Woodchester Mansion - Saturday 24th March 2007

 Woodchester Mansion at dawn

Investigation

Place: Woodchester Mansion

Date: Saturday 24th March 2007

Time: 1000 pm - 0630hrs

Moon State

Weather: Mild Fine

Outside temperature: 16.5 °C (61.7°F), Apparent temp 14.6 °C

 BJ begins to set up a whole range of equipment

Introduction

On the 24th of March 2007, Haunted Devon was privileged to be allowed to investigate Woodchester Mansion. This was the furthest trip the club has yet undertaken in its quest to provide evidence of life after death involving a round trip of 300 miles and overnight accommodation for some of our members.

The mansion has a reputation in paranormal circles as being one of the most haunted locations in England and Haunted Devon were eager to find out if such a reputation was deserved.  The Mansion is of a gothic design standing in Woodchester Park near Nympsfield in Gloucestershire. It was abandoned during construction in the mid 1870’s. Although the mansion appears to be complete from the outside a quick tour reveals missing floors and rooms left unfinished. The creator of the Mansion, William Leigh, having bought Woodchester Park for £100,000 set about demolishing an existing house known as Spring Park to build a new structure which became the Manor that stands today.  Leigh, a Liverpudlian was educated at Oxford and Eton. He was a recent convert to the Roman Catholic faith.

Catholicism and the gothic revival in architecture were very fashionable at that time. Leigh approached Augustin Pugin to draw up the plans. Pugin was an English architect best known for his work on the Houses of Parliament and was a great advocate of Gothic architecture. Pugin completed his designs and plans for the house in 1846. He then became ill and Leigh allowed the project to lapse. He eventually turned to Charles Hansom (designer of the Hansom Cab) to take over the planning of the Mansion. In 1857, Leigh had a change of heart and disposed of Hansom’s services and turned to Benjamin Bucknall, who was an assistant to Hansom. He set about studying gothic revival architecture and Woodchester Mansion was the end result.

 Members of GPRG left and Cara and Steph right

The Mansion was constructed between 1858 – 1870 but all work stopped after the death of William Leigh in 1873. Apparently Leigh’s family wanted to change the design of the uncompleted building and asked another architect, James Wilson, to come up with a new design which he did but it seems that the cost of completing the mansion was too great for them to afford. In 1938, William Leigh's granddaughters, Blanche and Beatrice, sold the house and what was left of the estate to the Barnwood House Trust. They intended to convert the Mansion into a mental hospital, but this plan was shelved. During the Second World War, the grounds were used as a billet for Canadian and American troops, and the Mansion itself used by St Paul's Teacher Training College. It was then abandoned to the elements. It was eventually purchased by Stroud District Council, who leased it to the Woodchester Mansion Trust in 1992. The Mansion is residence to a colony of Horseshoe Bats which are a protected and is open to the public on many weekends from April through until October. It has regularly featured in paranormal television programmes including ‘Most Haunted’ and ‘Scariest Places On Earth’ and also serves as a popular film location. Much folklore has grown up around the house and the members of Haunted Devon were to enter it in a state of excitement and anticipation.

Having made the long trip to Nympsfield the Haunted Devon team met at The Rose and Crown. Byron and Brian were met at 1930 hrs by 2 members of The Gloucester Paranormal Research Group and taken down to the Mansion to set up recording and monitoring equipment. The rest of the Haunted Devon team followed at 2000hrs. Caz (Haunted Devon’s mediumship advisor) proceeded to do a mediumship walk round while Brian accompanied her to do baseline readings. Nothing untoward was noticed in the baseline tests except that the Mansion was extremely cold. Many of its windows are broken and a chilly breeze was penetrating all parts of the building.

 Nice light top left of picture

The Mediums Report (By Caz Parnell)

This was to be my first visit to Woodchester mansion and it didn’t disappoint. The drive down was a little bumpy but the site that met my eyes was that of a beautiful gothic residence. You have to see this place to get a real feel for it; no picture could ever do it justice. There were several lights on which lit the place up against the landscape, and I for one couldn’t wait to get inside.

All the team gathered in what would be the dining area; this was our base room for the night, not to mention it had a fire going which would hopefully keep us all warm. We were met by two friendly guys from the Gloucester Paranormal group, and who would be with us for the investigation.

 Kev (GPRG), Caz and Chris (GPRG)

Whilst the rest of the team were shown around the Mansion, I walked around with Brian (Sharkey), as he had already visited it twice before, to get a feel for the place and to hopefully pick up any information on my travels.

Here are my findings:

The Cellar: I feel two men, one going by the name of William, frequent this area and also roam the upper floors. As I walked about the cellar I caught myself starting to pace up and down, I felt agitated and uneasy. I felt this within the area that has a large supporting pillar within the middle of the room. I felt these two men were at odds with one another over some legal documents, such as the plans for the building of the mansion. I feel that there was unfinished business here, plans had been changed which I felt William was unhappy with. He was the stronger energy of the two. In the room on the opposite side of the central passageway, I could see a figure crouched in the corner, I felt this was a sad female energy who was sobbing and weeping. I feel she probably lived in the mid 1800’s, she is dressed very simply. I feel that those visiting the mansion may hear weeping and may also feel somebody touching them or gently pulling at their clothes. Within the end room opposite the staircase, I felt very sick. This came over me very suddenly and was such a powerful feeling that upon leaving the cellar I went straight to the toilet as I felt the need to vomit. After a short time away from the cellar the feeling left me.

 Woodchester Mansion ground floor.

Back Entrance Area, Passageway and Room

In this area I could sense three monks in brown robes walking one behind another as if in prayer, no faces could be seen as a large hood covered their heads. This seems to me to be residual energy. I felt the place had had some connections to an abbey, all be it a small one, that once existed within the area, Possibility these monks walked through this area before the mansion was constructed.

Tool room: We were not allowed to enter this room; however I felt that the sound of tools could be heard, even to the point of falling off shelving within the room. Later in the investigation, around 02.30am, I was to hear a sneeze coming from this room.

Tea rooms: This was another area I felt was the hub of much activity. Here I sensed the spirit of a young woman in her early twenties and a female child, about 5 or 6 years old whose name was Mary and I felt her surname began with a K. I think this area holds some connection to a fire having taken place here as I felt a burning sensation down my left arm and I feel that people were injured here by it.  I have a very strange feeling of being locked up behind a doorway as a punishment. I feel that this is not linked to the current mansion but possibly to a building that stood here before it.  I also felt a little girl was here in spirit who likes to interact with female visitors by gently pulling and stroking of their hair.  Very prominent was the image of a black shadowy figure which I felt roamed the place, this was a male presence and he was very strong. This energy did not feel very nice and I feel he is accompanied by a black hound. I feel these spirits have definitely been experienced on several occasions by visitors.

Whilst walking around the corridors I felt that there had been one or two workmen who had been within the vicinity working away who had been totally spooked by something, so much so, that they downed tools and ran out of the building. Their foreman or boss sent them back in but they refused never to enter the Mansion again. I felt this happened in the mid 20th century. I had the impression that the current building had either been built around another ruin or the stonework from an earlier building had been incorporated within the walls of the current mansion. I felt that materials used came from three different places.

I also feel that there are strong Scottish links to the mansion. I did feel that workmen who had originally worked on the building were still trying to be heard and are trying to complete that which remains unfinished. I also feel a strong connection between the Mansion and Sedgemoor in Somerset.

 Woodchester Mansion Upper floors

Investigation Vigils

Team 1

Before the main investigation started, Caz asked everyone to join in as she gave psychic protection to everyone. The teams then departed for their assigned vigil areas.
Team 1 started their first vigil in the Cellar area of the Mansion. The team consisted of Donna, Paul, Jenny & Ron, headed up by Cara. 10-15 minutes into their vigil, Paul observed and caught on camera what looked like a very faint shadow passing in front of Jenny and moving on down the main cellar corridor. Whilst the ground was dusty and area remained draughty given the vent outlets and broken windows in some of the smaller rooms that led off from the corridor, nothing of a similar nature occurred during their time there. This led the team to discount the possibility of the shadow being caused by dust particles being swept along by the draught.

As the Cellar consisted of 5 small rooms, Cara sent each team member into their own vigil area, where they remained for a short time. Ron sensed a male presence in the room he was assigned to. He picked up on the name ‘ Robert Townsend’ and described him as a tall, well dressed man, middle aged who was not happy with us being there. No fluctuations in EMF readings were noted, nor were any temperature changed recorded, Donna, however, did feel tension in the area, but could not pinpoint her feelings.

The team moved to the kitchen at 2315. Following instructions from Byron, the Haunted Devon lead investigator, Cara split her team into two, with Donna & Paul taking the Top Floor area, whilst Jen, Ron & Cara covered the Kitchen and Scullery. Again, it was not long before Ron ‘sensed’ the presence of a spirit, this time a middle aged woman - he described her as a cook wearing a head scarf but that he couldn’t see her face. She was tending the stove and he noted that she was left handed. He gave her name as ‘Martha’. Jenny recorded a sudden temperature drop to 0ºC, a drop of 3.5° C, in the immediate area that lasted for the duration of Ron ‘sensing’ the woman’s presence. No changes in the EMF background were noted. A second presence was pick-up by Ron, this time a younger girl, 17-20 years of age, carrying a bucket of coal; Jenni was the name he gave to this spirit.

At 2345, Cara swapped her teams over, with Donna & Paul covering the Kitchen & Scullery, while Jen, Ron & Cara covered the Top Floor. Whilst the general activity was found to be quiet on the top floor, Ron photographed some wonderful orb images from the window atop of the staircase – however, the conditions on the top floor were very poor, with a very strong breeze blowing through at all times. The air was damp and dust covering the entire floor area was possibly a contributory factor in producing a higher than average number of particles in the air – further investigation into the ‘orb’ phenomenon is required, but the results appear remarkable nevertheless. Before Cara’s team left the top floor to join with the main group downstairs, Ron advised them that he was picking up the spirits of two men working on the walls at the far end of the building. He thought they were possibly stonemasons but he wasn’t too sure. The names George Miller & John Jackson were given to him.

At this point a break was sorely needed due to the extremely cold conditions within the mansion so the team retreated to the rest room to have a drink in front of the log fire. Having warmed and refreshed themselves they entered the Chapel at 0045Hrs. Cara found this area rather sinister for some reason. She felt the place had a sense of foreboding, although she couldn’t account for why but she felt it just had a sense of not belonging. Donna sensed the spirits of two men at either end of the outside corridor and she described what seemed to her as almost as a power struggle between them. The team attempted a number of times to communicate with any spiritual presence to no avail.

Due to the mansion getting ever colder another break was called at 0110hrs. With all teams now in the rest room it was decided to carry out a glass divination experiment in the Cellar. Most team members tried this over the next 40 minutes but the results were very inconclusive. The team experienced no other activity for the rest of the night.

Team 2

Team 2 started their evening in the extremely cold first floor corridor at 2200 hrs. The team consisted of Edward, Trace, Rachel, Steph and was led by Brian.

They all took turns to calling out to try and get a response from any spirits that might have been wandering the area but nothing was heard audibly. Ed sensed the spirit of an adolescent boy who he thought was about 16 years old but could not pick up any further details. Trace thought that she saw a hazy figure move at one end of the corridor when Ed shone his torch at the spot where he said the boy was standing. The area was so cold that the team would have needed arctic survival suits to remain any longer so Brian called a break to the proceedings. After the break the team moved onto the Chapel at 2300Hrs.

During the orientation tour of the Mansion given by the members of the Gloucester Paranormal Group upon Haunted Devon’s arrival in the Mansion, Edward reported having seen a spirit appearing as a fluorescent grey anomaly in the shape of a man, looking over the scaffolding in the chapel. He sensed that this man had fallen from a similar position on scaffolding originally erected during the building of the mansion. Edward also believed the adolescent boy he had sensed in the upper corridor to have been this man's son. On returning to the chapel, Edward sensed this man again; he was listening to the team and appeared to be very interested in them. The team moved along the passage from the Chapel to the Mortuary or Fridge Room. Here Ed felt the presence of a female spirit. He gave her surname as ‘Ansel’ or ‘Hanson’. The spirit told him she had made love in this room in August, during the holidays, whilst there was no-one else there to the building foreman or owner. Ed described her as dark haired and very sensual and sexy.

 Woodchester Mansion - The team move to another area

Moving on down the corridor Brian started to feel something was not quite right and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he felt a tingling sensation go through his body. He was sure something was watching him at the far end of the corridor and challenged it to show itself. Ed sensed that a male spirit was there who for some reason didn’t like Brian’s stature or manner. Rachel saw an orb which was then caught on camera, Trace and Rachel both report feeling a change in the atmosphere, and they an aggressive male spirit. They also report a deepening sensation to the darkness thickening and report that they saw a black shadow moving along the corridor which left them both very frightened.

After another break for refreshments the team moved into the Cellar at 0030hrs. As hard as they tried the team could not illicit a response from any spirits. No light anomalies were seen and the atmosphere was felt to be calm.

Caz now joined the team and everyone except Ed stood around a small table, on which a tumbler glass was placed to attempt glass divination. They all placed one finger, very lightly, on the base of the glass and Caz started to ask any spirits who wanted to communicate with us to move the glass. After a couple of minutes, Brian collapsed to the floor. He attributed nothing paranormal to this however. He feels that the cold got to him and he probably experienced a sudden drop in blood pressure after a tiring week.

He retired, with help from Byron and Haunted Devon’s first aid assistant, Pippa, to the rest room to recover.

The team carried on with Ed now taking Brian’s place but no activity or response was obtained during the glass divination.  Further vigils were carried out in the Bathroom and Kitchen areas without any activity being noted.

 Woodchester Mansion the tea room area

Team 3

Team 3 was ably led by Pippa and its members were, Brian, Helen, Sue, Sarah and Claire. Their first vigil at 2200hrs was to be in the top floor corridor. They found nothing untoward in this area although at one point they thought they saw a shadow moving at the bottom of the stairs leading up to it.

At 2220 as nothing appeared to be happening, they decided to descend to the bottom of the staircase. Brian sensed the spirit of a young lad who he reports was about 15-16 yrs old. He was hiding in the shadows just past the caretaker’s flat entrance and Brian asked him to come forward. Brian felt that he was an apprentice working on the building at some point in its construction and also felt that the boy’s father may also have worked there. The team reported hearing a heard a loud knock in the area where Brian reported sensing this spirit.

They then moved to the Cellar where once more all appeared to be quiet. The only incident of note was Brian’s temperature monitor suddenly giving readings that swung rapidly between 1.3 - 16° C.  As none of the team actually felt a temperature change it has to be assumed that this was a temporary malfunction of the instrument.  After a break the team ventured into the Kitchen. Brian appears to have had a very frightening experience in this area; in fact he describes it as the most frightening experience of his life.

He reported sensing a male energy that did not seem very hospitable; Brian began to feel very cold down his right side, Chris who was stood to his left felt the same thing on his left side. They both believed there was a spirit standing between them. Apparently he was not happy that the team were there Brian could hear him shouting GO, GET OUT, at that point he felt he was being pushed in the back and lost his balance. At that stage Brian says he felt this entity trying to come into his body from my right hand side. Brian rapidly left the area and Chris immediately felt the same entity try to enter his body. This was the first time Brian had ever experienced something like this and he hopes it is the last.

 Woodchester Mansion the only fire in the building

Team 4

The team’s first vigil was within the Chapel. The team, led by Steve, consisted of Laura, Andy, William and Valerie. They began at 9pm in the smaller chapel which had a strange plinth with a statue of a dog upon it. Laura began by asking any spirits to show their presence to the team.  The room suddenly appeared to go extremely dark and Laura indicated that she could feel a presence behind Steve. The presence was of a man who seemed very unhappy and angry.  Laura asked the presence if it could touch someone, make them feel cold, or move an object, but no one felt or saw anything. Ten minutes later, Steve thought he saw a figure move very quickly in front of him from right to left and the room suddenly became brighter. Laura sensed that this was a young girl who was standing directly in front of her, and could see a mist. This spirit did nothing to visibly indicate its presence to the rest of the team. Laura then indicated that she could no longer pick anything up in the room so the team moved into the main chapel area. Nothing was noted in this area and at 2200hrs the team finished the vigil and went for a break.

The team’s next vigil was to take them into the bathroom area on the first floor at 2300 hrs. After a while Laura reports feeling a presence, and then indicated that she felt that her right arm, and then her side was in some discomfort and pain. Laura said that it felt that a person may have been injured at sometime in this area on their right side. She then felt as if someone was pushing her, and that her breathing was restricted. Laura then felt that she was in the presence of an American and she then felt as if she was being moved from side to side very quickly, she could also hear a buzzing in her left ear as if someone was trying to use a radio transmitter and receiver.   Laura later indicated that she could feel the presence of a man in the behind her, the same presence she felt in the small chapel. She reports that the man was angry, very angry, and was shouting “Get out, get out.” with no explanation as to why the spirit also indicated that ‘nobody understood him’. The presence did not respond to any questioning and then it left the room. It was at this point that the team ended the vigil and returned to the meeting room on the ground floor.

Just after midnight the team moved to the top floor area. This contains the living quarters of the caretaker.  After settling down the team report that the corridor appeared suddenly to go extremely dark, even the light coming through the windows at either end began to darken, according to the team. Steve began to feel unnerved and felt the hairs on his back and neck stand up. He then began to feel tingly all over and felt the atmosphere about him was quite oppressive. Steve didn’t feel that whatever was causing these sensations was something horrible or evil, just a strange feeling that he had never experienced before.

 Woodchester Mansion the chapel

Laura said she could sense a great deal of activity which involved a lot of moving about by spirits. After about five minutes Laura said she could sense women, maybe nurses, and that the area could have been a hospital at some time. Steve then felt the tingling stop and the team now felt that the darkness was lifting and that it appeared to be brighter in the corridor. Andy reported that he could smell lavender, which Steve, Laura, Val and William then also smelt. The activity then appeared to die right down and the team felt there was nothing more to be gained so they returned to the rest room.

Teams now began to combine to try different experiments. Team 4 paired up with team 1 to try glass divination in the cellar.  Whatever the teams attempted, the glass would not move. Team 4 then moved into one of the smaller rooms in the cellar area. Laura picked up on the presence of a small boy and girl, and felt that they may have used the area to play in. After a while Laura could sense nothing more, so the Team left the room and went back to the main room, where glass divination was still being attempted, still with no success.

It was Haunted Devon’s pleasure to welcome some new members to its ranks at Woodchester Mansion. One of these was William Bessant who is a hypnotherapist, well used to the working of the mind, who sent in his thought of the nights occurrences. William was a member of Team 4.

 Woodchester Mansion - The entrance

Expert Report  by Bill Bessant

Positive Experiences

While I had no personal experience of tangible spirits on the night, I did (I believe) witness our team medium coming up with two and a half direct hits of a paranormal nature. There wasn't much to prompt the key word "American" or "radio communication" in the area where she mentioned them and there was no shot-gun outpouring of nationalities or technologies in which the correct cues were likely to be thrown up by chance. There remains the logical possibility, of course, that she obtained clues ,consciously or unconsciously, from other sources (eg from one or more attendees who had visited the Manor previously - there was one who sat in the same row as Laura during breaks in the rest room - albeit quite far away from her). I'm inclined to think that she did not get her information consciously from any other source than the one used in the way she declared. The "angry old man pacing up and down saying 'nobody understands me' " may have been another direct hit but I couldn't remember if I heard any other account of this apart from Laura's report of expression changes on the face of the Gloucester psychical researcher to whom she reported the story. Accordingly, I can only assign half-a-hit at this time unless further information emerges confirming that an angry old man (apart from the caretaker) has turned up before. The upstairs hospital corridor and wards were interesting and plausible but was this verified by any other source or simply accepted by the team on the basis of Laura's statements? I don't recall any independent source. If confirmed, the total number of "hits" would seem highly exceptional.

Apart from Laura's statements, the former attendee mentioned above also gave me an optimistic expectation of things to come. This attendee mentioned certain experiences in the crypt (Cellar) area of the Mansion, concluding with an account of small stones being thrown at her by the presence encountered. I have no reason to doubt that account as a personal experience and it gives some hope of physical phenomena which escapes the constraints of a medium's experience that we cannot share.   I asked several other attendees what was their most outstanding experience to date in carrying out paranormal investigations and, in a group which included the founder of Haunted Devon, got the response that there were so many significant experiences that one couldn't be singled out!

Team medium Laura reported being aware of a "child" at a location in the room where others of us could see something. I saw a low intensity area of light (a vague vertical "strip" shape) which seemed to be to Laura's immediate right side (my left). I also saw an even lower intensity patch of light which could have been at her left shoulder level. I could look away from the shapes and look back at them in their retained position. At a later stage, when Laura asked the "child" to move towards one of the observers, I noticed a very low intensity cloud-like patch of light (or patches) about half way between Laura and myself. I personally saw nothing in the first perceived (to me) left side "strip" and right side "patch" of light to indicate a "child". If both areas of light were taken together as an indication of "width" of a being, the being would have been as wide as Laura but the total height would have been less (by an adult head size) than Laura who is approximately 5ft 2Inches tall. However, the intermediate distance cloud-like patches spanned a much smaller zone both vertically and horizontally and were very roughly circular. I initially speculated that I might be seeing patches of light selectively diffracted from Laura's sides. The "post- movement" patches were not as clear as the initial "boundaries" of light patterns and did not reflect Laura's dimensions in any way nor did they completely supplant the initially observed zones of light. The intermediate patches were distinct and additional to them. They also retained their position if I looked away and then back at them. The latter "child" observation goes down in my book as "unexplained" although eye accommodation changes over time and mental focus under suggestion on subtle light diffraction patterns are not excluded as possible influences on what I observed.

The initial "child" observation is not really explained either but given the apparent match with Laura's body width and the persistence of the initial light patterns after the "child" had moved, the second observation seems independent of the first and potentially more significant.  The above were unequivocally positive and important aspects of the night's activities. The next section raises queries about interpretation of experiences by those investigating the phenomena.

Scrying

I was interested in the phenomenon of "Scrying" which was attempted during the evening. It appeared to me, however, that face changes "in the mirror" were in fact examples of what happens when you strain the eyes and allow the brain to work on the ambiguous data which results.

I note that comparable effects are possible in terms of sound. I remember as a small boy, listening to the sounds of a bus ,out of sight initially, as it laboured from the terminus in Redcliffe Bay, Portishead up a long nearby hill and then along a flat part of Down Road to the bus stop outside my parents' house. Later on in life, I noticed a curious thing whenever I again waited for the bus at that stop. I often heard the "bus" coming up the hill but when the vehicle came over the brow and along the flat road. I realised that it wasn't the bus at all! It might have been a large or a small lorry and the sound it made was nothing like that of a bus yet I'd been convinced by the clearly recognisable "bus" sound until the vehicle was close enough to see and hear properly. There were cues of expectation and perceptual templates applied by my brain to an indistinct non-bus sound to give it a distinctive character which did not belong to it.

I believe that the visual version of this effect is one of the two identified ingredients in the Scrying phenomena. The other powerful (if accidental) ingredient which causes further elaboration of the interpreted appearance of faces "in the mirror" is that operative in traditional fixed-spot induction used, albeit rarely now, in both self-hypnosis and for hypnotising others. Given that potent combination, almost anything can turn up. I saw a number of "face replacements" take place - generally depicting a very old face with extremely scaly or mummified skin (some would say these were highly accurate depictions of the person in the chair but such observations have, of course, been discounted on the grounds that they may be correct.

Further Professional Bias

While on the subject of hypnosis, the setup for the séance in which light energy was imagined entering at the top of our heads and flowing down the left arm and out through the hand is as pure a hypnotic induction procedure as one could imagine! But does that make it suspect or otherwise inappropriate? Not necessarily! Imagery is the most powerful way of conveying messages and intentions to the processes outside immediate conscious awareness (the executive ego). It is very much the route used to modify physiology especially in medical hypnotherapy but by no means exclusively there. I've no doubt that it can be used to modify and direct energetic changes which are undetectable by conventional means. There may also be a focusing/attention quality to the exercise which is as important to the group objective as any kind of energy displacement or accumulation.

The Question Of Orbs

Having recently seen an interesting TV demonstration of how to produce apparently "perfect" orbs by arranging dust to fall in front of a still camera lens while taking a picture, I attempted to repeat this effect by taking a hefty pinch of concrete dust from the floor of the kitchen and releasing it in a stream while my hypnotherapy colleague (Valerie Phillips) took a snap of the room. The result was a clear picture of concrete dust particles and no sign of an orb. However, one or two isolated "orbs" appeared on her photographs in other snaps. I don't doubt the relevance of the TV "orbs from dust" demonstration but simply note that any relation between dust and orb appearance needs further elaboration. Is there life after dust for orbs? I'll be experimenting with this carefully before going on another trip with Haunted Devon.

Items Not alright On The Night

It was clear from the reactions of many attendees that a fairly strong expectation of success with the séance and with movement of a finger-touched glass had not been fulfilled. As a green spectator, I felt that standing near draughty windows effectively requesting draughts on the face and elsewhere from the spirits as a sign of their presence was to embrace ambiguous signals at best. In the event, there seemed, in our team at least, to be no hair pulling or comparably clear indications of response from a hidden being. Some vague noises which I didn’t hear were reported coming mainly from outside the room in which investigation was taking place.

Conclusion

It was an interesting - if definitely cool - night at the Manor in which I learned how to make much more of future visits with Haunted Devon.

Bill Bessant

For all the members the thought of going to Woodchester Mansion was an exciting one. Many sensed the presence of spirits within its walls but the overall feeling was that the place was not that active. It certainly did not seem to live up to the reputation generated by local legends and by shows such as Most Haunted.

The night was extremely cold which must have had an effect on the physiological and mental processes of Haunted Devon members. With the lights off, The corridors are extremely dark and given the tiring journey and the long cold night a lot of what was felt by members could be put down to tricks of the mind.

Nothing was captured on recording equipment that could be attributed to a ghostly presence.
The usual amount of orbs was caught on Team member’s personal cameras but the Mansion is a very dusty place and the air was cold and damp and this may be a probable cause for the anomalies. Glass Divination, which normally produces such positive results, failed to illicit any response from the mansions spiritual inhabitants.

Everybody seemed to enjoy the venue, whatever results they obtained. The mediums did come up quite with a few hits during the course of the investigation which tie in with the history of the Mansion and there is no reason to doubt their integrity.

Woodchester Mansion in all probability does contain spirits who still walk its rooms and passageways but it seemed they were not willing to show themselves on the night.

Brian Pengelly
Editor - Haunted Devon

The editor would like to thank the following members for their help in the compilation of this report

William, Caz, Steve, Cara, Steph, Ron and Brian