Bowie: A Biography - JFK247

1600s. During World War I they’d been a place to
store secret ammunition, and in World War II, they
were designated an air-raid shelter. The caves had
become a popular tourist attraction for collectors of
fossils and local arcane tales of ancient fauna and
magic mushrooms. By 1967, rock acts like Pink
Floyd and Jimi Hendrix had performed concerts
inside the winding maze. David himself had
performed there with the Kon-rads and the Manish
Boys. In 1972, the caves were the set for a Dr. Who
special. In the eighties teens would play Dungeons
and Dragons there.
“They were very dangerous,” Siouxsie Sioux, a
onetime Chislehurst resident, says, her tone a bit
more grave than I’d have suspected. “They used to
cordon off bits you couldn’t go down. Kids would
sometimes go down there and get caved in. It was
very creepy.”
By the time Terry reached the entrance to the
caves, he’d begun to hear voices. “I heard a voice
saying to me, ‘Terry, Terry,’” he reportedly said, “and
I looked up and there was this great light and this
beautiful figure of Christ looking down at me, and he
said to me, ‘Terry, I’ve chosen you to go out in the
world and do some work for me.’”
For many with his mental affliction, hallucinations
often take the form of a religious vision, a special
message from either God or the Antichrist. Terry
was convinced that Jesus Christ had selected him
for a special mission. Christ was supposedly
surrounded by a blinding light that forced the