There are areas in the UK that have a number of reports of strange phenomena all within a couple of miles of each other. Surrey is one of those areas, around Box Hill and Dorking Deep Dene there are a number of strange reports. Now two other people have come forward to report events that happened to them in this area also. There are eight reports in this very small area and a strange disappearance of a young girl.
What is it about this area that seems to exude paranormal and supernatural events? There are reports of upright hairy Ape-like Creatures, and two reports of an invisible being crashing away in the trees. Two new reports came into BBR in the last three months. I have listed all of the encounters in one place, in the hopes that you can help with this puzzle.
An Unseen Stomping Thing. 2018 - "Deborah, I've not forwarded this to you until now because I was hoping as time passed that I'd have come to some sort of a logical explanation about what happened, and I would be able to write it off as normal and forget about it. But 2+ years later I still can't. I still struggle to understand it, exactly the same as I did while it was happening. My only thought being, "I can't believe what IS happening" at the time. It was no 'figment of my imagination' and is as real to me today as it was back then, and no amount of time passing will change that fact. It was, quite simply, out of this world, at least outside the realm of anything I've heard before.
It happened when I was on my way to meet a friend at Denbies Winery in Dorking, Surrey (near Dorking, Deep Deene) in the summer of 2018. I'd got off the train at Boxhill & Westhumble Railway Station around lunch time, on a beautiful summer day, while strolling down the road without a care in the world feeling relaxed and happy. I was looking forward to meeting my friend, but just as I reached a section of the path by a gate that had a 'No Entry' sign on it, beyond which was what looked like an overgrown area of woodland heavy with trees and blackberry bushes which looked inaccessible on foot.
I stopped dead in my tracks on hearing 'Something' in there, which at first sounded like a person foraging around in the undergrowth, they were brushing up against the bushes there, that was until I heard what followed. The sound of unbelievably heavy footsteps on the ground close by but the maker of the footsteps was completely out of view. These were no ordinary footsteps, but they came from two feet well spaced apart, that literally pounded the ground. It was so loud I ran across the road feeling terrified, thinking what on earth could make that much noise and how huge It must have been, as I realised no human was capable of doing that. As if that wasn't bad enough, what followed was even louder.
I heard the unmistakable sound of a tree being thumped really heavily, thumped with brute force. Then came the sound of splintering wood, before it fell with a loud crash to the ground. I could not believe what I had just heard, but instinctively I knew I had to get away from there ASAP. Which I did as I think the shock of what had just happened put me into fight or flight mode and I full of adrenaline. As there is no way I'd have been able to run at the speed I did from there all the way to Denbies without stopping, which is quite a distance. That is not usual for me. When I told my friend what had happened she believed me, as she'd never seen me in that state before, I was wide-eyed, petrified and pouring with sweat/fear and totally out of breath".
"I grew up in Surrey and know the Boxhill and Westhumble, Dorking area well since childhood (I'm middle-aged now), but this was like nothing I've experienced before, though I have had a few other experiences there, just not anything like this one.
An Overwhelming Feeling of Being Watched. - "I camped at Betchworth Fort (off Fort Road) on Boxhill, Dorking with my then boyfriend, it's a strange/eerie place even in the daytime but by night it becomes something else entirely. When we were there we heard all kinds of noises around our tent and we couldn't get to sleep, but every time we looked outside the tent to see what was making the noise there was no one there. We left in the early hours of the morning and I haven't gone back since. There was this overwhelming feeling of being watched while in the old shower block there, I couldn't wait to get out.
It felt haunted there especially around the Fort where we'd camped. It's rumoured witches still practice around Box Hill. While there out walking during the day, we came across an entire village completely camouflaged by trees, you'd never know it even existed as it can't be seen by aerial view, there was not a soul in sight there, but lots of houses (like log cabins) were occupied as the chimneys were smoking, we had a strong feeling to leave the place as it felt so strange there"
There are a number of older reports in the area. One of which happened a very short walk away in 2012. A person training on the steps of Boxhill heard a strange wood knocking sound, they then saw a creature they described as Ape Like. "The fur was a brown colour with patches of grey. The face was very human with a flat nose but the jaw was big it looked out of proportion to the head. The head was domed at the top. The animal stood on two legs but appeared to slump forward and the arms were long in proportion to the body. The animal was very thick built. I can only say Solid muscle. It was frightening the build of this thing. Im not sure the height from the angle I was at. I could only estimate 6 foot+, but Im not sure. The animal stood staring at me for about 30ish seconds before turning around and walking off but it continued watching me.
When this report was released another person got in touch with me through the BBR group on Facebook and made a report of his own. Like the earlier witness this chap heard and felt what came crashing through the bushes, but he could not see it. Which for me is far more terrifying than being confronted with an Ape like Creature. With the Ape man, at least you can see him, but with these Invisible Life Forces you are fighting a foe you can not see.
The Dorking Deep Dene Invisible Creature - "Hi I just saw your post about an Ape or something that was seen at Boxhill in Dorking, which I believe I have definitely encountered before. I was visiting an abandoned tunnel in Dorking Deepdene, which I had been to before with Two friends. All went fine that night and we got some great pictures and when I got back I told my Brother who really wanted to visit there too. So I eventually agreed to take him back there.
It was late in the evening when we went back one night, we found the tunnel again easily and just before I was about to climb in, he tapped me and said "I can hear something," So obviously I thought it was just other people/explorers doing the same thing as us, nothing to worry about, so we moved out on to some grass to wait for them to finish and leave so we could carry on. I sat and listened, but I couldn't hear anything so I suggested we carry on and go and explore the tunnel. I hadn't really noticed the two dogs barking in the distance, when all of a sudden this loud Roar, which I can't explain happened, The Roar shut the two dogs up straight away, it was the silence that made me realise the background noise of the dogs had stopped, and I never heard them bark again after that Roar.
The next second all these branches around us started to snap. It was like something was coming rapidly through the trees towards us, but we couldn't see it. It was moving the trees, breaking and snapping branches like they were twigs as it moved and then It stopped suddenly and everything went silent. After a couple of minutes of silence my Brother whispered, "Will what was hell was that?" I slowly whispered back "I don't know mate, just don't move because whatever It is It's big"
We stood there for around 10 mins in silence, not saying a word to each other, we were just listening for any sound. I felt like It was watching us, but I didn't say anything to my Brother. But you could feel It staring at you but you couldn't see It anywhere. My Brother then whispered, "Will can we go", I whispered back, "No, whatever that is im not having that chase me while we're running off". So we stood there for another 10 mins in silence waiting. We heard more noise but nothing like the first time, this was more like something walking about on the dead leaves but that could have been anything, so eventually we did leave, Slowly!
I've been to countless abandoned places and woods and never once heard anything like it. All I could explain to people was maybe it was some kind of Ape or Bigfoot things because I don't know off anything in the UK that big, that's wild that It could brake branches like they were nothing. I didn't speak about it much as I can't explain what the noise was or what it could have been except something big and not native to this country.
I would love to find out what It actually was as I've never heard or experienced anything like that before and I still haven't to this day. I couldn't believe that somebody else had also seen or had the same sort of experience as me, they were saying it was some sort of Ape as that was also all I could put it down to, you know with it being that high up in the trees, snapping and moving through branches like they were sticks"
A Large Humanoid Shadow - Witness Report: "I live near not far from Box Hill and I have mixed feelings about this talk of Bigfoot reports in the area. It's not exactly remote, a lot of people live up there and have things like motion activated lights and CCTV cameras. I know a couple who lived up there until recently and they have never reported anything strange. It is also surrounded by busy roads and three large towns within a few miles.
That said, there was a story about 'something' or 'someone' that was living in the old Napoleonic fort, which has since been excellently restored a few years ago.
Back when I was a kid, we're talking late 1970's, me and a few mates cycled up there and got into the fort, armed with bicycle lights. We ventured in a bit of a way and all got spooked by something at the same moment. I swear to this day a large humanoid shadow moved across the torch beams at the far end of the corridor. Or was it just one of our shadows projected on the wall? I don't know, but we legged it and didn't go back in"
Just to the North and still within walking distance is the area known as Great Bookham. The Great Bookham Hairy Creature - "About 9pm one evening I was walking with my Dad and our dog over at Norbury Park, in Great Bookham, Surrey. We were on the track that adjoins Dorking road and Crabtree Lane. We were watching the Foxes playing in the field, when I noticed a large dog shaped figure in the middle of the track. It was large, at least 3-4 foot high, very shaggy looking and It had brown fur. It was quite blurry as if out of focus.
I tried to scare It off, as I was scared of It and I wondered if It would be nervous and attack us. But my Dad could not see It and our own dog was not fussed. I thought It was a trick of the light, so I tried my Dad's glasses to see if that made a difference but It remained and I could still see It. We walked towards It and It remained there until I was about 2 meters from It. It never became clear, It remained a blurry apparition the whole time.
In the area were It was standing everything around for about 5 meters was icy cold. even my Dad who really doesn't believe in these things said so. It was like walking into a freezer. We walked on, and looking back I could see It again about 3 meters away. It remained the entire time. I stayed and patted a horse with my Dad up the track before turning off. All the time It remained at the same place"
The Creature was seen again in August 2010 just on the other side of the estate. The Shaggy Shuck - A "shaggy brown creature" was seen in the middle of a track between Polesden Lane and Admiral Walk. The blurry ’Shuck’ and was "around a metre high, very shaggy looking and had brown fur then it just vanished"
Dorking Deep Dene and the Box Hill area is one of those places where many ancient sites were disturbed when they are built upon. Now its a place people chose to spend their leisure time there. I think they would be shocked if they knew of the many Paranormal and UFO reports close by. There is also the strange case of a missing girl who vanished on the Hill itself.
Ruth Wilson from Betchworth in Surrey, went missing on 27 November 1995. That morning Ruth went into Dorking with friends and after saying goodbye to them she took a taxi in the pouring rain to Boxhill. The taxi driver dropped her off near the Hand In Hand pub which is adjacent to Boxhill at about 4.30pm. Ruth has not been seen or heard from since. Despite some unconfirmed sightings of her around the Surrey area, Ruth's whereabouts remain a mystery.
When Ruth went missing she was about 5ft 3in tall and had dark, shoulder length hair. She normally wears glasses. Many years later the case remains unsolved and although a later investigation claimed Ruth had taken her own life, this is only speculation, no proof has been found to confirm this.
So what is it about this area that causes this phenomenon, is it a series of coincidences, even though two witnesses experienced the same crashing invisible 'thing' years apart without knowing each other. One was a young man in his twenties, and the second witness is middle aged. Just a short walk to the West is an area called Lynch Hill. The locals there claim their dogs react badly on the hill, many refusing to enter the area.
A Bright Light That Followed Us. 22/03/14. 11.45pm - Witness Statement: "I was in a car with my mum and we were driving down a quiet private dark road heading home. Suddenly directly behind us was a really really bright multi coloured flashing light that came out of nowhere.
A strange feeling of unease came over both of us as this light seemed to be following us. When my mum drove faster 'it' did the same. Neither of us looked directly at it, only in the mirror, it was flashing red, blue, and the most prominent colour was green.
It was so so bright and close, like nothing Ive ever seen before. The beam of light disappeared as we entered a more busy road. it turned into a single green dot and disappeared-just like that"
Until next time, Deborah
You’re putting together some of the most incredible encounters Deb 😳 Love your site, keep up the great work !
ReplyDeleteThank you I appreciate the support. And thank you for dropping by, I never know if people read these or not :)
Delete