PJCNET

I have been attending St Nicholas Churchyard, Kings Norton, Birmingham, UK with Birmingham Investigators of the Unknown (BirminghamIU) on various occasions for the purpose of finding out about the history and to investigate paranormal activity. We have experienced lots of activity and it's been extremely interesting finding out about the history of the location and the many people buried there. We have caught lots of light anomalies on film and have even videoed my college Gareth getting taken over by a spirit named John who unfortunately lost his life after a brutal attack in the churchyard. We wanted to help John to the light but unfortunately didn't succeed the first time.

When visiting a graveyard, you are trespassing if it is obvious that you shouldn't be there or if you're asked to leave by the owners of the land and fail to do so. One should also have a valid legal reason for being there. In other words, if the land is open without locked gates and without signs or opening times, then unless you are told to leave by the owners, you're not likely to be in trouble for trespassing.

The problem is, when investigating the paranormal The Church Of England don't always understand or agree with this type of belief as it can be seen as against Christianity. The situation is, if one writes or asks permission before entering a graveyard and the church says NO, you are then immediately trespassing if you then attend. If we did this, we may not have caught the amazing activity and evidence as we have done and it would had been a terrible shame, also we are often helping lost spirits to the light. When Church officials actually see us or speak to us, they usually see that we are decent respectable people and because of this they are normally happy with us being there. Assuming it's an open churchyard, if one doesn't ask permission, one normally only gets into trouble if attending after the Church has asked one to leave the grounds. It's a difficult situation as YES, I'd much rather have consent, but it's difficult dealing with the Church when it comes to paranormal.

On previous visits to this churchyard, we have come across disrespectful young teenagers drinking, smoking, shouting and leaving litter in grounds at night. I suspect they have had problems like this in the past and that's why they are on the ball at this church. The church is also often occupied at night by people on various activity nights, like choir practice, this draws more attention to us.

We always have respect for any churchyard and leave it as we found it. We are polite to anyone there and are very respectful. We have spoken to Church officials here before and asked about possibly arranging a visit to view inside the church, we told them we was investigating the paranormal and they didn't have any problem with us being there then. Today however the vicar politely said that people could get the wrong idea or impression of us hanging around the churchyard after dark. She was nice, but told us that she wasn't happy for us to stay until we had permission from the rectory. As we departed, she thanked us for being so understanding as although disappointed, we remained extremely polite and respectful in every way. Because of this, we still have a chance of getting permission. Unfortunately because the land is owned by the Church, we had no option but to respect the owners wishes despite not causing any problems what-so-ever there, we had no option but to depart or risk getting into trouble for trespassing, plus out of respect we wouldn't stay against their wishes anyway. We have been advised to write to the rectory for permission which I somehow doubt we will get, but we will obviously try as you never know. If we did get permission, then it would be wonderful and everyone would be happy.

The moral of the story is if you are visiting churchyards to investigate the paranormal at night, ensure it's an open churchyard without signs or opening times. Be very respectful and as discrete as possible. If anyone else is in the graveyard, don't use camera flashes or at least not in their direction. Use Infrared invisible light where possible. If you are spoken to by the Church, apologise and be very respectful in every way. Remember, you are wrong, NOT them as you are on their land. If they do ask you to leave, LEAVE WITHOUT ANY ARGUMENTS WHAT-SO-EVER and remain polite. It might be disappointing, awkward and annoying, but the church owns the land and this must be respected at all times.

We have been investigating another churchyard and have spoken to church officials, they have even seen us filming and didn't have any problems what-so-ever with us being there. With most churchyards this is the case, especially very quiet ones closer to the countryside in low crime areas.

I will update as to whether we get permission to return to the location.

Disclaimer

Although PJCNET endeavours to provide accurate information where possible, we cannot be held liable for any mistakes made. When visiting graveyards, you do so at your own risk and it's your responsibility to ensure that you're not breaking any laws. This document doesn't give anyone permission to visit graveyards at night, only the owner of the land, E.g. The Church of England are in a position to grant permission. The author holds no qualifications in the field of Law. Some of this document contains the author's opinion only and shouldn't be taken as definite fact.

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