Sex, magic and the occult. In The Sands?

Yep, the sleepy village near Farnham was the location in a Midsummer-esque story which graced the front page of the Herald 35 years ago.

The ‘Witchcraft in Woods Mystery’ was the title of the eye-catching expose with the story also involving pagans, feathers, nocturnal vigils and suggestions of satanism.

The story was developed from a Surrey Police appeal for information as a group of schoolchildren found a ‘magic circle’ in the woods near the village on August 2, 1990.

They stumbled across the circle in thick woods a short distance from the North Downs footpath and the back of houses on Crooksbury Road.

But investigations took a Summerisle turn with police establishing the circle may have been used for sex rites and constructed by “dabblers in the occult”.

White or black magic rites, although not illegal, may have been performed with its appearance coinciding with Lammas Day, the Pagan Harvest Festival, the day before its discovery.

Inspector Rosemary Murray led the appeal, calling for anyone who may have witnessed “anything strange” in the area around the time to get in touch.

She said: “Witchcraft is, in itself, not illegal and what happened may have been completely harmless.

“There is no evidence that any crime has been committed but police are concerned that what may have started as dabbling in the occult could become more sinister.”

Police kept the circle under surveillance and carried out vigils on nights “important in the occult diary” following its discovery, with no further activity being seen.

But there were more signs of unusual activity in the woods, with black crow feathers placed along the network of paths leading to the circle.

“The circle measures 30 paces across and the trees and branches that fell in the recent storms have been used to form a wall that runs its complete circumference,” continues the report.

“A low archway of intricately woven bark gives entrance to the circle – directly opposite a wooden throne. In the centre there is a fireplace and several seats made from logs.

“To the left, a tree has been carved into an Asherah pole, five foot high, representing a phallic god. It is adorned in bright colours and symbols. Nearby, a carefully constructed path runs to a second circle, smaller than the first, but with a square fire in the centre.”

Whatever the purpose of this set-up, you have to admire the effort that went into it.

Police added that “an expert in the occult” was helping with their enquiries. The same woman told the Herald that the find was a “working magic circle that had been used for sex rites.”

The circle was believed to be too elaborate for dabblers, but the practice of white or black magic at the woodland site could not be discounted.

It wasn’t the first time a circle had appeared in the woods as the land owner ordered workmen to destroy one he found on almost exactly the same spot two years before.

The news also coincided with reports in the national press of children being subjected to satanic ritual abuse, although Farnham Police stressed there was “absolutely no evidence” to suggest such activity had taken place in The Sands.

And what did readers think? Well, the following week the Herald ran a letter from Christopher Hill of Tor Road, Farnham, pleading with people not to do adopt a “live and let live” attitude to the circle’s creators, but to be fearful of witchcraft.

“BEWARE, you are playing with fire!” he said, quoting Apostle Paul in his plea.

“Witchcraft/Satanism is at the darker end of the spectrum of the many occult practices which are increasingly followed today. Ouija boards, clairvoyance, tarot, eastern mysticism, fantasy games like "dungeons and dragons" all have their roots in the same dark forces.”

Blimey. So who knows what you’ll find if you go into the woods today…