St. Margaret's Church

St Margaret’s Church is situated in Bowers Gifford, Essex. The church is built mainly of Kentish ragstone with a tower and wooden spire which was added in Tudor times. In the bell tower, which is reached by twenty five steeply winding steps, three bells are housed, all of which are original fourteenth century. The bells are amongst the oldest in the County and are still rung regularly.

On the church ground lay the remains of a stone church built by Sir John Giffard in the early fourteenth century and traces of this building still remain in the South wall.

In the middle of the last century, parishioners that had stopped by to pray in silence were stunned as the organ began to be played by unseen hands. There have been no recent reports of a repeated musical performance, but you never feel alone when you stand among the ancient tombs.

Another strange phenomenon reported in that area were the electrical faults experienced by people driving down the country lane to the church. Headlights would flicker and die, plunging the road into pitch darkness, much to the terror of the car’s occupants. Even more terrifying, people have also experienced brake failure!