Minsden Chapel facts for kids
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Minsden Chapel is an old, ruined chapel found in the fields near a small village called Chapelfoot. This village is close to Preston in Hertfordshire, England. Today, the chapel has no roof and is partly surrounded by trees. You can only reach it by walking on a footpath. It is a special historical site and is protected as a Grade II Listed building.
Contents
The Story of Minsden Chapel
Building and Early History
Minsden Chapel was built a long, long time ago, in the 1300s. By the 1600s, it started to fall apart. Even though it was crumbling, people still got married there until the 1700s. The stones became too dangerous. There's a story that in 1738, a piece of stone fell during a wedding. It knocked the prayer book right out of the priest's hand!
Reginald Hine and His Love for Minsden
In the 1900s, a historian named Reginald Hine loved Minsden Chapel very much. He lived nearby in Baldock and visited the chapel often. He even got a special agreement to use the building for his whole life. He cared so much that he warned people not to damage it. He even said he would "haunt" the walls after he died to protect them!
Reginald Hine is not buried at the chapel, but his ashes were scattered there. His family put up a memorial stone. This stone was later laid flat on the ground after vandals damaged it in the 1980s.
Mysteries and Ghost Stories
In 1907, a local photographer named Thomas William Latchmore took a picture. It seemed to show a ghostly monk at the chapel. Around this time, stories of paranormal activity (things that can't be explained by science) began to spread.
The most common ghost story is about a monk. People say they see him climbing stairs that are no longer there. This is supposed to happen at midnight on Halloween. Other people have reported seeing a glowing cross on a wall. Some have heard distant music or the sound of bells that were stolen long ago. There are also legends about a secret tunnel built during the time of the Crusades. This tunnel supposedly went to a nearby place called Temple Dinsley. Another legend tells of a murdered nun.
The Truth About the Ghost Photo
In 1930, Thomas William Latchmore finally admitted that his "Minsden Ghost" photo was a trick. He told a writer that he made the picture using a special photography trick called "double exposure." This means taking two pictures on the same piece of film. Latchmore didn't say who posed as the monk. However, it was probably his friend Reginald Hine, who liked playing jokes. Reginald Hine even put the photo in his book in 1929. He never told anyone it was fake or that he was in it!
A person who investigates paranormal things, Peter Underwood, spent a night at the chapel in the 1940s. He said he heard music and saw a glowing cross on a wall. It disappeared and came back. But he also thought it might have been the moonlight playing tricks, as there was a full moon.
What Minsden Chapel Looks Like Today
The famous arch of Minsden Chapel fell down in 2008. This happened because of time and weather. By 2012, most of the north wall had also disappeared. In 2017, there were worries that the chapel might be sold. People were afraid they might not be able to visit it anymore.
Good news! In March 2022, work started to fix Minsden Chapel. Natural England and Historic England are working together. They plan to make the south wall stronger and protect the whole building.
Gallery
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Minsden Chapel in 2016
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The overgrown ruins of Minsden chapel, in May 2004
See also
In Spanish: Capilla de Minsden para niños
