The House In The Hedge, West Sussex - November 2015
Days like today are why I know I have met my perfect partner. She told me about this place the night we first met, when the subject of exploring abandoned buildings came up. Because, you know, that is something that generally comes up in conversation after meeting a beautiful girl in the pub, on valentines day none the less!
'H' told me about a countryside walk she had been on a few times with different people, and nobody ever noticed this old house tucked away in a hedge that she stumbled upon a long time ago. Now I know why!
We set off early on the first bus with the intention of having a long walk with a few close together explores followed by some lunch and a few beers. I had no idea what to expect, I was not the leader on this mission. We arrived somewhere in the middle of nowhere and after walking through the woods for a while I was told we had to be quiet now. We crept towards the edge of the tree line and my heart began to beat faster as a big country manor came in to view.
We crept up the side of the garden towards this huge house. We arrived round the back only to discover a quad bike and an old 4x4 parked out side. Oh dear! There were a few other places just next to it to explore, but after after walking less than 100m we crossed paths with a very cross looking farmer who clearly knew what we were up to. He gave us that piercing look that says "Don't even think about it" that I am sure many others have encountered before. I grabbed a few pics on my shiny new camera (no more phone pics for me!) and we set off.
(After googling around afterwards this place might not be completely empty, despite looking uninhabited because of the odd boarded up window and ripped curtains etc. and the general lack of upkeep. That could have been an epic fail!)
I thought this was a failed explore. The rest of our plan was to walk a few more miles and finish up at a pub we have wanted to visit for a while. We made tracks following a public bridleway that was along the edge of a waterlogged field, with blackberry and sloe bushes latching on to us as we tired to avoid the mud, then all of a sudden 'H' stopped. She leaned against the fence with her arms held out….
Wow! That is actually a house in a hedge!!
'H' has gone to a lot of effort to try and find out some history of this place. She has even looked at old maps from the local library dating back quite some time but was unable to find out anything. I have googled as much as I can and nothing comes up. I have pinpointed it on a satellite map and you can't even see it, even though I know exactly where we stopped!
We got over the fence and I got my camera out. I started to get a few detailed shots outside and 'H' said "Oh look there is a cat up there on the roof!" and went off to look for it. After I caught up with her we didn't find the cat. In fact we couldn't figure out how on earth a cat could get up to or down from the roof, and in fact it didn't even really have much of one. Oh well, lets go inside!
We saw as much as we could and then left. It was a pretty creepy house. I don't usually get odd feelings in places, but this one definitely had one. We got over the fence back into the mud and set off again. A few hundred yards later I swear I heard something that sounded a bit like a child laughing. I must have looked visibly weirded out, because when 'H' turned round she said she heard it too. I instantly dismissed it and we walked on. We knew there was nobody on the other side of the overgrown bushes, as there was a clearing not far after the house giving access to the neighbouring field, and we had just briefly ventured into it to see if I could get a good external shot but it was too over grown to see anything. We got further up the field to join a proper path and walked along the edge of fenced off woods. I stopped to get a shot of where we had just been so I could test out the zoom, and then I heard thought I a man cough. I looked around, we could see clearly for quite a distance as it was less overgrown here, and nobody was there. Again, she heard it too.
I don't believe in ghosts or the paranormal. But a black cat, strange laughter, the sound of coughing… still not a believer, but it was definitely time for that pint anyway!
Thanks for looking!
Days like today are why I know I have met my perfect partner. She told me about this place the night we first met, when the subject of exploring abandoned buildings came up. Because, you know, that is something that generally comes up in conversation after meeting a beautiful girl in the pub, on valentines day none the less!
'H' told me about a countryside walk she had been on a few times with different people, and nobody ever noticed this old house tucked away in a hedge that she stumbled upon a long time ago. Now I know why!
We set off early on the first bus with the intention of having a long walk with a few close together explores followed by some lunch and a few beers. I had no idea what to expect, I was not the leader on this mission. We arrived somewhere in the middle of nowhere and after walking through the woods for a while I was told we had to be quiet now. We crept towards the edge of the tree line and my heart began to beat faster as a big country manor came in to view.
We crept up the side of the garden towards this huge house. We arrived round the back only to discover a quad bike and an old 4x4 parked out side. Oh dear! There were a few other places just next to it to explore, but after after walking less than 100m we crossed paths with a very cross looking farmer who clearly knew what we were up to. He gave us that piercing look that says "Don't even think about it" that I am sure many others have encountered before. I grabbed a few pics on my shiny new camera (no more phone pics for me!) and we set off.
(After googling around afterwards this place might not be completely empty, despite looking uninhabited because of the odd boarded up window and ripped curtains etc. and the general lack of upkeep. That could have been an epic fail!)
I thought this was a failed explore. The rest of our plan was to walk a few more miles and finish up at a pub we have wanted to visit for a while. We made tracks following a public bridleway that was along the edge of a waterlogged field, with blackberry and sloe bushes latching on to us as we tired to avoid the mud, then all of a sudden 'H' stopped. She leaned against the fence with her arms held out….
Wow! That is actually a house in a hedge!!
'H' has gone to a lot of effort to try and find out some history of this place. She has even looked at old maps from the local library dating back quite some time but was unable to find out anything. I have googled as much as I can and nothing comes up. I have pinpointed it on a satellite map and you can't even see it, even though I know exactly where we stopped!
We got over the fence and I got my camera out. I started to get a few detailed shots outside and 'H' said "Oh look there is a cat up there on the roof!" and went off to look for it. After I caught up with her we didn't find the cat. In fact we couldn't figure out how on earth a cat could get up to or down from the roof, and in fact it didn't even really have much of one. Oh well, lets go inside!
We saw as much as we could and then left. It was a pretty creepy house. I don't usually get odd feelings in places, but this one definitely had one. We got over the fence back into the mud and set off again. A few hundred yards later I swear I heard something that sounded a bit like a child laughing. I must have looked visibly weirded out, because when 'H' turned round she said she heard it too. I instantly dismissed it and we walked on. We knew there was nobody on the other side of the overgrown bushes, as there was a clearing not far after the house giving access to the neighbouring field, and we had just briefly ventured into it to see if I could get a good external shot but it was too over grown to see anything. We got further up the field to join a proper path and walked along the edge of fenced off woods. I stopped to get a shot of where we had just been so I could test out the zoom, and then I heard thought I a man cough. I looked around, we could see clearly for quite a distance as it was less overgrown here, and nobody was there. Again, she heard it too.
I don't believe in ghosts or the paranormal. But a black cat, strange laughter, the sound of coughing… still not a believer, but it was definitely time for that pint anyway!
Thanks for looking!
