A Satanic monk hacked out his own heart. Now he wanted mine
I was trapped for a night in the notorious Hellfire Caves
Scrolling through his phone one evening, my husband Richard, 46, exclaimed with excitement. ‘Look at this Facebook post,’ he said. ‘It’s for an overnight Halloween ghost hunt. Check out where it is!’
As I read the information, a shiver went down my spine. Years ago, my parents had taken me to WKH VDPH VSRW WKH +HOO¿UH &DYHV in West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
I was 10 years old and it had
EHHQ P\ ¿UVW spooky experience. I’d spent the day at the eerie man-made labyrinth of caves, which
stretch underground for a third of a mile. I’d never forgotten the creepy thrill I’d experienced as I’d explored the dank caverns.
‘I visited that place years ago,’ I gasped. ‘I really want to go back - we have to go on that ghost hunt!’
Overnight vigil
Richard wasn’t so sure. He can hear and see spirit but it scares him. Even so, I managed to convince him an overnight vigil would be good fun.
Finally, the big night was upon us. We arrived at the caves at 7.30pm after an hour-long car journey. There were 20 other people on the hunt, and it was October, so the sun had already set and night had fallen.
As we headed into the darkness, Richard held my hand. Now that I was in the caves, I wasn’t feeling quite so brave.
‘What’s that?’ I squeaked.
In the dark, I saw the outline of a ¿JXUH ,W ZDVQ¶W D JKRVW EXW D creepy mannequin with a plaque explaining the cave’s weird and wonderful history.
Building project
In 1748, the caves were commissioned by Sir Francis Dashwood, a rich aristocrat who owned the West Wycombe estate.
The idea was that the chalk dug out of the interconnecting caves and passages would supply material for a road between West Wycombe and High Wycombe, and the project would give local men muchneeded work.
This all sounds very altruistic, however, after the ZRUN KDG ¿QLVKHG the caves were used by Dashwood and his friends as a meeting point for the +HOO¿UH &OXE
This notorious group was made up of politicians, nobleman and other high-ranking member of society. The club’s motto was ‘Fay ce que voudras’ – which translates as ‘Do what thou wilt’ – and this set the scene for some of their truly debauched activities.
‘7KH +HOO¿UH &OXE PHW UHJXODUO\ during the 1750s and 1760s to hold Satanic rituals, orgies and VDFUL¿FHV ¶ H[SODLQHG &KDUOHV ZKR was leading the ghost hunt. ‘Since then, visitors have reported hearing chanting, being touched by invisible hands and seeing various ghostly apparitions.’
My heart was pounding and I gripped my husband’s hand tighter. Even though it was scary, it was also exciting.
Our group walked down to the bottom of the caves as far as you could go. The Inner Temple was ZKHUH WKH +HOO¿UH &OXE KHOG WKHLU rituals. Situated directly below St Lawrence’s Church, which stands on top of West Wycombe Hill, both were built by Dashwood to represent Heaven and Hell respectively. It’s said that Dashwood would administer the Sacrament to his pet baboon here, in a perverse Satanic reversal of the holy rites going on above.
‘Blimey, it’s freezing in here,’ I whispered to Richard. I was glad we’d brought our sleeping bags to sleep in later.
‘Look at this,’ said one of the ghost hunters. The man shone his torch on the wall and it created a looming shadow - I had to stop myself from screaming.
It was time to ‘contact the spirit world.’ We huddled together inside a small area – a cave within a cave.
Charles lit some candles and everyone fell silent.
I felt fear ripple through me. I was deep underground and there was only one way into the caves and one way out. If anything happened now, there was nowhere
Satanic rituals were held in the caves