‘Leave before dark’ - ‘Ghosts’ issue chilling warning at abandoned church

It took me 15 long minutes to summon the courage to step onto the forsaken grounds of the infamous St George's Anglican Church - known to most in Mile Gully, Manchester, as the dreaded Duppy Church.

The skeletal remains of the church, located about 10 minutes from the Mile Gully Square, broods beneath the weight of whispered legends. It's a shell with neither doors nor windows.

As I entered through the gate and up the broken steps that lead to the entrance of the church, a grey and white owl flew over my head and perched on the limb of a tree that grew from the inside. Its eyes watched my every move.

Two Jamaican terriers who were resting on a broken grave also stared blankly at me.

The air was still, yet heavy - as though the building itself was holding its breath.

The interior, shrouded in shadows, was covered in cryptic, chilling messages scrawled across the mildewed walls. One note - written on paper and carefully laminated to preserve its eerieness - was less like a message from the living, and more like a whisper from the dead.

'Please do not disrespect our community and never take us for granted and think we are fools and don't exist. We have been around for very long and we know all your tricks and the tricks of the evil ones. Respect our beliefs and attitudes and space and leave before dark. Thank you.'

The church yard, which is located about five minutes from the town centre, is the host of tombs that are almost as old as time dating back to the 19th century.

There are numerous spooky stories about 'Duppy Church' that some dare not to speak about. Tales of ghostly figures, strange lights, and whispering winds have circulated for decades. A guinep vendor, who stood outside the church said he would't dare repeat some of the things he has heard.

"Mi caah talk about dem tings here right here suh. Yuh mad!," he exclaimed.

He wasn't joking.

"A black people bury over deh like mi self, but certain things mi still naah guh say in dem presence because dem listen," the man said.

Inside the graveyard, glass bottles were stuffed with paper. What is written on them? I didn't care to find out. But it is not far-fetched that visitors may have bottled their wishes and placed them at the tombs of the dead.

Glenton Brown, whose house is about 10 minutes away, told THE STAR that it is not uncommon for persons to show up at the graveyard, some of whom conduct rituals.

"One time dem use to say people round a the church a catch duppy with rice and dem supmn deh," Brown said.

"One time mi hear seh one man drive up him car and come up in a long gown, and him start spray up him face. When yuh look, him blow on sitten and run go a the van, so it look like duppy him did a catch," he related.

But while he has heard numerous horror stories about the church, Brown has never laid his eyes on a ghost. He remembers when songs echoed from its walls, and people gathered in their Sunday best.

"When di church use to open, it use to nice, and a lot of people use to go there," he said.

Now closed and in isolation, Duppy Church attracts tourists, drawn by the thrill of the unknown. Some take photos while others come to interact.

"Dem say duppy over there, but mi never see one over deh yet. Everybody kinda fraid to walk pass there sometimes, but mi do it and nothing never happen," Brown said of the place where many hurry to pass before dark.