The West Kennet Long Barrow: Evidence of Occult Activities

[Please note the views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mysterious Britain team]

To the average tourist the West Kennet Long Barrow is another ancient monument to look over and wonder at the way in which it was constructed, with numerous slabs of sarsen stone laid one upon another.

This outstanding example of a chambered tomb was constructed circa 3000 BC. It was restored to its present state by The Department of The Environment in 1955. Prior to this the tomb was excavated and various artefacts from the Neolithic period were found together with the remains of over forty internments.

For the present day practitioner of black magic and Satanism however it has a different meaning and purpose. It is both a contact with the mysteries of the past and, at the same time a Temple in which they can perform their major rituals totally undisturbed by the outside world.

The tourist out in search of Britain’s heritage remains blissfully unaware of the fact that on entering the tomb he is walking in to a place that, possibly the night before, contained half a dozen or more people chanting and dancing around candle lit chambers. The atmosphere would be heavy with the smell of incense relevant to the ritual being performed. For those who know what they are looking for the evidence is all around you as soon as you cross the threshold.

On the 2nd of August 1985 my wife Jean and I, together with David Wills and his wife, made our first visit to the Long Barrow. Immediately we entered the tomb we realised that it was being used by occultists. All of the five chambers that make up the Barrow contained the remains of candle wax, in the main black, and incense in the crevices that are a natural feature of the tombs construction. In some cases the material was very fresh, indicating that some sort of ritual had been performed there recently.

All around chamber 1 there was evidence of candles having been burnt. At each side of the entrance, at eye level, was a six-pointed star. This would have been placed there as a seal in order to protect the group or individuals working area against use by others, who would disturb the atmosphere created by regular use.

Chamber 2 proved to be the most interesting of the five. One the ceiling, drawn in black, was an occult symbol. The symbol is similar to those used in the Grimoires of Solomon particularly the Lemegeton.

The text, also known as the Lesser Key of Solomon the King is a work of pure demonic magic regarded as one of the definitive grimoires by seventeenth century occultists. It lists seventy two demons by name, most of them dangerous.

Having checked all seventy two seals in the Lemegeton and other magical sigils as well, there is nothing, at present, that replicates the West Kennet seal. However this appears, in part, to be a combination of several seals, making it a hybrid, and peculiar to the group using the tomb.

Many further visits provided more evidence of occult activities.

On July 21st 1991, whilst surveying the inside of the tomb, I found a section of animal jawbone which had been placed on a ledge in one of the chambers. Subsequent examination identified it as a young goats jaw. Around the bone were the remains of black candle wax and incense. Another chamber contained what can only be described as the remains of a ‘ritual fire’. Similar items continue to be found today, although efforts have been made to ‘clean’ the tomb.

Anybody with further information about the activities mentioned in this article, and about black magic at other sites around the country can e-mail Charles Walker at charles.walker00@tinyworld.co.uk.

All text and images in this article copyright: Charles Walker 2002.