed and another tunnel was dug to circumnavigate around the left hand side of the Hall. Eventually the chalk fall was cleared and could have conceivably been packed down onto the floor.
The short tunnel opens up into a large circular, domed cavern. The ceiling is higher now than originally due to the chalk falling from the ceiling over the last 250 years. Around the outside of the room are four gated alcoves each containing a statue. Around the walls are a number of boards containing information about the Dashwood family tree, the positioning of the Great Hall 150 feet below the Mausoleum, the discovery of some coins found in a lump of chalk and a few well documented anicdotes of members of the Hell Fire Club. Each of the alcoves lies on a compass point and there is another exit tunnel opposite the entrance. There are a few carvings of skulls but there is a possibility that many others would have been lost due to the chalk fall. The Easterly alcove is larger than the others with a grander entrance. No explanation for this has yet been discovered.
Many strange occurances have been reported and we have photographed mists and orbs on many occasions here. The ambient temperature is 10 degrees but occasionally there is a drop of 3 - 4 degrees. Other visitors have claimed to have seen Suki in her wedding dress here.
This photo was taken in the Great Hall with two investigators present standing side by side. There was no one else present. As the picture was taken, the flash went off but the picture appeared to be totally dark. Once uploaded onto the pc and flooded with light this was the result. It appears to be a man with a tricornered hat and cape standing sideways on to the camera.
A few weeks after this was taken we stumbled across a report from a Paranormal evening three years previously that reported a male prescence from the same era. His name was George and he had been the gatekeeper 200 years ago. It had also been picked up on that he was particularly aggressive towards women.
Could our photo be of George?
On the same day that this picture was recorded there was an incident involving a teenage girl that we were able to witness. A small group of people were moving from the Triangle down towards the Miners Cave. No one else was behind them. Our investigator being with this group, turned backwards to take some photos and saw the girl's arm dragged backwards and upwards by the elbow pulling her forcibly off of her feet approx 6 feet up the tunnel where she then landed on her backside and was visibily upset and scared. She refused to stay in the caves and was escorted out by her father and sister.
A mist in the Great Hall completely surrounding me but which was not visible with a naked eye. Is there a figure standing slightly stooped with an outstretched arm next to me?
Leaving the Great Hall through a Romanesque style arch, the tunnels continue on downwards. On the left, a couple of metres from this arch, is the other entrance to the tunnel built in the 1950's to lead around the Great Hall. This tunnel now is the only place today where steps can be found.
As the tunnel continues on past this entrance, through high Gothic Arches, the lighting becomes very dim in the lower part. Another board can be found on the righthand wall portraying Sir Francis Dashwood in Monk attire painted by William Hogarth and a story about his attitude towards the Catholic Church. There have been a number of mists, orbs, figures and strange things seen in this tunnel by a multitude of people over a long period of time. I must admit that as you enter this tunnel there is a feeling of something foreboding, whether its the steep incline downwards, the long run of the tunnel, or a mixture of both, there seems to be an air of unease. Lots of people do have the feeling that they would rather not go into this tunnel.
At the end of this tunnel it divides left and right at the area known as the Triangle.In front of you cut into the wall is a recess about head height which once held a statue or bust.The tunnel to the left heads down a medium slope to a tight right hand turn.The tunnel to the right has a steeper descent into what appears to be a dead end but has a tight left hand turn where it meets up with the tunnel from the left at the point of the triangle. There have been many strange occurances here and again many people feel uneasy.There have been many photos of mists,orbs and even figures here. Halfway down the right hand tunnel is a bench carved into the wall, a great place to sit and contemplate the cave experience or meet an orb .
Above left Gary one of our investigators having a meeting with an orb and above right, a view down the right hand tunnel. In this area there have also been reports of a disfigured monk or priest who seems to haunt this area .
Above is a view down the left hand tunnel,and as you turn the corner, the view down to the point. At this part of the triangle there is a board containing a bawdy nun's poem.
On reaching the point of the triangle, the tunnel steepens and heads on down to a large valted area known as the Miners Cave. Many people have reported feeling very cold here and feelings of unease have been reported. We have captured many orbs here including a very large one side a dark mist. On the right hand wall is a board telling the story of the Bourgnis' who were Temple painters of very high repute who came from Italy at the request of Sir Francis, to decorate the House and then remained in Marlow instead of returning to Italy.
Above left is the view as you approach the Miners' Cave , this is where the girl who was pulled over by the ghost of george was. and on the right is the view away from the Miners' Cave towards the River Styx and beyond. Moving along this tunnel you catch your first glimpse of the Inner Temple but first you must cross the River Styx. Here there are some more story boards informing you about the reason as to why the club broke up and also about the 12 Apostles. This part of the cave is very dark and foreboding. Nausea and a complete feeling of a draining of energy is often reported here.
The following pictures were supplied by Mark, our Bedfordshire Investigator. Nice orbs Mark.
The River Styx is the mythical divide between the land of the living and the realm of the dead. Do not forget to pay a coin to the boatman as you pass over the river or you may find yourself having a longer stay than you anticipated. When the tunnels were first excavated this river had to be crossed by boat and then later by stepping stones. Now a walkway allows entry to the Inner Temple over a bridge.
The River Styx is a man made body of water but a few years ago the area completely flooded right back up the tunnel to the Miners' Cave. The water that filters through the chalk from the surface, would not account for this.
Above is a view from the River Styx towards the Inner Temple, it looks like at some time in the past there was a large door here.
Walking through the low doorway on the far side of the river Styx brings you into a very dark entrance to the Inner Temple which is a bell shaped excavation. Inside you will see Sir Francis Dashwood and company set in a scene depicting the Hellfire Club.
Some patrons of the club enjoying some wine with the baboon which allegedly was the cause for the clubs break up. Story boards outside the Inner Temple explain why. There is also a story that a member of staff was on their own in the Inner Temple and whilst they were busy, the baboon moved from its position from the large urn to the floor. She was unable to find any reason for this and was quite peturbed.
Venus stands at the back of the Inner Temple illuminated by the lantern hanging from the ceiling, high above carved into the wall is a likeness of Sir Francis Dashwood.
MORE TO FOLLOW SOON......................
