A father-of-two claims to have taken a picture of a ghostly ‘black monk’ in the grounds of a medieval castle.
Jon Wickes, 50, took his 12-year-old son Harry Wickes to Eynsford Castle, in Kent, because he was learning about medieval castles at school and the pair took some photographs.
What they didn’t expect to see when they looked back over them was an eerie black-hooded figure glaring towards the camera from the opposite end of the site.
Unsure of what the black shadowy man was, Mr Wickes enlisted a paranormal investigator as he had not noticed anyone around when taking the photograph and the expert claims there is ‘no explanation’ for the monk’s appearance.
According to local legend, Mr Wickes claims a black monk has been spotted in the area before.
They didn’t expect to see an eerie black-hooded figure glaring towards the camera from the opposite end of the site
A father-of-two claims to have taken a picture of a ghostly ‘black monk’ in the grounds of a medieval castle
In 1130, William de Eynsford, who held the castle for the Archbishop of Canterbury, allegedly retired to become a monk.
Mr Wickes, from Kent, said: ‘I was quite surprised when I first saw the picture.
‘The strange thing was my little boy had history homework so that’s why we went there. We only went to take a few pictures because he wanted to know how a castle was built.
‘I saw the image with the figure in it and looked on the web. That’s when I read about a monk being seen in area. I’m not really sure about that sort of the stuff.
‘I asked a paranormal investigator what he thought and he went down there [last week] to check it out.
‘When I showed my son he looked at it and just laughed, but because I was certain that figure hadn’t been there when we took the picture, it was worth investigating.
Mr Wickes, from Kent, said: ‘I was quite surprised when I first saw the picture’
‘When I posted the image online on a paranormal group, there were suggestions that it was just a hole in the wall but someone has actually gone there to take pictures and confirm that’s not the case.’
Mr Wickes claims that, although he is unsure if the black figure is a ghost, he has had supernatural, unexplained experiences before, including being brought back to life in 1995.
He said: ‘I’m not sure if it’s a ghost or not. I’m never really freaked out by that sort of stuff. At first, I wondered if it was just a trick of the light.
‘Everyone who’s seen it is interested in it because many think it is a ghost.
‘I’ve had a few supernatural experiences in the past. I had a motorcycle accident in 1995 and died and was brought back to life. When I died, a strange thing happened.
‘I wouldn’t say I’ve experienced a lot of ghostly goings-on but when I lay there and died, I saw my grandfather telling me to go back to the other side. You never know.
It might have been because I was on a lot of morphine.’
Paranormal investigator, Alan Tigwell, decided to visit Eynsford Castle twice last Thursday to look at the layout of the castle and consider if the photos taken by Mr Wickes were likely to show a ghost.
The auditor believes ‘there is no explanation for the figure in the picture’ after spending time in the castle’s grounds and the demonology specialist claims it is a ‘fantastic’ image.
The auditor believes ‘there is no explanation for the figure in the picture’ after spending time in the castle’s grounds and the demonology specialist claims it is a ‘fantastic’ image
Mr Tigwell, 44, said: ‘I went to the site twice last Thursday – in the morning when it first opened and later on.
‘The purpose of my visit was to ascertain whether there was anything within those walls to explain the picture.
‘I’ve been investigating the paranormal for over 20 years. The difficulty with looking at things retrospectively is that it’s impossible to say exactly what something is.
‘All I can say is that there wasn’t anything in the castle itself that could explain that
picture.
‘Eynsford Castle is a medieval site and from what Mr Wickes’ said, there is a legend about a monk being there.
‘In terms of the history of the castle, there was nothing specifically about a monk living there that I could find but I do believe one of the families who owned it had a son who left to become a monk.’
English Heritage, who manage Eynsford Castle, did not wish to comment.