Clapham Wood is a woodland area in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which '' Fortean'' authors and

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

enthusiasts believe to be a locus of

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

sightings, Satanic cult activity, deaths, and lost or sick pets.Danny Robins Investigates:
Episode 2 - The Mystery Of Clapham Wood
'. Channel 4 Radio.Brownlow, Nick (2005). "Fortean Traveller: Clapham Wood". ''Fortean Times''.

Clapham Wood mystery

According to an article by Nick Brownlow in the ''

Fortean Times ''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (2005 to 2 ...

'' magazine, reports of

sightings and pets going missing or becoming ill in the area date back to the 1960s, as do reports of inexplicable

nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...

, sudden patches of grey mist, and sensations of being pushed or followed there. Four bodies have been found in Clapham Wood. In June 1972, Police Constable Peter Goldsmith went missing, and his body was found hidden in a patch of thick bramble there some six months later.Redfern, Nick (2017). ''Secret Societies: The Complete Guide to Histories, Rites, and Rituals''. Visible Ink Press. . In August 1975, missing pensioner Leon Foster's body was found in the woods by a couple searching for a lost horse. In 1978, the missing Reverend Harry Neil Snelling's body was found by a Canadian tourist. In November 1981, the body of Jillian Matthews, a homeless individual with schizophrenia, was discovered; she had been raped and strangled. In their 1987 book ''The Demonic Connection'', authors Toyne Newton, Charles Walker and Alan Brown claimed that the woods were used for rituals by a Satanic cult calling itself "the Friends of

Hecate Hecate or Hekate, , ; grc-dor, Ἑκάτᾱ, Hekátā, ; la, Hecatē or . is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depict ...

". However, when journalist

Will Storr Will Storr is a British author, journalist and former photographer. He has been a contributing editor at ''Esquire (magazine), Esquire'' and GQ Australia. He also works as a ghostwriter and public speaker. Career Storr has written six boo ...

investigated this claim for his book ''Will Storr vs the Supernatural'', he found no evidence to back it up besides odd campfires and unfriendly locals. Writer Barry Stevens has also expressed skepticism, suggesting that Newton and his co-authors either invented the lurid paranormal stories for their book, or uncritically accepted urban legends and rumours.Stevens, Barry
Clapham Woods - The Dark Fantasy
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115123319/https://www.freewebs.com/faeden/claphamwoodoccult.htm, date=15 January 2018.

References

External links

Black Magic In Clapham and Sussex (Mysterious Britain & Ireland)
Culture in West Sussex Forests and woodlands of West Sussex Paranormal places in the United Kingdom