For 2 months in the summer of 1898 Kings Lynn was gripped by a series of supernatural events that seemingly sprang from nowhere. The Kings Lynn Herald reported of ‘a malicious specter ‘ that plagued a wash house in the towns center, ‘pinching the posteriors of the afrighted girls therein’. The Anglican Clarion reported similar events that cast a shadow over the Anglian Women’s Guild whose annual fundraising cake bake was ‘beset by unholy forces which flung cakes at the elderly ladies attending and raised the skirts of the young’. It isn’t hard for us to fathom what lay behind these ‘supernatural forces’....Butler Smith and Odham MacGuinness had been working furiously on a  loom purchased by Climpson, fashioning three gowns made from Climpson’s gypsum.

Whilst the trio were having fun however the towns council were determined to do something about their unholy visitations. Using contacts within the local church they sent a plea for help to England’s most prominent figures in the field of the paranormal; Dr Hodge.

Dr Seagrave Hodge was without doubt one of the finest brains of the day. There was no subject on which Hodge could not expound upon at length. On one occasion at a formal dinner held for the country’s senior churchmen, Hodge was asked by the Archbishop of Bridlington if he would mind passing the salt, to which Bishop Ely, who was known for hating such formal dinners exploded: ‘God’s right testicle man!! Don’t get Hodge started on the subject of Salt or we’ll be here all bloody week!’.

Many of Hodge’s views were unpopular, particularly on the subject of exorcising unwelcome spirits - Hodge believed the only way to rid a place of such visitations was to cleanse the site  by burning it to the ground. Although out of step with many sections of the church, word of these ‘sacraments of extreme unction’ had fallen upon favorable ears within it’s upper enclaves, and it was these ears which heard Kings Lynn plea for assistance.

Hodge’s arrival in Kings Lynn caused quite a stir and most of the town turned out to greet him, including Butler Smith, Odham MacGuinness and Climpson, who were beginning to question the wisdom of their actions. That evening, as Dr Hodge went throughout the town armed with his bible followed by a band of torch carrying followers, the three decided that the best course of action was to flee Kings Lynn immediately before they were discovered. Climpson demanded that they dismantle the loom and destroy all trace of the gypsum before leaving, and so, as thick black smoke begin to fill the air, they hurried to Climpson’s laboratory.

An hour later the three were sat in a carriage headed back to London. All, with the exception of Odham MacGuinness, who was looking forward to return to the capital and the prospect of new challenges, were silent. Climpson , distraught that his wonderous discovery now lay in ruins stared out the window at the passing darkness. Butler Smith, a strange smile playing over his face was also silent but for an entirely different reason.