Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Abbey Hall Investigation
Saturday 8th December 2007
Attendees :
Julie Harwood, Maria Street, Marie Holder, Jeff Aldridge, Simon Steadman & Rachel Steadman.
Introduction
Abbey Hall community centre is situated in the pretty village town of Netley Abbey in Southampton. This was a small investigation arranged by the small group of members attending, as it was somewhere they had all talked about. Netleys community centre had always been the Jubilee Hall until that was demolished and the new Abbey Hall was built as its replacement in the 1990’s. Netleys Abbey itself is famous for being haunted but when we heard from people that visited the hall that it also appeared to be haunted we could not help getting in contact with the Parish council to see if they would allow us a visit. As is so often the case people tend to presume new buildings can not be haunted yet when you realise the ancient waterside land it is built on, with the abbey close you tend to think differently about it. We knew for a fact that certain occurrences at the hall had forced staff to take a different approach in regards to ghosts and on one occasion a blessing / clearance was done to put peoples minds at rest. Does something still remain in the hall because of the land it was built on? Our thanks go to Alex and Hound Parish Council for making our visit possible.
We took this chance as a small team to try a few experiments with how we conducted the vigils. Instead of team notes, every investigator had a clip board and note sheets and we all made our own detailed notes. We also tried an experiment where for 2 vigils we sat in absolute silence. No calling out, nothing. We then made notes of how we felt, things we heard, saw and sensed and made a note of the time. As most investigators know, when your team-mate says they feel something it is all too easy to agree and almost convince yourself you have felt/seen/sensed it to. This way it could not be done, as there was no power of suggestion between members. We were excited to see if removing this power of suggestion made any difference and were even more interested to see if at the end of the silent vigils anyone had sensed the same things at the same times. We were amazed at how successful this experiment was!
This report as you can see, due to the experiments we tried and the open way we conducted vigils, is very different to other reports. The best thing I think is to let our individual reports explain how the night went.
Teams
Team 1
Julie
Jeff
Simon
Team 2
Maria
Marie
Rachel
Area’s we have access to
The Kitchen
The Main Entrance Hall
The Main Hall
The Stage
Area/corridors behind the stage
Equipment
Each team had access to -
1 night vision camcorders
at least 1 digital camera's
1 laser temperature gun
1 emf meters
Glass for divinations
Experiments
Locked off camera on the stage covering the trigger object cross. This area was also protected by barrier beam motion sensors.
Trigger object of a witch pendant on large table in Main hall
Trigger object coins were placed in foyer by front doors, these were protected by barrier beam motion sensors.
Investigators personal reports
Marie Holder
Team: Julie, Maria, Rachel, Simon, Jeff and Marie
Introduction
From the outside this looked to be a very ordinary community hall that you would book for a birthday or wedding perhaps, but once the lights went out it was a different story!
Julie suggested we do an experiment which entailed the six of us sitting in the dark with a clipboard and not saying anything to anyone, just putting what we experienced personally down on paper with the time it happened, which sounded very interesting and well worth a try.
We first split into two groups and did a vigil in the hall and the foyer area. Our group which consisted of Maria, Rachel and I went into the hall first. Below are some of the things I experienced.
10.40. Click heard above me. Lights settling?
10.42 Something brushed the right side of my face.
10.43 Creak heard coming from the door
10.45 Sharp intake of breath heard behind me
10.45 Chair behind me creaked twice
10.56 Breeze felt coming from above me
We then moved into the Foyer area
11.47 Heard crack at the foyer door
11.51 Click heard coming from Rachel’s chair while she was in the kitchen
11.52 Another click heard from the same place
11.59 Maria asked if ‘they’ wanted to lock up and they couldn’t because we were there and we heard a loud crack on the door leading to the foyer.
I felt there was a feminine presence here and got the name Sissy
We then began the experiment suggested by Julie earlier and here are some of the things I experienced.
12.40-1.10 Foyer area
12.44 Chair creaked beside me and heard a tap on the radiator next to it
12.47 Tap heard from the kitchen
1.02 Kitchen door creaked
1.09 Heard growling noise coming from the hall. It could have been the air conditioning.
1.20-1.50 Hall
1.20 Click heard above one of the doors that were close to each other
1.26 Tap felt on the side of my head
1.26 Tap on what sounded like something metallic over by the door leading to the stage and under-stage
1.29 Sudden feeling of extreme cold like a ‘walked over my grave’ feeling
1.32 A feeling of being tapped on the back
1.37 A tickling sensation in my right ear
1.44 Chair creaked behind me
1.47 Motion sensor clicked on (nobody was moving at the time) and door beside it creaked.
We then split into two different groups. Simon, Rachel and I did a vigil under the stage, while Julie, Maria and Jeff did a glass divination in the Hall.
I was particularly looking forward to this part of the investigation but unfortunately I did not sense anything or hear anything unusual. Rachel and I decided to sit on the stairs in the corridor leading to the stage but again I did not hear anything unusual.
Simon, Rachel and I went back into the Hall to see how the others were getting on and they were having quite a successful divination although I did not really get the gist of who they had contacted.
Conclusion
I found this to be a somewhat unusual place, as it looks so modern and not in the least bit spooky, until the lights went out!
The best place for me was the hall as that is where the activity of the evening seemed to be centred.
I look forward to going back sometime.
Maria Street
This was an investigation with a difference. There were only six of us and we were in a modern and spacious community centre, not the stereotypical haunted venue! I live only 10 minutes away from this location, but the weather was pretty wild so a more careful drive was in order. We were all very glad to get inside and fire up the urn. After a comforting hot drink and the setting up of the trigger objects, we started our vigils. We were to take our own personal notes and compare them afterwards, so armed with clipboards and our usual equipment, we (Me, Rachel and Marie) made our way into the main hall. As I was filming on this vigil, I didn’t take notes as regularly as the others but I did notice a loud click along the far wall at 10.45 and again two minutes later coming from the right of the stage area. There was what looked like an alarm which kept clicking on and off and it was only when Julie saw it in the break that she told us it was in fact a motion sensor. This was very interesting as we were very still in this vigil.
After a quick break we swapped vigil areas and Rachel, Marie and myself sat outside the kitchen area. These are the personal written notes from me.
11.40 – Door slams in lobby for second time. (Found out later, that Simon had opened and shut a door in the hall)
Lobby
11.41 – Marie calls out, footsteps heard and then a rumbling sound.
Outside Kitchen
11.45 – Triangle of light flashing across the ceiling above door to hall (cannot be sure this is not movement of other team’s camcorder.)
11.50 – Rachel investigates click from Kitchen. Almost immediately, two clicks are heard from her chair.
11.53 – I get the name of Frank
11.55 – I call out to ask if there is somebody there who wishes to lock up and go home as I feel there is a presence of somebody who looked after the place. I ask if this is the case and a loud click is heard from the lobby doors.
12.02 Door is heard creaking open or shut. (Night was windy, but whole place is double glazed and there were no draughts or wind tunnels)
12.03 – I feel that a cat is connected to this place – maybe a stray adopted by people working here.
Break.
We all come together for this vigil and remain outside the kitchen area.
12.44 – Get the song ‘Postman Pat’ in my head but it was the second line that I felt was being conveyed to me (and his black and white cat). I felt this was a description of the cat I had picked up on earlier. Julie and Simon tell me then that in the last break they had gone outside, only to see a black and white cat looking like it was on a mission and it had no collar.
12.46 – Name of Gardiner is given to me. Don’t feel it was a profession because I felt that this was the correct spelling for it.
12.51 – Get the name of Zeus in my head. Also, the songs, ‘White Wedding’ and ‘Jean Genie’
12.59- I get an Italian song in my head over and over again. Feel it may be a clue to Frank’s nationality.
1.06 – I get the overwhelming feeling that there is somebody sat between Marie and Jeff. Is it my coat on that chair that is making me feel this? I felt this was male as it was very dominant.
Hall
1.24 – I get the name of Rogers.
1.26 – I get the impression of a wood. Was this once a wooded area.
1.29 – I hear the song ‘Go tell it on the mountain’ in my head. As the next line is ‘that Jesus Christ is born’, I wondered if this was a reference to Christmas.
1.34 – Get the name of Arthur, felt this was a pet name for the cat.
1.40 – Feel very cold on legs and face.
1.42 - Feel the hall is filling up with shadowy figures and they are all stood around the edges of the hall just watching us. I also feel an overwhelming sense of fatigue.
1.45 – Feeling has passed and I feel wide awake again.
1.47 – Get the name of Charles.
After a short break we shuffled the teams and Rachel, Simon and Marie went under the stage and Me, Julie and Jeff set up a glass divination in the main hall. The first movements were very hesitant and seemed to be coming from a very unreliable source, so the answers received from this part of the séance had to be discounted. We soon picked up on what appeared to be the spirit of a young girl and I felt her name was Alice. It was soon time to wrap it all up, but this was a really atmospheric place to investigate and I felt spooked on more than one occasion, which is not like me. Big thanks to Marie for securing this location and also to Alex, the caretaker, maybe you will be able to join us for the next one!
Jeff Aldridge
This location from the outside appears too modern to hold any history, but looks can be deceiving.
For the first vigil I was with Julie and Simon in the entrance hall adjacent to the kitchen. At first it was very quiet and nothing untoward was apparent, after a short while I felt a touch on my head. Julie was asking out and various knocks and clicks were heard, some in response to questions being asked, I also felt a cold draught down my left arm and again a touch on my head. I had a very strong impression of a peasant girl, about 12-14 years old, something to do with farming. I did feel also very strongly that this girl had gone through a tormented life and that she was feeling trapped and helpless, not a very nice feeling at all. We then moved to the main hall and sat at the long table at the back, some loud knocks were heard and I smelled cigarette smoke briefly on two occasions. The long table seemed to be vibrating and the name Steven Wallace popped into my head.
Timed vigil
12h40 – 01h00 Hall by Kitchen
12h42 Saw shadow move across kitchen door.
12h46 Picked up on the name Lileth.
12h50 Picked up on the name Turnbull.
12h53 Pictured Coal yards in my mind.
12h54 Something to do with Railways.
12h59 Heard what sounded like door opening.
Timed vigil
01h20 – 01h50 Main Hall
01h25 Noticed movement behind glass in door nearest stage.
01h28 Heard what sounded like door opening.
01h36 Noticed movement behind glass in door nearest stage.
01h40 From about this point on I felt that I was in limbo and cannot
remember anything until time was called.
Our last vigil of the evening was in the main hall with Julie and Maria and a glass divination was tried. At first our communicator was a joker pretending to be someone else, this was picked up on by Julie. After he left our communicator was a young girl who gave her name as Alice. This communication was cut short by a pen top being propelled across the room, which did not belong to anyone in the investigation team.
All in all for me this was a strange location, as I believe that the area not necessarily the building, holds many secrets some of which could be devious and at times wicked and cruel, overall a sinister feeling seems to linger in the background. I would like to return at some time and cover the outside as well, but definitely in warmer weather.
Simon Steadman
Vigil 1 - Kitchen & Entrance Hall
A quiet start to the vigil. There were random taps and creaks mostly coming from the double doors and the kitchen but on further investigation there was no source for the noises.
Vigil 2 - Main Hall
The trigger objects placed in the room failed to move. There were noises from the stage area and on checking these the air con started up and scared the life out of the team. After checking the unit we discovered that it was on a temperature control setting and it was normal for this to happen.
We did hear a door rattle in the corridoor leading to the stage entrance. During a table tipping experiment, as the table was swaying, a hiccup noise came from the stage, no source could be found for this, also during the table tipping we could smell cigar or cigarette smoke again. No source could be found for this. During the vigil the following is what I experienced.
12.05 - footstep heard on stage.
12.10 - hiccup noise heard again from stage
12-23 - growling like noise heard from the corridoor leading to the stage
During setting up the other trigger object (coins below stage) I heard one of the doors close and as the rest of the team were in the kit room I decided to check it out. In the understage room I felt very uneasy but I just put this down to being alone in the dark and hearing a strange noise. No other noises heard.
Vigil 3 - Corridor
We decided to try an experiment where we kept silent and all recorded our own notes my results are as follows.
12.46 - sweat/ b.o smell
12.51 - lavender/ flowery smell
12.54 - footstep sound heard in the main hall
12.59 - cold breeze felt between kitchen and main hall
1.00 - lavinder smell again (could be due to the breeze felt)
1.02 - clicks heard by kitchen door
1.06 - faint chatter noise heard
1.08 - second footstep heard in the main hall.
Vigil 4 - Main Hall
We tried the silent experiment again in this area my results were as follows.
1.20 - clicks by the entrance doors
1.29 - cold breeze from the left to the right of the room
1.31 - shuffle noise and flitting shadow by the right hand entrance door
1.37 - curtains seemed to move on the 1st right hand window
1.43 - cigarette/smoke smell quite strong
1.46 - taps heard by the main door
1.48 - taps heard by the 3rd right hand window
1.49 - taps heard by the right hand of the stage
during this series of events there seemed to be something creeping around the outskirts of the room.
Vigil 5 - Under Stage
The trigger objects failed to move.
There was a couple of faint noises heard but this room seemed very still.
We tried one last attempt at table tipping and this was the hilight of the night for me as during this experiment we heard something fall behind us. We managed to catch the noise on camera and the only thing we could find was a pen top. After this to me it seemed if there was anything otherworldly here it had gone to sleep after a final flourish.
All in all a fairly quiet location but a good chance to try out some unusual experiments and these seemed to have some success. I would like to go back here to try some of the same experiments just to see if we get the same sort of results.
More personal reports to follow ...