The Gypsy Curst

The Hunt for Joshua Scamp

Saturday 4th April 2009

Sat 4th April Phoenix of Wessex and Twilight shadows set off on the search of the grave for joshua scamp.

The Legend goes as follows:

Joshua Scamp, a gypsy, was wrongfully hanged for horse-stealing in 1801. Scamp became a martyr among his people, and each year they assembled around his grave on the anniversary of his death, after first drinking lengthily to his memory in the nearby Yew Tree Inn. One year, the rector and his churchwardens decided to stop the riotous celebrations by locking the church door and uprooting a briar rose which the Gypsies had planted by Scamp's grave. The thwarted Gypsies put a curse on anyone who should in future lock the church door, and after sudden death befell two who defied the curse the rector threw the church key into the River Ebble, where it is said still to lie.

We arrived at a lovely looking church with a very neat and tidy graveyard which looked spectacular with the moonlight shinning down and really setting the scene for an eerie investigation.

We had a quick look around to see how big the graveyard was and then set off on the search for the grave. We had no idea if the writing on the grave would be legible or not as some of the script on the gravestones were almost worn completely off with the passage of time. Eventually I noticed a grave with a brass plaque in front of it and to my amazement it was the grave we were looking for.

We stood around taking pictures and Melody thought she saw a flash of light in the hedge behind me. I thought it would be a good idea to use the divining rods and showed Maria how to program them. I thought a rather apt question to ask would be "Is there any spirit people with us?" With that it signalled yes. I next asked if they could show me where the spirit person was standing. With that both the rods swung round behind me. We stood talking for a while and every now and then the rods would change direction. We did start to feel as if people were gathering around us.

While we were here. Our vision was drawn to the door on the side of the church. I walked up towards the doors with the divining rods and they crossed over in an unusual way. Dave came to join me and while we were there we thought we could here whispering.

As it was cold we decided to drop off at the hospital where Maria works and use the facilities. While we were there we had an impromptu tour and saw some really interesting parts of the hospital. I especially loved the derelict part that was used during the second world war. While we were here we did experience some paranormal activity.

We then decided to go and visit the cemetery on London Road in Salisbury. This has felt very oppressive to Maria on previous visits but this time apart from being very cold it was not unwelcoming.

I would like to thank Twilight shadows for showing us around some very interesting places this evening and also for the impromptu visit around salisbury hospital

J Wicheard ©