The Daily Mail is reporting that workers who were installing Storm Surge, a new water ride, at the park complained about seeing the ghost of a headless monk walking in an area of the park known as Monk's Walk. It was an old footpath that linked the ruins of a nearby Abbey and Thorpe Church since 666 AD.
Workers also complained about feeling as though someone was watching them while they worked, and reported sudden and unexplained cold spots in the area.
Fearing that the new construction may have disturbed an ancient burial ground, managers decided to relocate the ride to another area and called in a forensic team to investigate.
"It became apparent that something strange was going on when teams started clearing Storm Surge's initial site," said Mike Vallis, divisional director of Thorpe Park.
"Staff reports of eerie goings-on shot up and the only physical change in the park, at that time, was the beginning of ground preparation work for the new ride. As employees were getting freaked out, we decided to call on an expert to see whether there was anything to report but had no idea of the dramatic effects."
Forensic geophysicist Peter Masters, of Cranfield University, was called in to analyze the site, using deep ground radar.
"From the preliminary investigations, we have picked up signatures similar to that of a burial ground - possibly ancient," he told the Daily Mail. "Although this could simply be an old building, with Thorpe Park's history, the investigation is definitely worth continuing."
Paranormal researcher, Jim Arnold of South West London Paranormal, also investigated the scene.
"We carry out these kinds of investigations quite regularly, with medium to weak results being reported on a weekly basis," he said.
"Thorpe Park, however, was more striking as results were picked up immediately, with orbs, ghostly images in photography and ouija reaction results being strongest around the site where they were proposing to build Storm Surge. The results were so strong, we felt the only explanation could be that an ancient burial ground or settlement was being disturbed, prompting the extra paranormal activity."
It's interesting to note that according to The Church and Spiritualism by Herbert Thurston, S.J. (1856-1939) one of the world’s leading authorities on spiritualism, the Church has not pronounced upon the essential nature of spiritualistic phenomena such as ghosts (See Catechism #2116).
However, the Church forbids the faithful to take part in any spiritualistic practices (séances, mediumship, and other means of conjuring the dead) and suspects diabolical agencies may be responsible for any manifestations that might occur.
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