TheKentCirclesPart1

THE KENT CIRCLES

PART ONE

The Medway area of Kent is notable for being one of the most historical and ancient parts of the county. Lying at the foot of the North Downs, the fields that run through the Medway Valley are where “The Circlemakers” have chosen to place some of Kent’s major events over the last few years. Coincidently our ancient stones also cluster there…The “Kits Coty” megaliths…“The Coldrums” and “The Countless Stones” etc. And it’s here within this old Neolithic bone yard that we also find our ancient trackways…”The North Downs Way” and “The Pilgrims Way”.

Most of the crop circles that appear in the Northern Hemisphere place themselves within a 45 – 55° line of latitude band, with the vast majority thickly clustering within a 51 – 52 degree corridor. All of the Kent circles have appeared within this narrow band with most of them appearing between 51.19°N and 51.22°N. Follow the 51.22°N line westward and you’ll find it slices right through the legendary East Field at Alton Barnes Wilts, which as most of you know has hosted some magnificent formations over the years. A similar picture emerges when we cross the pond and take a look at some relevant Canadian locations. Although the main band here tends to spread out a little more, we still find we have a dense concentration within a 51 – 52 degree corridor.

The Kent circles also link westward through ancient trackways, with perhaps the most notable being “The Pilgrims Way” which stretches for around 125 miles from Canterbury to Winchester. What’s quite obvious though is that this track was quite well trodden long before any actual pilgrims set out on it. Therefore it’s more than likely that it reflects a more remote date than even the Megalithic remains it appears to acknowledge as it snakes past. These old Kent stones are in fact older than Stonehenge and so I think we can safely assume that the “Old Road” or “The Way”, that’s now become known as “The Pilgrims Way”, is of great antiquity.

From Winchester where “The Pilgrims Way” begins, other ancient paths lead us further westward and deeper into “crop circle country”. Kent doesn’t receive that many formations…but what’s lacked in quantity is certainly gained in quality. Receiving on average around 3-4 per year, we’ve had designs that certainly wouldn’t look out of place in the Wiltshire heartland and often with jaw-dropping floors to match.

Back in the early ‘70’s along with most others, I’d never heard of crop circles. Yet at around that time in the midst of the Warminster UFO flap, circular depressions in wheat fields were being mentioned in some of Arthur Shuttlewood’s reports. He was convinced that these neat swirls that were often found in the immediate area, were obviously the landing imprints created by disc shaped craft. Now when you consider all that was going on at the time, just who was around to say he wasn’t right?

“The Warminster Mystery” series of books makes for a fascinating read and although I never realised it at the time, these circular areas of flattened corn that often appeared to pop-up at around the same time as UFO’s were sighted, initially triggered my interest in the phenomenon. For quite some time though and along with many others who were equally convinced, I really did think they were the landing marks of flying saucers! The arrival of the “quintuplets” back in the late 80’s further cemented this idea, as the four small outer circles were obviously where the legs of the craft had rested!

Thankfully though, due to early 90’s groundbreaking books such as “Circular Evidence” by Pat Delgado and Colin Andrews, and “The Crop Circle Enigma” by Ralph Noyes, I was completely turned round. In fact without probably realising it at the time, a real interest in this fascinating subject had slowly just begun…

As most of you are probably aware, crop circle reports go back a lot further than the early 70’s. But whilst it’s true to say that there’s no real conclusive proof for their existence, there’s quite a bit in the way of circumstantial evidence that openly suggests that they certainly did exist. Kent it seems had its fair share of circles early on and a few of those reports are to be found in Terry Wilson’s excellent compilation, “The Secret History of Crop Circles”°.

The earliest report of a crop circle in Kent appeared in an article published in a 1991 edition of the Journal of Meteorology. Discovered at Bilsington near Ashford during the summer of 1918, the daughter of the landowner recalls seeing a completely flattened and geometrically precise circle that she considered was big enough “to contain a house”.

Slicing through the crops that are grown in the Bilsington area is the Royal Military Canal which was constructed during the early 1800’s as a third line of defence against any invasion by Napoleon. Today this whole area is now regarded as quite an important environmental site and I think it’s worth noting that within the Ashford environs, quite a number of circles have landed over the years.

Also early on it’s known that within the Dover area of Kent, mysterious circles have seemed to come and go on quite a regular basis. But whilst reports of these occurrences are often sketchy, as children a few local farmers have recalled playing in flattened circles of corn etc, as far back as the 40’s and 50’s. Whenever Dover’s been on the receiving end though, they’ve often been known to appear in fields that surround an outlying village that’s known as Temple Ewell. By day Temple Ewell itself is regarded as a quiet picturesque village nestled deep within the Temple Ewell Valley. The surrounding valley area is quite stunning in character and often you have to remind yourself that you’re still in Kent. By night though it reputedly takes on a somewhat more sinister atmosphere…Such is the local reputation it’s gained for paranormal activity, that some would regard it unthinkable to venture out late at night! Back in the summer of ’54 for instance, there was a well documented “close encounter of the third kind” that allegedly took place in some nearby woodland.

Throughout Kent there’s a fair few place names that we often find in obscure places, which include the word “Temple”. As in many other instances, the word here indicates land and properties that once belonged to the Knights Templar. Land was granted to the Templars at Ewell in 1163 upon which they built a preceptory…which as far as the Knights Templar were concerned was specifically a house of instruction. As for the rest of the land though, it was set aside for crop-growing that for the most part is still being worked today. Known as Temple Farm it’s here where circles have been known to appear…or where in some cases, they’ve been rumoured to appear.

A couple of years ago we received a report of some weird shapes that were spotted just outside the village in meadow grass. A few days later we found the field complete with cows grazing in it, and at first we became immediately drawn to some fascinating “fairy rings” that were clearly visible towards its eastern end. Appearing to make no sense at all, the weird shapes were also quite visible and were made up of oddball arrangements of squared shapes and haphazard circles.

The shapes could clearly be seen from a distance, but proved to be quite difficult to make out once you were amongst them in the field. A closer inspection revealed that they were formed purely and simply by the height of the meadow grass. The grass inside the shapes was only a couple of inches high, whereas the grass in the rest of the field was around ten to twelve inches high.

Now could it be that cows are more intelligent than we give them credit for and that they’re capable of munching grass in straight lines? Seriously though, was a grass-cutter of sorts employed to cut out the shapes? Try as I might I couldn’t find any traces of grass cuttings, and there certainly wasn’t any evidence when you looked closely at individual stems that suggested they’d been cut in half. So were we possibly looking at grass that had sort of formed in shapes created by a stunted growth pattern? According to a MCC member, who became fascinated by them, the shapes remained quite visible throughout that summer. Although no-ones been able to explain them she made quite a few diagrams and took a number of measurements. Interestingly whilst holidaying that summer in north-west France she visited some caves near Carnac and was amazed to see some of those very same individual shapes decorating the walls!

Up until now Kent has received approximately sixty circles over the years. Whilst commonly appearing in wheat and barley, they’ve also shown up in grass, oats, beans, peas, and even brussel sprouts! Back in ’63 some trees in Sandling Woods went one better when they were found bizarrely flattened and forming a circle. This somewhat rare event invites comparison with a couple of other known tree circles, in that the circles were simply bent at their base in the same manner as downed crop and apparently none the worse for their ordeal. Sandling which is near Ashford is surrounded by woodland that curiously isn’t that far away from the Royal Military Canal.

We can roughly place where the circles have appeared in Kent into five main areas. The Dover – Temple Ewell area is one, whilst Ashford and its environs is another. Meopham received a single circle in wheat back in ’57 and ever since then formations have appeared all along the Meopham to Istead Valley. But also whilst Eynsford and the Darent Valley significantly have hosted a few, it’s the Medway Valley that’s been on the receiving end of most of the jaw-dropping arrivals of late.

During the late 80’s and through most of the 90’s we have to thank those of the Kent branch of the CCCS and in particular Dr. Andrew King and Joyce Galley who photographed, measured and collated most of the information regarding the circles that appeared in Kent during that period. Some of this interesting and valuable information is now to be found on our data-base.

During the late 90’s a small group of like-minded people formed the “Medway Crop Circle” of which only two of the original founder members still remain. But through thick and thin a very hard-core membership has survived…albeit a pretty diverse bunch! For it’s quite amazing that amongst our rank and file we can draw upon the likes of astrologers, psychics, UFO buffs and ancient history lovers etc…and not forgetting those who practice earth-loving crafts. The Medway group all in all though is quite spiritually motivated, with a fair number of its members influenced by the many spiritual aspects this phenomenon chooses to confront us with. The end result of all this being that group meditations for crop circles have always been part of the agenda.

It should go without saying that of all the many aspects surrounding crop circles, perhaps the most difficult to accept (because it's the least understood) is their interactiveness, which is now nigh on impossible to deny. An increasing number of people have found circles appearing in fields they’ve chosen simply by request ... as bizarre as that sounds, it’s a fact that formations have been formed purely by employing the power of thought.

MEDITATIONS FOR A CROP CIRCLE

Early during the year 2000, founder members of the Medway Crop Circle set out through meditations, to try and actually tune into "The Circlemakers". And even though these meditations might well be conceived as being pretty basic stuff, they produced some pretty remarkable results…

Before any formations arrived in 2000 we held our first meditation on the 19th of March. We seated ourselves upon a three-line ley that runs from Burham Court Church to the Coldrum Stones, before ending at Trottiscliffe (Trosley) church. This alignment was chosen because of its association with two of the most impressive formations we’d ever seen locally, that landed back in '99 close to Trottiscliffe church.

Accompanied throughout the meditation by what I can only describe as magical bird-song, we were blessed within this idyllic setting with a beautiful sunny afternoon…no one could have wished for a better day! Hoping to trigger a response, we decided to meditate upon the MCC logo, the design of which (figure 1) is based upon three circles. The top circle involves a heart shape that forms the letter “M”, linking to the two lower half circles which make up the two “C”s (MCC).

FIG. 1 MCC LOGO

With crystals placed intuitively and the ley energy sensed, we began by thanking “The Circlemakers” for all their beautiful gifts of seasons past. We then asked that in response to our boundless enthusiasm for them, we would love them to acknowledge us by placing a similar design to our logo in the fields.

Later that same afternoon we paid homage to the magnificent Coldrum Stones and quietly reflected upon our earlier meditation whilst sitting amongst these amazing megaliths. The Coldrum mound with its beautiful easterly view over the Medway Valley is a very magical place that offers much in the way of peace within its immaculate seclusion.

A few weeks later, Kent's first formation of the year arrived at Farningham impressed in oil seed rape (figure 2). This was a beautifully executed triangular design held within a circle.

FIG. 2 – THE FARNINGHAM TRIANGLE

Whilst our logo hadn't arrived, amazingly the underlying geometry that makes up our logo had! (figures 3 & 4)

FIG. 3 FIG.4

This is geometry that isn't commonly employed by “The 'Circlemakers”. Looking back at the 150 or so '99 formations I searched hard for one that was based upon it. Although I found quite a few tri-circular 'near misses', I could only find that particular geometry employed once and that was within the “Cosmic Steering Wheel” that lay beneath Liddington Castle Wilts, during July of that year (figure 5).

FIG. 5 – THE “COSMIC STEERING WHEEL”

By way of contrast our second meditation took place on a cold and miserable evening in early May, whilst sheltering under the mighty “Kit's Coty” dolmen high upon the North Downs at Blue Bell Hill. Less than a fortnight later we were rewarded with a beautiful Celtic knot that appeared in a field of lush green barley near Wrotham.

CELTIC KNOT

Photo © Andrew King

As you can see once again, the same underlying geometry of our logo was employed by “The Circlemakers” (figure 6).

FIG. 6 – CELTIC KNOT GEOMETRY

Found close to a sacred mound, this Celtic knot is said to symbolically illustrate the flow of eternal spirit. That said, I was amazed to find that it sat upon an alignment that runs (or spiritually flows…) through the nearby tumulus, across the fields at Trottiscliffe (that were host to the '99 formations), and through to the Coldrum stones…Before it headed back to “Kits Coty”, where we’d conducted our meditation in the first place! As you can imagine by now we were slowly beginning to realise that “The Circlemakers” were in a sense somehow answering us…

Although we were pleased to receive this beautiful gift, clearly the farmer wasn't! Eventually he calmed down, but at the time he was extremely upset and nothing could convince him otherwise that he wasn't the victim of some mindless vandalism. Disappointingly he wouldn't allow anyone in to visit the formation, and as a consequence a detailed survey wasn't possible.

This simple design was placed in young barley which is known to recover quite quickly. It readily springs back towards the light, so even after a few days it’s often hard to determine whether a formation was there in the first place! Therefore given the circumstances that the farmer wasn't allowing anyone into his field, damage would have been kept to an absolute minimum. A week or so later when driving past the field, I noticed that the crop had recovered beautifully and the formation it seemed had all but disappeared.

Talking amongst ourselves, we vowed that during our next meditation we would ask “The Circlemakers” if it was possible to put one down in a friendly farmer's field. But before another meditation could be arranged the next "Jaw-dropper" had arrived in the beautiful Darent Valley at Eynsford...and guess what? It was parked in a field with a public footpath running through the middle of it! - So it really didn't matter if the farmer was friendly or otherwise, because simply anyone could have walked across the field and found themselves within a circle of thirty nine circles!

FIG. 7 – CIRCLE OF CIRCLES

We were looking forward to our third meditation and on a very grey and misty evening in July, we met near the top of Holly Hill at Birling, which sits right beside “The Pilgrims Way”. It's a marvellous viewpoint and from there you can gaze across fields that have previously received formations.

Because “The Circlemakers" communicate in shapes and symbols, we decided that on this occasion we ourselves would form a shape…And so much to the amusement of dog walkers, the five of us laid upon the hillside and spread ourselves into a five-pointed star.

In forming a star we were trying to enhance the communication, for it's this shape that's always been known to generate energy. The five-pointed star is associated with the Egyptian Mother Goddess Isis, but is more commonly associated with life and is known as a symbol of the human microcosm. In ancient Egyptian glyphs it signifies "Rising upward towards the point of origin" - so by employing this vehicle for our meditation we were certainly opening ourselves up to the cosmos!

It's important to stress here that we were not intentionally asking for a star-shape design, but on 29th July 2000, a formation arrived at Istead Rise, near Gravesend in the shape of a star...we simply couldn't believe it! Kent has never been blessed with a star formation before, so this had to be the most positive answer we'd yet received from “The Circlemakers”!

THE STAR OF ISTEAD

As many of the formations during season 2000 had arrived some distance away from Medway, we asked the "Circlemakers" during our star-meditation if they could make a formation closer to where we live...(They obliged)

We asked for a formation that could be easily viewed and photographed, and for one that we could gain reasonable access to in a friendly farmer's field...(They placed it on the side of a hill next to a public footpath, in front of a road-side pull-in...And yes, the farmer was cool)

We also asked for a complex design that would be a match for anything that's likely to appear in Wiltshire, and they certainly came up with the goods - it even looked like a Wiltshire formation. We even asked for a beautiful flowing floorlay and we even got that as well...unbelievable!

The five of us had kept it very quiet that we were meditating for crop circles and these results kind of blew away the "They're all made by blokes with planks of wood" theories, for how could hoaxers have tapped into our consciousness on these occasions?

"The Star of Istead" as it became known, was basically a six-pointed star that’s commonly known as the "The Star of David". It's formed by the intersection of two equilateral triangles that oppose each other and symbolically it reflects the hermetic thought..."As above - so below". Is it possible that in forming a five-pointed vehicle that’s said to spiritually reflect an upward rise towards the point of origin, that we’d received a spiritual message of "As on Earth, so in Heaven"? What’s also interesting is that in response to our five-pointed star we’d received a six-pointed one…add these numbers together and you have eleven…the spiritual number of enlightenment.

A really interesting way of trying to confirm some of the realities of all this, are found by employing a fascinating intuitive word process that's commonly known as "Lexigramming". In her book "Star Signs" †, Linda Goodman deals with this use of words "That penetrate the meanings of ancient codes", at some length. Following on from that, researcher Carole Cochrane found herself employing lexigramming in order to reveal encoded information within the place names of where crop circles land and she came up with some remarkable results.

I couldn’t resist having a go myself and amazingly within the place name, Istead Rise Gravesend, I found lexigrammed..."Isis star raises energies, as it gives rise to David's star and rings invested in the grain"...again, unbelievable!

End-notes

° “The Secret History of Crop Circles” by Terry Wilson – is published in paperback by the CCCS ISBN 0 906290 7 10

† "Star Signs - The Secret Codes of the Universe" by Linda Goodman - is published in paperback by Pan Books ISBN 0 330 30344 9

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