A silhouette of St Mary’s Church, where guests can pay to stay overnight in what is known as ‘champing’, is pictured in Edlesborough, Buckinghamshire September 2, 2019. — AFP pic
“It adds to the mood, thinking about who is sleeping underneath us,” says university student Kae Ono, with a nod towards the gravestones, ahead of what she and her three friends hope will be a spooky sleepover in the 13th-century hilltop church in the English countryside. The Churches Conservation Trust , which runs the village church, provides camp beds and sleeping bags so guests can “snuggle down in a truly ancient space”.Ono blasts out gothic riffs from“We’re planning on watching a horror movie later,” says the archaeology student.On arrival, the visitors explored all the nooks and crannies of their home for the night with the kind of nervous excitement seen in the opening scenes of many a horror movie.
The churches were selected after careful consultation with volunteers and local communities, who have been “hugely supportive of the initiative”, champing manager Neil Best said.