Chanctonbury Ring - South Downs, West Sussex Part II

It is common rumour that the Chanctonbury Ring area was a venue for Witchcraft, as an altar, in the form of a five-pointed star made from flints within a circle of flints, was found in 1979. Between each star point were found pieces of thick parchment bearing black candlewax. People are unsure whether the intended use was black or white magick but the general consensus is that being Chanctonbury Ring, it is probably black. I, knowing what black candles are used for, somewhat disagree with that theory, and suspect that black candlewax denoted the burning of black candles for protection purposes, rather than anything sinister, bearing in mind the folklore explained in my first posting. Aleister Crowley and one of his disciples, Victor Neuberg of Steyning, both thought the Ring was "A place of Power", though it is not known if they performed any rituals there. Doreen Valiente described Chanctonbury Ring as the meeting place of an ancient coven predating the revival. She described the group as worshipping an unidentified earth mother and sky father, and performing rites without modern paraphenalia such as a Book of Shadows and magical tools, though they did work robed. There was no high priest or priestess, though there was a woman who was the most influential member.

The Ring is a haunted place... the trees are said to be birdless because of this, and having been there, I can verify that the silence is eerie. Apart from the presence of the Devil, Caesar and his armies can be raised by counting the trees of the Ring. These are supposed to be uncountable, although another section of lore says that there are 365 trees in the Ring, one for each day of the year. The thudding hooves of invisible horses have sometimes been heard, together with the ghost of a horseman, who gallops past without stopping. A lady on a white horse can been seen after running around the Ring just three times, rather than the seven required to raise the Devil and last, but not least, a white bearded old man has been seen. This man is reputedly either a druid looking for Buried Treasure or a Saxon killed at the battle of Hastings. The legend seems to have been transposed from Chancton Farm below the hill, where a hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins were found in 1866. Apparently the story of the searching ghost existed before the find at the farm.

So go there after dusk, if you dare