This is episode 47 with no music. To watch episode 47 with music, then please click on image below.

For this episode we travelled to St George's Church to investigate the cemetery outside the Church after a few locals told us they believe the Cemetery could be possibly haunted. It didn't take long before we started to experience strange activity whilst inside the cemetery. One of the most notable strange activity we experienced is when we heard a big bang, it was like a door crashed open. We rushed to the back of the church where we believed we heard the bang fearing someone was breaking into the Church, but then to our shock the Church door was open, but no one there to open the door. A thousand thoughts crossed our minds whilst we was there such as who opened the door or was it opened for us to enter. This was one of our scariest moments as we entered the Church Hall. We've got to admit this was very nerve racking to enter a building that you believe was opened by unseen hands just for you to enter. We felt uncomfortable entering the Church Hall to investigate, but then we thought why can't the entities be allowed possible help just because they're inside a Church Hall? A few more thoughts crossed our minds such as what are we getting ourselves into? What are entities going to be like, are they going to be good souls that we will do our best to help or is this all one big trick where the door will instantly shut once we're inside the Hall leaving us in a very vulnertable situation. Please watch our ghost investigation to see how we got on.

History

Article below wrote by John Ungley

http://www.dorchesterdorset.com/blog/general/history-of-fordington-and-st-georges-church/

Fordington was, until well into the 20th Century, a separate entity from Dorchester, as well as being considerably larger in area. It was also distinguished from Dorchester by belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall. The Romans called Dorchester ‘Durnovaria’ and the importance to them of Fordington can be gauged from the standard of work on the Romana Stone found beneath the aisle of the church in 1908, (it bears an inscription commemorating one Carinus, probably a Roman noble, whose widow, Romana, caused it to be carved) and other foundations of Roman origin which have been unearthed around the church, suggest that a Roman temple may well have stood on the site.

After the Romans left, Fordington became a Royal Manor, and it is rumoured that Alfred the Great spent Christmas there every year. The first church was built there in about 857A.D. and St. George’s was the royal church of the Kings of Wessex. After the Norman Conquest the manor was given by William the Conqueror to St.Osmund who became the first Bishop of Salisbury, he added the porch, which contains a fine tympanum dating from Norman times depicting the Battle of Antioch. St. George’s became one of the churches of the diocese of Salisbury and several of its priests in due course became famous, including the founders of All Souls College Oxford and Winchester College; Henry Morton, Henry VII’s Chancellor of the Exchequer and the originator of Morton’s Fork, (a system of taxation that outstrips even the most ingenious of modern Chancellors!) was also from St.George’s.

One of the more notable of the rectors was Henry Moule (pronounced ‘mole’), who not only fathered eight sons, one of whom, Horace, was a close friend of Thomas Hardy, but also battled for the health of his parishioners in the cholera outbreak of 1856, he still had time to invent, patent and champion the cause of the earth closet, considering the water closet to be considerably inferior and the cause of illness, as well as being a waste of natural nutriments available to fertilise the soil. He tirelessly, but unsuccessfully, sought to convince the Government that the future lay with his invention (Queen Victoria had one installed in Windsor Castle in preference to a water closet.) For some years he was chaplain to the troops in Dorchester Barracks, and from the royalties of his 1845 book ‘Barrack Sermons’ he built a church at West Fordington.

Thomas Hardy was a member of the St.George’s Parish Council, until he resigned in protest over the alterations made when the church was enlarged in the early part of the 20th century, apparently his principal objection, in which he was not alone, was the addition of the small tower on the North-eastern corner of the tower, described as looking like a pepperpot.

The church has a quantity of interesting features, including a 15th century font, a 16th century pulpit and a stained glass window by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, which is surmounted by angels designed by William Morris. The chancel roof is a fine example of a barrel roof, made in Oregon pine, at the West end is a pair of Baroque doors, possibly of Bavarian origin.