Helston

Helston
Population	11,700 (2011)
Ceremonial County	Cornwall
Country	England
Sovereign State	United Kingdom
Places of Interest	The Mansion St. Michael's The Vicarage Belial's Prison

Helston is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, in the south-west of England, and the prime location in which Realms of the Haunting takes place, harbouring settings such as the Mansion, the Church of St. Michael and the Vicarage of Charles Randall.

It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula. Helston is the most southerly town on the island of Great Britain. The population in 2011 was 11,700.

Places of Interest

The in-game representation of Helston harbours several places of interest, some of which were inspired by the actual architecture and landscape of the real-world town, namely the Church of Saint Michael, the Vicarage of Charles Randall, and the enigmatic Mansion that we become trapped inside at the very start of the game.

St. Michael's

© Helston History

The Church of St. Michael, the way it appears to us in the game, is actually a relatively close reproduction of the real St. Michael's in Helston, which was erected in 1763 by Francis, second and last Earl of Godolphin, as a replacement of an earlier construction which had been struck by lightning in 1727 and had burnt down in the process. The actual church is a large rectangular building of Elvan stone, with granite dressings and a prominent belfry, quite similar to its in-game pendant.

While the in-game St. Michael's is characterized by stained glass windows depicting St. Michael himself as well as various angels with instruments, the stained glass window in the actual church shows two angels dancing the Furry Dance. The Furry Dance or Flora Dance, respectively is one of the oldest British customs of both Pagan and Christian background and takes place every year on May 8 in celebration of the advent of spring. On the same day is held the Feast of the Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel, the patron Saint of Helston who is said to have appeared on this day in the year 495 on what is known today as St. Michael's Mount."

In-Game References

Intro Sequence

Shadows - Intro Sequence

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Adam: My father was a pastor in a Cornish village.

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The Legend of Hell's Stone

One of the unsourced, hand-written Parchments that we find in Florentine's Library speculates about the etymology of the name Helston, apparently resulting from a legend about the Devil and the Archangel Michael. During their battle, the boulder carried by the Devil that was supposed to block the entrance to Hell fell upon the Earth and landed on the spot now known as Helston.

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The Legend of Hell's Stone According to legend the Devil was flying over Cornwall with a huge boulder to block up the entrance to Hell when St. Michael challenged him to battle. In the battle the Devil dropped the stone and where it fell the place became known as Hell's Stone or now commonly as Helston. To celebrate this victory the people of the town danced through the streets and it became known as the Furry Dance which still takes place upon the closest Saturday to the festival of the town's Patron Saint, the Archangel St. Michael.

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News Cuttings

Article on Crop Circles

The blue Scrapbook that Adam finds on the cabinet in the Typewriter room contains a Newspaper Cutting, relating the appearance of seven Crop Circles in Helston. Apparently, there have been numerous occurrences of this phenomenon in the town's history, but only recently did the council decide to seek professional investigators and set up a "crop watch". According to the article, the people of Helston must have rather familiarized themselves with crop circles throughout the centuries; in fact, the phenomenon is historically documented in the real world equivalents of Helston and Cornwall.

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Current Spate of Crop Circles Baffles Experts Paranormal experts called into uncover the source of recent crop circle formations in rural Cornwall. On October 29th the village of Helston in deepest Cornwall awoke to find it's [sic] farming community overrun with no less than seven newly formed crop circles. A team of self-confessed experts from Wiltshire arrived at Helston yesterday shortly after receiving an invitation from the council to initiate a psychic investigation. For many centuries now the people of Helston have held witness to this strange and fascinating phenomenon but the intensity of recent formations seems to have prompted the people into finally calling in the experts to set up a 'Crop-Watch'. Whatever the sources of the phenomena the village of Helston is currently basking in the publicity the events bring. Investigations continue.

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Twenty Four Hour Mystery Probe

One of the News Cuttings that we find on the notice board of Adam's cell inside Belial's Prison, relates a strange event, during which all the inhabitants of the Parish of St. Michael's (located near Helston) apparently slept between the evening of the 5th straight through to the morning of the 7th of December (no year given).

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Whatever happened to the day of the 6th of December? That's what the people of the Parish of St. Michael's near Helston in Cornwall are asking. Local Post reporter Martin Clune was one of the 500+ residents to have experienced this phenomena in which all residents claimed to have slept from the evening of the 5th right the way through to the morning of the 7th. Priest Father Randall of St. Michael's called together all Parishioners for a service on the evening of the 7th for a prayer service to calm people's fears. Local sources indicate that the people of St. Michael's are now coming to terms with the loss.

”

References