The Dodleston Messages

In 1984, Ken Webster and Debbie Oakes moved into a cottage in Dodleston, Cheshire, and began experiencing poltergeist activity. Strangest of all were messages that appeared on Ken’s BBC computer, apparently sent by a man named Thomas Harden who claimed to be living in 1521.

The Cottage

Meadow Cottage was built in the sixteenth century. Webster, a teacher, and Oakes moved in and soon noticed typical poltergeist phenomena: objects moving, sounds without source, and a general sense of disturbance.

Then the computer messages began.

The Messages

Webster had a BBC Micro computer, which he used for his teaching work. He began finding messages on saved files—messages he had not written. The messages were written in archaic English and claimed to come from a man named Thomas Harden, who said he lived in the cottage in the year 1521.

Harden expressed confusion about the “light box” through which he was communicating. He asked questions about the future. He provided details about sixteenth-century life that researchers later verified as historically accurate.

Dialogue

Webster began responding, saving messages for Harden to read and receiving replies. Over two years, an extended dialogue developed. Harden described his life, his fears, and his wonder at communicating across time.

Other entities also communicated through the computer, including someone claiming to be from the year 2109. The messages from this future communicator were more cryptic and warned of ecological disaster.

Investigation

Researchers investigated the case. Computer scientists examined the BBC Micro and could not explain how the messages were appearing. The machine had no network capability, and the messages appeared on isolated files without external input.

Historian verification of details Harden provided—details unlikely to be known to a twentieth-century teacher—supported the authenticity of the communication.

The Book

Webster documented the case in “The Vertical Plane,” published in 1989. The book presents the messages and the investigation without drawing firm conclusions.

Assessment

The Dodleston messages remain one of the strangest poltergeist cases on record. If genuine, they suggest communication across time through means we do not understand. If fraudulent, they required knowledge of sixteenth-century life that would be difficult to fabricate convincingly.

The cottage, the computer, and the mysterious Thomas Harden present a puzzle that bridges poltergeist phenomena, temporal anomaly, and the nature of consciousness itself.