Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Coalhouse Fort Investigation
Saturday 9th December 2007, 8:30pm-5:30am
Attending Investigators :Kerry Price, Julie Harwood (D&H), Val Butler, Louise Williams, Chris Green, Mandy Bradley, Jim Lewis, Maureen Westwood, Leeanne Westwood, Laura Brown, Ken Taylor, Rab Gardner (D&H), Selina Dean, Alan Hall
Introduction
After seeing photographs of this site, I was itching to get the team in to conduct an investigation.
So on a very, very cold December night with -3c temperature forecasted we went along to see what we could find. Little did we know that it wouldn't be so much what we would find, as what would find us?...
History
Coalhouse is a Victorian Fort in East Tilbury, Essex. Built in 1874 it is situated next to the river Thames and set in parkland.
A defence has been on this site since 1402 to protect England from the threat of French invasion. There has been a building on this site since Saxon times.
The fort was in use in both World wars. In 1962 the fort was sold to Thurrock Council and since 1983 has been leased to the Coalhouse Fort Project who do marvellous work restoring this lovely set of buildings.
Ghosts
There have been many reported sightings of ghosts at the fort mainly military. There have also been reports of a ghostly monk and strange mists in the tunnels. The IoPR have investigated here amongst many other groups. The Coalhouse Fort does not advertise the alleged ghostly activity on their website which to me made this place all the more intriguing.
What could we do but investigate it?
The Investigation
Vigil Teams
Team 1:
Kerry Price (Team Leader)
Julie Harwood
Val Butler
Louise Williams
Chris Green
Beth (staff)
Team 2:
Mandy Bradley (Team Leader)
Jim Lewis
Leeanne Westwood
Maureen Westwood
Laura Brown
Kelly (Staff/medium)
Team 3:
Ken Taylor (Team Leader)
Rab Gardner
Selina Dean
Alan Hall
Matt (staff)
Vigils:
Team 1
Vigil 1: Casemates and Theatre
Vigil 2: Quadrangle and Latrines.
Vigil 3: Tunnels
Team 2:
Vigil 1: Latrines & Quadrangle
Vigil 2: Tunnels
Vigil 3: Casemates and Theatre
Team 3:
Vigil 1: Tunnels
Vigil 2: Casemates and Theatre
Vigil 3: Quadrangle & Latrines
8:30pm - Arrive at Fort, meet and greet and unpack equipment
9:00pm - Tour of Fort
9:45pm - Break
10:00pm - 1st Vigil
11:00pm - 2nd Vigil
12:00am - Break
12:30am - 3rd Vigil
01:30am - break
01:45am - 4th Vigil
02:15am - break
02:45am - 5th Vigil
03:45am - 6th Vigil
04:45am - Talk re:activity and pack up
05:30am - Leave
Vigil Notes
Vigil 1
Team 1:Casemates & Theatre
Casemates
10:45pm- Temp 6.5c on entry to 1st casemate.
- Val given name of Cox
- Julie & Kerry hear shuffling coming from behind the gun.
- Temp drops to 3.5c.
- Val picks up orbs on camcorder.
- Shuffling heard again behind gun.
- Kerry gets pushed in corner where shuffling is heard.
- Julie gets pain in her left hip and back.
11:02pm- When Julie tries to make her past the front right section
of the gun, the display sign falls down behind her.
- Group split up Kerry and Julie head towards the searchlight are and
Val, Chris and Lou towards the 1st gun.
- Val calls out near gun & gets the name of L.Parnell.
- Val calls out again and a breeze passes between Kerry and Julie &
noise behind near theatre.
- Val believes that Parnell never returned.
- Chris sees a light to left of entrance.
- Val gets pushed in the back & Lou feels someone brush past her.
- Lou is sitting in a munitions case and makes a large bang when
calling out.
- Val sees a shadow behind the gun.
- Beth & Kerry feel cold down left hand side.
- Val and Chris hear scratching in front of them.
- Kerry stands near spotlight & rest of the group hear a growl, Kerry moves away from the area as she feels someone behind her.
- Beth gets cold spot around her knees, confirmed by Kerry.
- Kerry feels someone next to her by furthest (second) gun.
- Julie gets cold spot around her nose
- Chink heard from spotlight.
- All join hands to try and make contact. Kerry feels her left leg go numb & says she feels as though she does not have a right foot, feels like she is standing on bone. Val says that the foot and leg were lost in the plane crash which Parnell died in.
- Louise can see men behind the 1st gun and says that they are colourless and covered in soot. Noises start again in that area.
- Noises again noted by spotlight.
Theatre Room
On approaching the theatre, Kerry sees a shadow of what appears to be a man hunched over by the doorway. Expecting this to be a trick of the light she is amazed to see the shadow still there when she is by the door. She shines her torch on the shadow but when she turns off the torch it is still there and then suddenly disappears.
12:22am - Val goes to sit down and the chair is pulled away.
- Kerry swaps with Val & same thing happens to Kerry, so
She wraps her legs around the table leg.
- Val sets up the Dictaphone on the table and sit starts to
record backwards and play backwards at the same time.
- Kerry feels cold spot behind her.
- Kerry starts patting her hair saying her hair is alight and can feel her face melting & then relays what she has seen in the doorway.
- Beth feels really angry and both she and Julie start shouting and swearing at the spirit.
- Julie feels as though someone is pushing the barrel of a gun into the small of her back.
- Val gets a breath down her ear.
- Julie sees naked eye orb above Beth’s head. Temp 27c left and 24c right of Beth.
- Beth feels her feet being moved.
- Feeling of burning returns to Kerry.
- Val starts to choke and cannot breath so is removed from the room.
- Lou feels as though the man has a cowl on.
- Kerry sees him stooped over.
- Julie feels the gun in her back once more.
- Lou has cold spot around her legs.
- Roy the security guy replaces Val and calls out angrily and knocks and taps are heard coming from the casements and the stage area.
- All see a flash of light in the room but cannot find the source.
- Julie still feels as though there is a gun in her back.
- Roy sees a shadow go across far end of the room.
- Feel 2 spirits 1 male, l female.
- Julie, Lou and Kerry feel a bang come from under the table.
- Table moves when Kerry calls out.
- Roy feels a touch on his head and sees 2 shadows.
- EMF Goes off as though being switched on.
01:00am - Val rejoins group and Team 2 join the vigil.
- Val sees naked eye orb across table.
- Kerry feels chair being pulled again.
- Jim feels cold go across face.
- Kerry’s chair moves again so she stands up and walks around the right of the table at which point she feels something push her in her lower back and sits down again.
- Jim calls out again and Val sees someone in corner near stage.
- Jim hears a scratching noise.
- Beth & Kerry hear a groan and taps come from the casemates.
Vigil 2:Quadrangle & Latrines
Quadrangle
01:59am- Camcorder goes in and out of focus when pointed at the
balcony area where Kerry thought she saw something
earlier.
02:00am- Kerry calls out and hears a tap come from the far left
Room and both Kerry and Julie hear rustling to the left of
them.
02:01am- Kerry hears a noise to her right but can’t focus the
camcorder to pick it up.
- Julie feels as though someone is standing on the balcony
looking over at us (far right corner). Kerry points camera
in that Direction but the camcorder will not focus.
- A noise like pebbles dropping comes from far left room.
02:03am- Kerry calls out & Julie and Beth hear a whistle come from
left balcony (confirmed by rest of group).
- Val sees a shadow on enclosed staircase (near right).
02:04am- Kerry calls out by staircase.
02:05am- Photo taken by Chris which shows a strange light on it.
02:06am- Val feels that the male spirit was badly burnt.
02:09am- Kerry calls out, loud tap heard from far left room.
02:11am- Orb on camcorder.
- Kerry calls out.
- 2 taps heard.
02:12am- Orb on camcorder to right of door.
02:13am- Kerry hears crunching noise come from inside far left
room.
02:14am- Tap heard and orb caught on camcorder to left of
doorway.
02:15am- Kerry calls out and a tap is heard inside the doorway.
- 3 orbs on camcorder heading in different directions.
- Kerry calls for name to be given and Val is given Frank.
- Frank is called out to and a tap is heard in the doorway.
- Julie sees naked eye orb a blue flashing light in room.
02:16am- Val says that it is Frank that is burnt.
- Val and Kerry hear taps around them.
02:17am- Kerry asks Frank to indicate where he is and a tap is
heard to Kerry’s right.
- Kerry calls out ‘are you by me?’ Orb on camcorder
- Val calls out
02:18am- Kerry & Lou hear a noise to the left of doorway
- Orb to left of doorway.
02:19am- Tap heard in centre of middle balcony. Orb on camcorder
in same area.
- Kerry & Julie hear taps come from the room on far left.
02:20am- Val continues to call out.
- Julie & Kerry hear a whisper/sigh coming from the
direction of the far left doorway. Captured on camcorder.
- Lou asks Beth what the door used to lead to and Beth
replies ‘a barracks leading to the officer’s block.
02:21am- Val asks if there is an aeroplane called a ‘fosse’. We reply
yes and she continues that the plane is attached to the
spirit present.
- Kerry feels strong breeze.
- Val continues to call out.
02:23am- Julie and Kerry hear a tap to the left of far left doorway.
02:24am- Kerry has camcorder pointed at the door, the camera goes
out of focus when a tap is heard in the same direction.
02:25am- Val feels there is a spirit on the right hand balcony.
- Val calls out to ‘Parnell’.
- Kerry feels the atmosphere change.
Latrines:
02:29am- Start
02:30am- Val takes 2 photos & her batteries die which have just
been changed.
- Orb on camcorder.
02:31am- Kerry says that she wants to hide in the corner where she
is standing (to the left of tiled area) and feels like someone
is coming.
- Orb on camcorder
- Kerry calls out.
- Orb on camcorder.
02:32am- Kerry asks spirit to let us know what went on down here.
- Orb on camcorder.
- Julie asks Beth if someone was attacked down here? Beth
replies yes and then she gets upset when the scene is
replayed to her.
- Both Beth and Kerry feel like crying.
- Kerry feels like she is naked and crying and standing in
exactly the same area. Beth says that she knows what
Kerry is talking about.
02:32am- Kerry calls out & an unpleasant odour is noticed by all.
- Orb on camcorder.
02:34am- Val has a pain in her groin.
- Chris feels sick.
- Val is in a lot of pain and that her back is breaking with it.
- Orb on camcorder.
- Kerry asks out, ‘did you get beaten and dragged off?’
- Orb on camcorder and Val in a lot of pain.
- Kerry feels someone is coming.
02:35am- Kerry picks up on wet footsteps.
- Val in a lot of pain.
02:36am- All hear faint footsteps.
- Orb on camcorder.
02:38am- All hear faint noise in corridor leading to latrines.
02:39am- Val says that the spirit is a young man.
- Kerry feels he has a towel wrapped around him.
- Val says he is good looking and 24/25 years old.
- Orb on camcorder.
- Val said that he was very badly sexually abused.
- Kerry says that she can see him trying to keep his towel
around him and it keeps getting pulled away.
02:40am- Val says that he has gorgeous eyes and dark hair, very
handsome.
- Orb on camcorder.
- Val is given the name John.
- Orb on camcorder.
02:41am- Kerry says that the archway/doorway that leads to the
area they are standing in isn’t there. She can’t see beyond
it.
- Kerry asks out ‘did you die here? Were you raped and
beaten here?
02:42am- Val is given the surname Whitley (John).
- Val calls out ‘Johnno, Johnno, Johnno’ as though taunting
someone.
02:43am- Julie and Kerry feel like they could go and knock on the
space below the archway as it looks like it is a door.
- Val says ‘why would soldiers want to rape a soldier?
- Orbs on camcorder.
02:44am- Lou now cannot see beyond the archway.
- Orbs on camcorder.
- Lou says that it looks like bars running down them, Julie
agrees.
- Orbs on camcorder.
02:45am- Kerry says that maybe it wasn’t a door but just symbolic
that someone felt they were trapped down here?
- Lou feels that other soldiers were down here drunk and
making fun of him and she can see him scrubbing the
floor.
- Kerry says ‘hello pretty boy’.
- Lou says that he has hardly any clothes on and the others
think it’s funny.
02:46am- Julie said that when Lou was describing the drunken men
down hear she could hear someone shout in a loud,
billowing voice ‘hello pretty boy’.
- Lou says that he feels shamed.
- Val says that he’s embarrassed.
- Orbs on camcorder.
- Lou says that he doesn’t like the way he is remembered.
- Val says that she hears lot’s of men poking fun at him and
shouting ‘Johnno’.
- Lou thinks he is younger than mid 20’s, Beth agrees and
thinks he’s 17. Lou says ‘young enough to be bullied’.
02:47am- Julie asks for the spirit to tell us something about himself.
- Val says that he won’t come forward as he is too
upset/ashamed.
- Lou feels someone behind her (tiled wall near Kerry).
02:48am- Julie stands in spot and says that she feels like she is
sheltering someone.
- Orb on camcorder.
- Kerry says that she has always stood in the same spot on
entering this room, she has been in here twice before this
vigil.
- Lou says that it doesn’t feel horrible though.
02:49am- Orbs on camcorder.
02:51am- Orb on camcorder.
- Val feels like someone has there legs around her, like the
way someone would carry a child.
- Lou picks up on a man that tries to protect John but,
couldn’t/didn’t stop what was happening.
- Orb on camcorder.
02:53am- Lou/Kerry think that he ended his life because he couldn’t
stop what was happening to him.
- Val can see blood.
- Julie has a headache.
02:54am- Chris’ back hurts.
- Kerry feels as though she is leaning up against something
not someone even though there is nothing behind her.
- Lou feels the wall is closer than it is.
- Kerry asks Beth what was in this space and she replies
that there were once wash stands in this space.
Vigil 3: Tunnels
Room 8
03:45am- Start
03:46am- Kerry calls out
- Orb on camcorder
- Val’s back is tingling
- Kerry calls out for spirit to enter the room
- Orbs on camcorder
03:47am- Kerry’s eyes are stinging.
- Orbs on camcorder
03:50am- Julie calls out
- Kerry can taste blood in her mouth
03:51am- All here noise to Julie’s left and all become frightened.
- V shaped orb captured on camcorder rising from the
floor.
- Kerry feels like there is something metal in her mouth.
03:52am- V shaped orb seen again on camcorder coming from
doorway towards the group which moves around the
room (thought to have been a bat but the wings are not
moving). Chris comments on how it looks like a fairy.
- Kerry sees a dot of light in doorway about 2ft from floor.
03:53am- Orb on camcorder.
- flash on Val’s camera goes of by itself.
- Julie gets the feeling that ‘someone has walked over her
grave’.
- Lou picks up on a lady in a dress, Kerry asks if she can
see blood. Lou replies that she thought the dress was red
but thinks that it maybe a white dress covered in blood.
- Orb on camcorder.
03:54am- Kerry picks up on the colour blue that seems to be
covering the right hand wall.
- Orb on camcorder.
03:55am- Beth, Julie and Kerry are cold from the waist down.
- Kerry says that the spirit feels like it is a lot older than the
fort.
- Julie hears heavy breathes coming from the corridor. Beth
also heard it but thought that it was someone in the room.
- Orb on camcorder.
- Short high pitched noise heard by all.
- Orb on camcorder.
03:56am- Orb on camcorder.
- Kerry can hear tapping.
03:57am- Kerry & Julie feel that someone is outside the room.
- Kerry says that the female sprit feels like a very old spirit,
like a wailing woman or headless woman.
- Lou agrees that the spirit is older and not attached to the
fort.
- Kerry says that the spirit is attached to the building that
was on this site, Beth says that this is true.
- All agree that they are scared.
03:58am- All feel trapped.
- Lou gets the impression that the woman was hung.
- Beth says that there has been a building on this site since
Saxon times.
- Kerry says that the woman just walks around here.
- Lou picks up on floods and says that the spirits dress is
dirty.
03:59am- Kerry thinks that the metallic feeling in her mouth is a
scolds bridal or similar.
- Lou says that when she tries to concentrate on the
Woman’s face she gets scared as there is something wrong
with her head, either her neck is broken or she has a head
injury.
- Orb on camcorder.
- Lou says that the image has stuck in her mind and she
can’t stop thinking about it.
- Orbs on camcorder.
- Lou says that she is missing bits of hair and there is blood
on her head.
04:00am- Julie senses someone outside the door.
04:01am- Kerry calls out.
- Orb on camcorder.
- All hear a noise.
04:02am- Kerry asks for another noise to be made. Loud
taps/footfalls heard in response.
- Kerry continues to call out.
04:03am- Something touches Val’s right hand earring.
- Julie’s legs have gone dead.
- Orbs in camcorder.
- Kerry feels someone is in the doorway.
- Orbs on camcorder
- All are scared.
- Something is tugging on Val’s earring again and she
becomes very scared.
04:04am- Lou and Julie feel as though someone is behind them.
- Something touched Julie’s neck.
- Kerry sees impression of the woman in the doorway again.
- Val’s earring is being pulled again.
- Beth is very scared.
04:05am- Kerry explains that she sees the spirit come into the
doorway on her knees and grabs onto the wall and then
falls down with her face looking up.
- Orbs on camcorder.
- Lou says that she has an image of her swinging from the
ceiling. Kerry says that maybe she was hung and it was
the image of her being cut down that she could see?
- Lou says that when Kerry called out for the spirit not to
enter the room; she wanted to say, ‘can you ask her to
stop swinging?’
- Kerry feels that the woman’s hair was cut off with a knife
and that’s why the woman has blood on her.
04:06am- All leave room and make their way down the tunnels as
they want to end the vigil as they are scared.
- Orb on camcorder.
- Kerry feels as though something is going to come out of
the walls or ceiling.
04:07am- Beth feels someone behind her.
- Orb on camcorder.
- Kerry asks group to stop as she can hear something near
exit 2 which they are standing by.
04:08am- All hear a noise.
- Val calls out.
- All of the group huddle together.
04:09am- Kerry has the sensation of burning again.
- Lou says that the temperature is warmer than where we
had been.
- Kerry hears a noise.
04:10am- Chris who is at the back with the camcorder feels like
someone has followed us.
- Julie/Beth/Chris hear a noise in the direction that we
came from, so group turns around and heads back in the
other direction.
- Lots of orbs on camcorder (Chris is now heading the
group with the camcorder).
04:11am- Val becomes panicked and wants to get out.
- Battery dies on camcorder.
- The group continue to walk down the tunnel.
- Kerry asks the group to stop and space themselves out as
if we were to run in panic we would all fall on top of
each other. As the group stops Kerry and Lou who are at
the back of the group feel like someone has walked into the
back of them. Panic ensues and all run to the nearest exit.
Team 2
Vigil 1:Latrines & Quadrangle
10:20pm- Maureen feels cold on right side.
- Jim hears ‘tut tut’ noise.
10:21pm- Kelly hears footsteps
- Kelly hears a tap.
- Leeanne hears a sigh.
10:22pm- Camcorder won’t focus.
10:23pm- Mandy & Kelly hear footsteps in the corridor.
- Knocks heard in response to calling out.
- Were you in the army? Knock heard.
- Were you a sergeant? No response.
- Were you a private? Knock heard
- Do you know you are dead? Knock heard
- Do you mind us being here? No response.
- Do you want us to stay? Knock heard.
10:25pm- All team hear a noise
- Did you die here? No response
- Do you prefer us to whisper? One knock for yes heard.
10:27pm- Jim & Mandy feel cold
- Jim hears a moan.
- Jim is given the name Harry
- Is your name Harry? One knock for yes heard.
- Jim & Mandy are given the name William.
- Is there a William here? One knock for yes.
10:30pm- Knock heard at end of corridor, so group follow the
knocking.
- Jim calls out, loud knocks heard in response.
- Knocks heard behind team at previous location.
- Knocks continue to be heard but in front of team.
10:31pm- Drips heard on tarpaulin so could have been that.
- Mandy sees a figure in the lighting tunnel.
- Jim hears footsteps and senses its Harry.
10:35pm- Team walk down corridor and Mandy gets palpitations.
- Mandy feels as though she has been punched in the chest.
- Team move further into corridor.
- Jim gets pain in back and team is warned by Kelly that the spirit is
dangerous and is in 2nd room on right from entrance.
10:37pm- Mandy, Laura and Kelly hear a whistle.
10:38pm- Loud rumbles heard from far end of corridor.
- Jim is given the date 1942.
10:46pm- Latrines temp 8.6c near left corner, 7.8c far left corner,
7.9c, far right corner and 7.9c near right corner.
EMF batteries die even though they are new.
10:55pm- Orb caught on camera.
10:56pm- Red light seen in next room by Leeanne.
- Mandy feels drop in temperature. Temp 8.7c.
10:57pm- Laura and Jim hear a hiss.
10:58pm- Loud bang heard by Leeanne, Maureen and Laura from
next room.
10:59pm- Jim picks up on a male presence.
- Jim and Mandy hear rustling from next room.
- Jim given the name Tony Harrison.
11:00pm- Leeanne smells rust.
- Jim feels a breeze and is very cold.
11:01pm- Kelly confirms surname of Harrison.
- Jim senses 3 or 4 male spirits.
- End room drops in temperature to 6.8c
- Kelly confirms the name of Tony and temperature drops to 4.8c and
says that Tony and Harrison are 2 separate people.
11:03pm- Mandy, Jim and Maureen all feel temperature drop.
11:05pm- Two orbs caught on camera.
- Mandy, Laura and Jim move to next room.
11:06pm- Orb caught on camera
- Mandy’s camera will not focus.]
11:07pm- Leeanne and Kelly hear a ‘woo’.
11:10pm- Mandy hears a noise behind her.
11:12pm- Team return to corridor.
- Jim leads group down corridor to room 27 as he feels
that he is being lead here.
11:14pm- Laura is given the name George
- Mandy feels constriction of her throat.
- Jim being told ‘2nd right out of gate’.
11:15pm- Team return to original rooms where there is a temp
drop to 7.2c.
11:16pm- Jim hears a noise on the end room.
11:17pm- Leeanne, Mandy and Kelly all hear a noise like
whispering from different directions. Temp 6.2c.
11:18pm- Mandy feels a breeze come from the window that leads
to the small tunnels.
Quadrangle
12:20am- Calling out starts
- Noise comes from far left corner door.
- Was this an office?
- Names given Jones, Michael, Steven or Stevens, James and Gordon.
Also feel that there is a spirit here who comes from Liverpool.
- Sense someone standing in top right doorway (balcony).
- Team get the feeling that there was an iron gate at entrance to
Quadrangle.
- Team split into 3 small groups.
- Kelly calls out, No response.
- Leeanne calls out, no response.
- Team move to lighting tunnels.
- Something touches Jim’s head but he doesn’t feel a presence.
Vigil 3:Tunnels
02:00am- Name Porter picked up in corridor
- Smell of burning and perfume noted.
Room 4:
- The name Porter is quite strong in this room, could be a
nickname ‘Mr Porter’.
- Alan calls out, Temp 11c.
- Something touches Alan’s ear.
- Mandy thought she could hear singing, may have come from
upstairs.
- Move onto next room (room 5). Temp 8.6c all around except cold
spot in far right corner.
- Alan feels uncomfortable but is unsure why.
- Team think that maybe someone got pushed around or beaten in this
room.
- Mandy feels anxious.
Room 8:
- All sit quietly
- Temp drops around Mandy’s legs.
- Alan picks up on French national anthem and is given the full name
of William Porter.
- Alan feels cold breezes swirling around him and feels something
brush past his legs on left hand side.
- Noise comes from corridor as though something has moved. Could
be other group?
Singing noted as Kerry in the corridor.
- Presence stood in front of Alan humming French national anthem.
- Wall near Alan 6.3c then drops to 5.9c.
Room 14:
- Feels warm in this room.
- Team begin table tipping experiment and hear noise come from
outside in the corridor.
- Leeanne hears a whisper.
- Table moves, feels like its spinning.
- Alan feels small vibrations come from the table.
- Mandy feels light headed.
- Popping noise heard from corridor. Water dripping?
- Alan calls out.
- Strong movement from table.
- Mandy feels dizzy
- Leeanne hears a small cough.
02:55am - Leeanne takes over from Mandy at the table and Alan
swaps with Laura.
02:57am- Alan goes cold
- Someone walks past the doorway but no-one is there.
- Mandy and Alan feel a temperature change.
- Move to next room (with tunnel window), temp 7.9c left-8.1c right.
03:10am- Move onto next room
- Mandy and Alan feel uncomfortable
Room 24:
03:45am - Locked off camcorder has switched off even though it
had full battery.
03:48am- Kelly feels sick and has to leave.
Room 26:
03:50am- Alan calls out
- Nothing felt so group move onto theatre.
Vigil 4: Theatre:
04:00am- Leeanne calls out, no response.
- Alan hears a faint sound, a faint voice.
- Leeanne calls out again, no response.
- Maureen calls out, no response.
- Kelly calls out, no response but feels someone sitting in the chair next
to her.
- Alan and Mandy hear a hissing noise
04:10am- Alan calls out, no response.
- Alan feels cold breeze across his face and asks if spirits
- want us to leave. Hears hissing noise again and another cold breeze
across his face.
- Mandy picks up on name Annie or Ann.
- Alan sees 3 or 4 flashes from right side of room.
04:20am- Vigil ends.
Team 3:
Team 3 used a Dictaphone to take notes.
When it came to transcribing the notes, Julie found that all of the notes had been recorded backwards.
She had this checked out and it is impossible to do by accident or purpose.
It is also interesting to note, during team 1’s vigil in the Theatre room Val noticed that the Dictaphone was playing or recording backwards.
Team 1 and team 3 did not use the same Dictaphones so it is an even more interesting anomaly.
Return to Room 8
At the end of the investigation the investigators who had not yet left decided to go into the tunnels again to see what would happen.
This group consisted of……Alan, Lou, Chris, Julie, Kerry, Mandy and Beth.
04:37am- Orbs on camcorder
- Kerry calls out.
- Beth feels someone touch the back of her head and
realises that she is sitting in the place that Val was.
- Noise heard by all.
04:38am- Kerry continues to call out for spirit to enter the room.
- Orb from doorway into room.
04:39am- Growling heard by all, caught on camcorder.
04:40am- Noise heard outside room.
04:41am- Orb in camcorder.
04:42am- Kerry has same impressions of spirit as she did earlier.
- Mandy and Alan feel very cold.
04:44am- Julie calls out
04:45am- Alan notices that the orb activity is coming mainly from
the left of the doorway.
04:46am- Orbs on camcorder from the centre of room.
- Kerry calls out.
04:47am- Julie says that she has the image of the spirit moving from
one side of the doorway to the other & then starts
screaming and then shoots off down the tunnels.
- Lou says that the sprit is crazy.
04:48am- Lots of orbs on camcorder.
- Alan calls out.
- Kerry calls out.
04:49am- Kerry says she feels someone is coming.
- Julie says that the spirit is wild.
- Lou says that she is fast and moves erratically.
- Kerry gets up quickly from right hand bench and sits on
opposite side as she sees the same doorway image.
- Lou & Kerry see a shadow at the bottom of the doorway.
- Kerry explains what she has seen to the rest of the group.
- Orbs on camcorder.
04:50am- Team talk about how the light changes in the doorway,
similar to what team 1 had experienced in the latrines.
- Mandy sees the image that the others have picked up on.
- Orbs on camcorder.
04:51am- Kerry calls out.
- Orbs on camcorder.
- Noise heard outside room & the members of team 1 that
are present feel that activity is happening in the same
order as our 1st visit to this room.
- Walkie talkie goes off and Beth calls in. No response.
- Orbs on camcorder.
04:52am- All can hear noises from the direction of door.
- Growling heard again and Lou thinks that it came from
behind Laura.
- Orb on camcorder.
- Banging heard from tunnel.
04:53am- Lou feels that the spirit is moving around slamming
doors.
- Camcorder battery runs out so all leave the area.
Reports
Mandy Bradley
Kerry and I arrived at the fort and instantly knew this was going to be A great night, the size of the place amazed me and I couldn't wait to get started. Having completed the tour with the rest of the group, we went into our smaller groups and began our vigils.
Team 2
Vigil One:
Our first was in the latrines, we began by calling out...there were temperature changes in the room constantly which could be put down to broken windows...but not too sure. Jim began calling out, and he began saying that we had to go right and right and into a room, none of this made sense to him as the room this took him too didn't feel right. So we went back to the latrines and began calling out again. In response to Jims calling out we could hear a tap... as we followed the noise it brought us to the entrance of the latrines and to a small side room and the lighting tunnels. Jim picked up on the name Harry as we entered here and this was confirmed by our guide. Jim and I decided to take a walk down the tunnels, but as we approached the end we both began to feel something.
I then felt as though I had been punched in the chest and Jim felt he had been stabbed in the back. With this we both felt uncomfortable and almost ran back out the tunnel.
We had a short break and headed for the quadrangle. We spent about 20 minutes here and picked up some good photo's but not much activity, and so we all decided to head back to the latrines. It was on our way back in that I noticed that the entrance also had a gate Similar to the one at the entrance to the latrines and then Jim felt that to turn from his right and right again would make more sense as this would lead to the lighting tunnels.
Vigil Two:
Our 2nd vigil started in the end tunnels by setting up a camera in room 26 as Alan felt activity in there earlier when he were in the other group. Walking down the tunnels, I could smell what I thought was something burning, it was later confirmed that there had indeed been a fire there some years ago...I think Alan also smelt this. We didn't have much joy in the end rooms of the tunnel, some rooms felt very strange while others felt quite comfortable. We called out in several rooms, but didn't get any response. The cam picked up some light activity. I did feel that we were not alone down there, there was definitely that feeling of being watched.
Vigil Three:
For this we were in the theatre, I was a bit worried about being in here as the other group that had been in here prior to us had experienced some very upsetting and threatening behaviour. But again, nothing much really happened for us here.
Whatever was haunting this place seemed to like to follow team one, and so with that we decided to finish early and head back to the break room
Vigil four:
This was unplanned, but as group one had so much activity down in the tunnels, I thought it might be good to join them down there one last time, we all went straight to the room with the long white benches in and sat down with the torches off. People were saying they could see a small crazy woman sitting on the floor just a little bit back form the entrance. I Couldn't see anything at first but the more I looked, I thought I started to see it.
I am now wondering if I was just seeing it because it was mentioned????
For me this place was amazing, it was sooo cold, but so so worth it!!!! The staff were fantastic!!!!! and I can't wait to go back.
Alan Hall
After the initial walk around the site with the guide, I was with team 3 which consisted of Selina, Rab, Ken and our guide Matt. We made our way into the tunnels at around 10.30pm. After being in a few tunnels, I suddenly became very emotional and began to cry. I had the presence of a man to the left of me. This lasted for a couple of minutes, he then disappeared. Everyone said they felt a cold blast go past them the moment I said he had gone. We picked up a few orbs on camera as well as on photographs, but nothing much else happened. I did pick up on the name of "Benny" and later Selina picked up on the name of Harry Benson, could this be the same person? I also had the impression my ankles were being grabbed to a point they became painful. This was in room 26 and happened on both occasions we were in there.
I was asked to leave team 3 and go to team 2 which had Mandy, Laura, Leeanne and Maureen with Kelly as our guide. We then made our way back into the tunnels, where in room 9 I picked up on the presence of a French man to my left and the tune of the French national anthem. Kelly said that was interesting. I could also hear a kitten or young cat, but no-one else heard that. I also picked up on the name of Mr Porter, which was confirmed by Kelly. After going back down the tunnels and then onto the Theatre, nothing else of significance happened and we called it a night.
I did go back down to room 9 with a few of the other investigators afterwards and picked up a few light anomalies, but the presence that was there earlier didn't seem to be there any more. Overall, it was an interesting night and I was affected emotionally, which I can't explain. I would love to return at some point to do vigils in other areas. Because I moved teams half way through the night, I missed out on certain vigils because the new team I was with had already covered them.
Julie Harwood
When I thought I would not be able to make the Coalhouse Fort investigation, I was gutted to say the least as it is somewhere I have always wanted to go. Last minute I was able to get a place as personal plans had changed in my favour and so I was really excited.
Rab and I were the first to arrive at the fort, where we met with the Coalhouse management team Beth, Kelly and Matt. They were so friendly and welcoming that we felt at ease right away. The one thing I noticed about the fort was not only was it so dark but it was so incredibly quiet. If you stopped and just listened you could hear nothing!
The others arrived and we were then able to start our vigils. I was in a team with Kerry, Val, Louise, and Chris with Beth as our team guide. Our first vigils were in the Open casemates and Theatre room. The minute Kerry and I walked into the open casemates you could hear our breathing change. My chest became heavy and my breathing laboured like something was pushing down on me. When analysing it this feeling was only when we walked on the left-hand side of the big gun in the entrance. Both of us felt uneasy here and could hear taps from the corner when we called out. At one point as we were moving to join the rest of the team on the other side of the area, one of the white info display boards fell over behind us. As the last person to pass through I can confirm no one was near the board at the time.
We moved to the further part of the area and I, along with the rest of the team could hear bangs and taps coming from behind the railings. These did seem to answer us on demand. We decided to all hold hands and see if we could get anymore activity and on several occasions both Beth and I heard what sounded like a growling coming from the area behind me. We both thought it was each others stomachs rumbling but when we found out it was not, it was a little disconcerting. We were also capturing a large amount of light anomalies on camcorder. These are being analysed as I write this. The one thing that made me jump more than anything was when Louise was sat on an old metal trunk and when we called out it banged. Louise could feel the bang and we all heard it as we were stood less than 2 feet away from her.
After a short break our next vigil was in the theatre room. I am not sure anything could have prepared our team for this vigil. When walking along to the room Kerry thought she saw a person looking round. I was behind Kerry and did not say anything at the time as I was not 100% sure but I was almost sure I saw movement in the doorway but not enough to make any shape out visually. We went inside and decided to all sit round the table. I sat with my back to the door and everyone else was to my right. I took a picture and was quite surprised to see a thick mist to my left yet no one was there. Val then went to sit down next to me and I saw her chair being pulled out from under her. This startled us both and Val decided to sit with the others on the other side of the table. Kerry came and sat where Val was sitting. From the moment Kerry sat down her chair was being tugged and she was having to cling onto the table and also had to wrap her legs around the chair legs to stop herself from moving. We started calling out and at this point I felt what could only be described as the barrel of a gun in the small of my back. This was the strangest feeling. I know nothing about guns but it felt like it had 2 holes in it that I believe makes it a double-barrelled gun. While I was feeling this orbs were flying around me according to Chris who had the camcorder. Then suddenly on my left Kerry began to pat her head as she felt like her head and face were on fire. She was literally going through the motions of trying to put herself out. I will let Kerry describe it in more detail as I am sure I can not do justice in describing how she felt with this going on. Beth was able to confirm a lot of the things we came up with in this room and we very much sensed 2 extra people with us and not particularly nice characters either. It was then than Val started to cough splutter and then literally choke. She could not breathe and so at this point Kerry and Beth made the decision to remove the group from this area. We took Val outside and after a while she was able to breathe again. That shook us all up but Kerry and I (with Beth's permission) re entered the room with Roy the security guard, determined not to be scared off!
Roy took over calling out and we tried to goad anything in the room to come forward. It seemed to pick on the women and now Matt and Roy were with us it paid little attention. However when Roy really shouted out we did hear a very loud thump on the table in front of us. We called on team 2 to join us and we all heard movement from the corner of the room. Jim seemed to pick up a lot about the ambience of the room even though we did not tell team 2 any of the things we had experienced.
After a longer break to re group our senses our team headed for the Quadrangle and the Latrines. This was a strange area and to be honest I did not experience much out of the ordinary. In the quadrangle we were calling out and seemed to be drawn by small movement sounds to the room under the staircase. At one point while Kerry and I were quite close to the door we both heard what appeared to be a voice answer us. We could not make out the one word answer but it really did sound like someone. Unfortunately no one else in the group heard it and we did not hear it again. In the latrines the only odd thing I personally experienced was when looking out of the area into the next section it appeared to get darker like there was a door there however there was no door. We literally could not see into the next section even though we were only stood a couple of feet away from it. That was very strange however I am very aware of the tricks darkness plays on the mind and so I am more comfortable to put that down to being in the dark rather than anything else.
Our final vigil was in the tunnels and was the vigil I was least looking forward to. Having watched way too many horror films in my life and from being slightly claustrophobic I am petrified of tunnels and even on the walk around had to hold peoples arms for a bit of comfort. The group on a whole was split. Some seemed not to worry about them and the others, like me were clearly very nervous. Our vigil team was split down the middle as well, however that was all to change.
We headed down into the tunnels and remained very close together at all times. We decided to sit in room 8 first and all positioned ourselves (very close together) on the benches before turning the torch off. The blackness in that room and in the tunnels is unlike any darkness I have ever experienced, it was complete! When I say I could not see my hand in front of my face I really mean it, to the point that I hit my own nose before I realised how close my hand was! On top of that the silence was deafening and very unnerving. You could have heard a pin drop 2 miles away! No one really wanted to call out but Kerry and I did just to see if we could get any sort of response. We were already hearing taps in the room behind Beth and I and these then seemed to move around to behind Val & Louise. It was like someone was checking us out but we were all too nervous to turn around. Val then experienced someone playing with her earring which understandable made her even more nervous. Kerry and Louise were sensing the presence of a woman and so we called out for her. By this time we were all staring at where we knew the door was like we were expecting to see something. We had heard various noises from the tunnels including on several occasions the sound of growling and footsteps even though we knew no one else was down there with us. This made us nervous to leave the room even though we needed to, to be able to get out. I felt there was someone outside almost taunting us but I could not see anything. We eventually did leave the area and as soon as we were in the tunnels we could hear footsteps again. All 6 of us were bunched so close together we were literally in each others pockets. Chris and I could hear footsteps up ahead of us and Louise and Kerry could hear footsteps behind them. We really did not know which way to go. The decision was made for us when Louise and Kerry both felt something right behind them and pushed us all forward. We tried to calm ourselves on several occasions and even reading it now makes me feel very embarrassed however we were all petrified at the time and just wanted to get out. We were creeping along bent forward on tiptoes so we could establish the footsteps we were hearing were not our own. All we were missing was Scooby doo! Enough was enough and we all ran out of the tunnels after our last scare. Once we had had a chance to calm down and not wanting to be beaten myself & Kerry decided we would go back and took with us Louise, Laura, Mandy, Beth & Alan. We really thought that this time we would be fine but the minute we were in room 8, the events of the previous hour seemed to repeat themselves! The one thing than scared me more this time was the mental image I had in my head of a woman who was just outside the room. She was wild in appearance and behaviour. Her hair was all over the place and looked like it had not been brushed for months and her face was disfigured, one eye bulging out over her cheek. I could almost hear her cackling laugh in my head. I just kept staring at the door expecting her to glide from one side to the other (it sounds silly I know but the only way I could describe it was like she would be on a skateboard going backwards and forwards in front of the door). I then got the image of her crawling into the room on the floor and looking up at where we were sat. Kerry, not knowing what I was thinking then said "oh god she is in the room, she is on the floor in front of us". That was enough for me and I was glad when we decided our time was up and left the tunnels again in a hurry. I don't know what I was sensing, if anything in those tunnels. Could it be the dark and the fact that I was so scared anyway, that I was effectively winding myself up? I have to say there is not a rat in hells chance I would have even stayed 10 seconds on my own in those tunnels.
Thank you to Beth, Matt, Kelly & Roy for making us feel so welcome. You are beyond a doubt the best location team we have ever worked with and I hope this is the beginning of a long friendship and working relationship between the Fort & Southern Paranormal UK. We will be back!
Val Butler
This cold crisp December night is one I shall never forget. I arrived at Coal House Fort, Essex at 8.30 pm and was met with great warmth by Beth and her gang in the casemate our hub for the night. For some reason I sensed a man writing in the air in front of him the name of Flight Lieutenant COX. With all baseline tests done Beth gave us a guided tour of this historical fort. In the quadrangle I felt something touch gently the top of my hair and the strongest smell of germoline.
10.45 We divided into groups (mine number 1) with Julie, Kerry, Louise, Beth, Chris and I. We then started our night of vigils oh and what a night is was going to be, our 1st one was the open air casement. EMF was reading 0 Louise heard the sound of propellers, Kerry started to call out and she and Louise heard footsteps, Kerry started to feel sick and then I was pushed in my back. Chris catching many orbs on the camcorder, I came across Wing Commander Parnell, L Parnell, who flew from here but I had the feeling that he never returned again. All heard the sound of a groan Not one of us liked the corner to the right of the big gun. A light flashed behind the big ironing gates. We all joined hands, Kerry and I calling out. The batteries in the Dictaphone and camcorder both died.
Our next vigil was the theatre and with new batteries in both camera and Dictaphone we all sat around the table or tried to. As I went to sit down the chair moved from behind me, thinking I may have touched it I pulled it in and tried again, and as before it moved back. I changed my seat and Kerry went to sit in my chair and she also had it move from her. Kerry had the feeling of her face melting and someone around her who would not go from her, she was distressed and very uncomfortable and asked many times for the person to leave her alone. I had placed the Dictaphone on the table and it had been recording but after a few moments noticed it had switched off, thinking the batteries had died I left it, the batteries in the camcorder were dying too. But surprise, the Dictaphone started playing what had been recorded backwards and then the batteries died. All of a sudden I started to cough and choke I felt as though something was stuck in my throat and couldn't get my breath, breathing was difficult and I was taken outside with Louise, Matt took me back to the hub. where after sips of water I slowly got my breath back, it was a horrible experience.
Our 3rd vigil was the Quadrangle. Walking across the quadrangle I had the name of Jimmy Walker. All standing quiet we heard a whistling sound, and I had the smell of germoline again, this building I thought was a hospital. Kerry had the name of Stanley, and both she and Beth felt dizzy. We were drawn to the room on the far left under the iron staircase and I picked up on a man named Frank and we all heard a voice but couldn't make out what it said. Frank I thought had a badly burnt face and didn't want us to see it. I felt as though there were many injured souls here some leaning over the iron balcony watching us. Then the word FOSSE came to me I started to feel very sad and sick. So far in these vigils I had no fear of anything sinister I felt it to be a place of very brave souls who gave their all.
Our next vigil was underground and in and near the wash rooms and toilets. Kerry started to crouch over in one corner, Louise against the wall she came across the name of Ben. With all lights out it was very dark and eerie, Beth was quite emotionally upset, Chris was catching many orbs on camera, Kerry and Julie couldn't see through the doorway we only had a small light from the torch on but both of them thought there was a partition across the door and could not see further. I felt a young man aged around 20-22 dark hair and very handsome was here, Kerry also had a young man naked except for a towel around his waist, I felt the man had been taunted by others and had been subjected to rape his name was JOHN WHITELY nick named JOHNO, I could see blood on the floor here. Then I started to get tummy pains in my lower stomach that went around to the back. Again I felt sick and very sad in here. 3 am and we decided to have a short break.
Out final vigil was all underground in the bunkers, a place I had been dreading to go into. It felt quite warm compared to the outside which was -3 deg. Our first room had 3 benches in Chris again had the camcorder and was surprised that there were so many orbs. Us 5 girls sat on the bench facing the doorway Louise felt a lady was there but with a disfigured face and her hair somehow wasn't there she said she was dressed in a long dress thought it was white with a lot of red on it, was it blood, Kerry also had a women come to her again with a hair and face problem, we turned all torches off and it was horrible, pitch black Beth was petrified when I said someone had touched my right earring as she was sitting on my right. Louise and Kerry said someone was in the doorway; we all sat absolutely terrified with fear. We put the torch back on and decided we would go back into the tunnel and on to the next room. All huddled together we started to walk through the dark and eerie tunnel and then heard footsteps, Chris saying there were orbs everywhere on camera. We turned and with controlled fear made our way to the first exit the relief was enormous. This night was a night of nostalgic feelings. Walking back to the hub and looking across the courtyard I could see a big wooden building the inside had great wooden beams and the floor covered in straw. Around the building were high walls also made of wood, although I felt the ground to be boggy. What this was I don't know. This night was excellent and I feel that there is a lot to Coal House Fort that needs further investigation. My thanks to Beth and her team for their kind hospitality and hope maybe one day we could return. At 5am we said our farewells and left Coal House Fort with many memories.
Laura Brown
1st vigil.
We all took it in turns to call out. Leanne was taking notes. There were a lot of orbs on the video camera. When Jim called out there was some response that was leading in to the outer corridor. But we discovered that is was water dripping on to some plastic sheeting.
The name Harrison was picked up which the guide later confirmed. We went off into the corridor just off past the metal gate. It was long and fairly narrow. We believe Harrison was present. It was not a comfortable area to be in and we did not feel very welcome.
Quad
There was very little activity here. The team felt that the room to the back left of the quad was an office.
Tunnels
The tunnels did make you feel a bit uneasy at some points, especially by the entrances to some of the smaller rooms.
Mandy could sense that in some of the rooms some bad things happened and that not all rooms were used for artillery. We moved to the room with the wooden bench seats. Alan felt a cold breeze rushing around his body and felt that there was a presence in the room with him.
We moved on to the room with the table.
We attempted a table tip, but there was not much activity. I felt it was hard to focus and stand around the table because of the lines around the table. Mandy left the table as she felt a bit woozy. There was little activity with this experiment so we moved on
Theatre
It was very late when we went to the theatre room, there was little activity. Mandy felt the presence of a lady. The name she picked up was Annie or Anne. We could not pick up a lot in this room; however the group below us was picking up a lot of activity. Maybe the lady was with them.
Leeanne Westwood
Well, what can I say about Coalhouse Fort. If there was ever a place that ghosts would haunt, it is Coalhouse Fort - with its derelict buildings and long underground tunnels that are so dark and quiet it's like you have gone deaf and blind. The Halloween props, such as mummies, skeletons and disembodied heads, stored in various rooms only added to the atmosphere.
My team consisted of Mandy (team leader), Maureen, Laura and Jim, who left early and was replaced by Alan. On the grounds of health and safety each team had to be accompanied by a guide from the Fort, and we were joined by Kelly, a medium well acquainted with the spirits of the place. Our first vigil took place in the latrines. These consisted of three joined rooms used for storage. Whilst here, Jim picked up on the names "Tony" and "Harrison or Harry", and he and Mandy came up with "William". These were all confirmed as names connected with the site by Kelly. A few light anomalies were caught on the video camera and we all heard a variety of noises such as bangs, footsteps, shuffling, and the stereotypical "WOOOO". Jim then felt that he was being asked to go to the "2nd door on the right" and he felt that this would be found directly after passing through an iron gate, so we all followed Jim in search of this area. It was whilst on this search that Mandy felt as if she was being grabbed/poked around the throat. (Its interesting to note that shortly after this Val, who was in another team, had to be removed from her investigation as she started choking and needed medical treatment!!) However, every room we entered didn't feel right to Jim, so we returned to the latrines. After hearing knocks outside we moved into the corridor leading to the latrines, where we seemed to get knocks in response to our questions. However, on further investigation, it turned out these apparent replies were made by water dripping on tarpaulin at the very entrance to the tunnels.
The tarpaulin was near another set of tunnels known as the Lighting Tunnels, and as we approached these Mandy saw the face of a man peer around the corner, but there was no one there! When investigating these tunnels, Jim felt that "Harry" was still with us, and Kelly confirmed that these were Harry's tunnels and that we should be careful as he isn't very friendly and doesn't like people invading his space. We only managed to get half way down the corridor before we all felt so uncomfortable that we had to leave.
We then moved on to the Quadrangle, which once formed the two level living quarters for the Fort. None of us really felt much activity here, and apart from sensing the names "James" and "Jones", and capturing a light anomaly and strange smoke on Mandy's digital camera, nothing else happened here so we moved back to the Lighting Tunnels. This time we made it right to the end, but all the way down Mandy felt as if she was being punched in the chest. Pains and constrictions of the chest are apparently commonly felt by many visitors. This investigation had to be cut short as one of the other team guides was requesting help over the walkie talkies as Val had begun to choke during their vigil in the Theatre, and we decided to join their group as they seemed to be having a lot of activity (once we joined, however, everything quietened down and nothing of real note was experienced). As we left the Lighting Tunnels both Laura and I stood at the entrance to the corridor and took photographs at the same time, and we both managed to capture orbs in the same position.
Our next vigil was in the main tunnel and the numerous rooms that branch off this. We were joined by Alan who kept hearing a kitten cry, however, the rest of the team did not hear it. Laura sensed the name "George", which has been picked up on during other investigations. Although we covered many of the rooms in the tunnel we didn't experience very much at all. Except, that is, for in the table tipping room, where a table has been set up specifically for table tipping. Whilst in here we heard a variety of noises coming from the corridor outside, including a female singing, bangs and murmuring. We all experienced drops in temperature which were confirmed by the laser thermometer that showed a drop of a few degrees. We all took part in table tipping, and the table seemed to make slight movements, but nothing big enough to be caught on video. However, everyone around the table became dizzy and started to sway. This could have been due to the white lines painted on the table that were very disorientating. I developed a headache in this room and became very nauseous, a feeling that stayed with me for the rest of the night. Alan saw a figure walk past the door, but investigation showed that there was no one else in the tunnels with us. We were told that much of the activity in the tunnels seems to subside after 3:30 am, and as our vigil here took place around 4am, this might explain why our investigation in this area was so quiet compared to the other teams who had investigated it earlier in the night and had quite an experience!!
We then moved onto the Theatre again, but only stayed here for a short while and the atmosphere felt completely dead, and none of the team was picking up on anything.
Although the other two teams seemed to have a much more physical experience at Coalhouse Fort, I feel that my team experienced enough unexplained phenomena to make a sceptic question his beliefs! The Fort is a fantastically atmospheric place with so much history that is easy to understand why it has such a ghostly reputation. I would like to thank Beth, Kelly, Matt, Shane, Roy and Simon, our guides for the night that made us all fell extremely welcome, and especially to Kelly who kept our team sane and safe all night.
Rabs Report
Vigil 1
Magazines: This was a large area consisting of a very long corridor with magazines on either side. Its very nature makes you feel uneasy and puts you on edge. Throughout our vigil we chose 3 magazines to concentrate on, all of which produced results. In one of them, when we switched off the torches we heard something land and bounce on the floor. We soon found a piece of wood on the floor that made the same noise when thrown - shame we didn't capture that on camera.
Another room had a single chair on which Ken and Allen took turns. Ken looked as if he had been jolted by an electrical charge and had feelings of sadness. Allen also felt sad and was overcome by the emotion. It was fascinating to watch and great to see Ken and Allen working off each other. Ken was also aware of someone in the corner next to him, so Selina stood there and felt a cold spot behind her. At one point I saw a red and a white orb flashing backwards and forwards behind Salina.
The last room we chose had a round table in the middle. Ken, Allen and Selina tried calling out but there was no response. Although I don't like table tipping I took Matts advice and joined in. However, there was still no response. Throughout this vigil all of us had the feeling of someone following us down the corridor.
Vigil 2
Casemates & Theatre: The casemate was very cold and we agreed that there didn't seem to be much happening so we went into the theatre. We sat quietly around the table for a while then Ken started calling out. In response we could hear knocks and bangs coming from different corners of the room. There seemed to be something building up, but with reluctance to come forward. Selina reported a cold spot around her and I was positive I saw a shadow move past the back of Matt. As we continued to sit the weirdest thing happened to me. I was convinced that a Great Dane dog walked behind me - very bizarre.
Vigil 3
Quadrangle and Latrines: The quadrangle is an interesting place that would suit warmer times for investigation. Though cold, it was hard not to feel you were being watched from a number of places. It didn't take long to identify one doorway through which we heard a lot of noise. Natural sounds were of dripping water and the occasional bit of masonry falling. But, underlying all of that was the distinct sound of someone moving around. Ken went to have a look and made me jump when he stepped back startled at seeing someone in the doorway. Frequent calling out couldn't persuade anyone to come forward. Matt started feeling uncomfortable so we moved to the latrines.
Just before we went into the latrines we looked down the entrance to a lighting corridor only to find a stone being thrown along the corridor towards us. Since we couldn't go into that area we moved on. The latrines seemed to be a quiet area at first but then Ken picked up a cold spot and began to be affected. Selina stood in the same spot and also felt very cold.
Whilst standing there, the small red orb from the magazine zipped behind Selina again. I then got the impression of someone standing at the door. By then it was time to leave and as we were walking out Selina and I could hear hobnailed footsteps behind us that stopped every time we turned around. Just before we left the last corridor, we turned for the last time and I leapt out my skin because there was a shadow on the wall next to us and it shot off back down the corridor - swiftly followed by us in the other direction.
Conclusion: What a fantastic place to visit. My thanks and appreciation goes to Beth, Kelly, Matt and Simon for making us feel so welcome and part of their family for the night. Paramount was their attention to safety without compromising our experience of paranormal activity. I would definitely like to visit there again.
Jims Report
Coalhouse Fort was great as you could imagine the hustle and bustle of the past entering your imagination. I got more than I bargained for.
In the tunnels are eerie feelings that are hard for me to describe. Names and directions started to enter in to my head, not only this I felt that in the tunnels. I also knew that 3 or maybe 4 people were killed down there.
I heard a whisper and thought it was a member of my group? I then asked the members of my group if anyone whispered the name Harry Fielding, they all said no. I then started to get another name in my head Harrison. To my surprise the medium Kelly of Coalhouse Fort could not believe how right I was. She has also been given these names.
Kelly then said to me I'm correct. I knew I was not imaging this as I know I'm not mad .The tunnels are great and I can't wait to do these again. I'm an investigator and have been for some time but it seems the more I do investigations the more info I keep getting. Its great to find out that you are right in what you say and members of these sites agree with you.
It also feels as if someone or something follows you down these tunnels.
Kerry Price
On writing this report, I didn't really know where to start. The activity that my group (team 1) experienced was far above anything that I had experienced before with many people picking up on the same spirit.
Before we got down to work, Mandy, Ken and I took a tour of the building with Beth a member of staff to map out vigil areas. Straight away we were struck by the atmosphere of the place and thought that we would have a great night. I picked up on some areas that I was more than a little apprehensive to explore in the dark.
While in the tunnels we discovered that they were flooded so I knew that we were in for a cold wet night as the predicted forecast for the night was -3c. We also learned that there was a build up of saltpetre on the walls from gunpowder so we couldn't lean on the walls as it would eat into our clothes nor could we get it with our skin as it would burn.
The 1st part explored by my team was the casemates. These housed the large guns that were positioned pointing out to the Thames. I felt very uncomfortable in this area, especially near the first gun. I kept thinking that men were standing there which was also confirmed by Lou. She thought that they wore dark clothing/boiler suits and were covered in dirt. This was strange as the area was very dark indeed. I did not know at the time whom these men could be however, after listening to tales of what happened at this site later to me it was very apparent who these men were.
The other things that happened in this area were, various knocks and bangs and orbs. One of the strangest things that happened in this area was a display stand which was at the back of one of the exhibits fell down. Julie was the last person to walk past in however the time delay in it falling down meant that it couldn't really be attributed to someone knocking into it.
I also got pushed in the back to the right of the 1st gun.
About 20mins into the vigil we decided to join hands just to see if anything would happen if we called out on mass. I started to get a strange feeling in my legs as though I only had one foot, it felt horrible as I could almost feel the soggy stump of my leg dragging on the floor. This made me feel very uncomfortable.
Val picked up on a man whom she believed had been burnt in a plane crash, she said that the feeling I was getting was him.
The second vigil in the theatre proved to be more sinister...
I made my way pretty quickly to the theatre so that I could show people where we were going and light their way. The night was very frosty so I didn't want any injuries. On approaching the doorway, with Julie being the nearest person to me some way off, I could see a figure in the doorway. It was of a man, who was hunched over and quite small no taller than 5ft I would say. I assumed that this was just an optical illusion from the floodlights outside. As I came face on to the door I could still see the figure. I stood in front of the glare from the floodlight, I could still see it. I turned my torch off, I could still see it. I switched the torch back on and could still see it. I heard Julie approaching and told her what I had seen; as I looked back the figure was no longer there. Julie confirmed that she could see a shape in the doorway on approaching but like me just assumed that it was a trick of the light. As the rest of the group approached we made our way in without further ado.
Now this was a strange vigil. One of the first things to happen was as Val went to sit down; her chair was pulled away from her. The scrape on the floor was audible even though it was easy to see that she hadn't actually made it to the chair. Obviously this made Val a little nervous so I swapped places with her. As I went to sit down, I too heard the chair scrape back even though I too hadn't actually sat down yet and the chair was some way behind me. I sat down with my legs hooked around the table legs as I could feel the chair pulling all the time that I sat on it. Strangely this didn't seem to happen with the other chairs situated around the table and it was exactly the same as the other chairs. As Val sat down and placed the Dictaphone on the table to start recording it made a strange noise which Val thought was it was either playing backwards or recording backwards. We had to give up on using the Dictaphone in this vigil because of this. I didn't think anything of it at the time but it was similar to what happened with team 3's equipment (discussed in team 3 notes).
The next thing to happen was that for some reason my head started to get very hot and it felt like my hair was on fire. For a confused moment I was seen patting my hair trying to put the fire out. It made me feel sick as it felt like my hair and scalp had gone and my face was starting to melt, my left eye became blurry and I wouldn't have been at all surprised to hear a popping noise and my eye disappear. I was more intrigued than scared by this, although it was very unsettling but I have never experienced anything that intense before. Julie had become aware when she sat down of what felt like a gun barrel pushed in her back, this lasted for the duration of this vigil.
The next thing to happen was for me the most alarming. I had quite a dry throat which was consistent with breathing in smoke. When I became very aware of it, Val started to choke. I couldn't explain that I thought it was the same thing. The choking became uncontrollable and she had to be taken out by one of the security guards for her own safety. I must say that this made me feel very aware of the dangers that may confront us at this site. We all felt that the spirit was harmful and was trying to distress us, which I must say worked.
Beth wanted us to have some more investigators with us to see if they too could pick up on anything, so that's what we did.
I didn't think that the spirit would be so bold as to do anything when there were more men in there (as we only had 1 man in our group) however that wasn't the case. Shadows and orbs were seen, bangs were heard that came when Jim and Roy were calling out for activity. It is fair to say that the activity wasn't the same but it was activity none the less.
After a short break and completely nonplussed we went to the Quadrangle for our next vigil.
Earlier on when we were taking the tour I felt that there was a presence on the right hand balcony and felt that a man had been seen standing in the window at the corner of the balcony. So with this in mind I started filming this part of the quadrangle, I couldn't definitely sense movement but felt that it did not want to show itself. Some noises were heard from the far left doorway so I concentrated on this area. There was a lot of tapping that came from this area and orbs were caught on camcorder in the doorway. When we called out we seemed to have activity in response to our questioning and noises were heard outside when we asked where the spirit was. Then the strangest thing happened. Julie and I were talking near the doorway and we heard loud whisper as though someone was trying to talk to us coming from the direction of the doorway. This unsettled the pair of us, I have since listened to the footage and yes the whisper is caught on camcorder. It is hard to decipher the noise which I have tried to do via an EVP programme as it is at the same level to our voices, however it is definitely a voice and I will continue to try and isolate the noise.
Our next vigil was in the latrines which was another odd vigil. Lou, Val and I all seemed to pick up on the same male presence that of a man who had been sexually abused. Beth confirmed that she has a scene played over and over to her which makes her sad. I must say that it was a sad story and it was the first time that I had a scene so vivid in my mind.
We also had a lot of orb activity which corresponded with the story unfolding. Val picked up that the spirits name was Johno and that he was young, which both Lou and I picked up on. Val was given a pain in her groin and back which she also attributed to this spirit and then later felt that someone had their legs around her as though she were holding a child.
I also felt as though I wanted to stand in the corner of a recess in the wall and peer back down the corridor as though I was hiding. I thought that it was strange that I had also stood in this spot the last 2 times that I had been in this area. I didn't stand right in the corner as I felt as though I was leaning back on something, I couldn't get any further back. Beth confirmed that there would have been washstands in the same area which made sense to me. Our next vigil makes me smile and shiver at the same time when I think of it. I have never acted so cowardly on an investigation before and had never been so scared.
We walked down the tunnel and settled on room 8. I had been drawn into this room earlier, I felt as though someone had slapped me on the head when I came through the doorway. It didn't scare me but I thought the room would also be good as it was the only one with benches so we could settle into a good vigil.
The darkness in the tunnels is all encompassing making it impossible to see your hand in front of your face. Even though we couldn't see we all seemed to be staring at the doorway. Lou and myself picked up on a female spirit that did not have connections with this building but something that was here a long time ago which was confirmed by Beth. She was so vivid in my mind and I was scared as I felt like she was going to jump out on us, she seemed mad. The details are much better read through the notes which are a transcription of the camcorder footage.
Something started to pull Val's earring which scared her and when it continued it unsettled us all. We heard knocks coming from behind the benches, footsteps and bangs from the doorway. We also heard a lot of loud bangs that echoed which to me sounded like cannon fire but maybe this was just my interpretation. A lot of orb activity is shown on the footage the strangest being that of a v shaped orb which came vertically from the floor, stays in the same place and then shoots off to the left of the room and up to the ceiling. We thought it may have been a bat but the footage shows this not to be so. The shape is constant and doesn't move, I have analysed this to death and still am none the wiser as to what it could be but a bat it is not. I have spoken to Simon at the fort since and he has confirmed that another paranormal group had a photo of a v shaped orb in the same room. He also said that he didn't think that this room was very active but it seems not to be so.
In this vigil I kept seeing the woman in the doorway; I couldn't make out her features but knew she was there. It seemed as though she kept coming in and going away again, thinking up things to scare us. This seems irrational but it was definitely the feeling I was getting and it scared me. We were all scared and getting more than a little hysterical and this was not conducive to us getting out of the room and down the tunnel to the nearest exit.
We walked down the tunnels in a huddle and some holding hands but we couldn't have got much closer together. I asked the group to stop as I could hear something up ahead of us where the exit was and Chris felt as though someone was following us so we continued around the tunnel. We were making slow progress so I asked the group to stop again as we were so close together that if something happened we would all fall over. That is more or less what happened next. Lou and I were at the back and when we stopped it felt like someone had walked into the back of us, we knew we were at the back so hysteria set in. I have never attempted to climb over people to make a hasty retreat but that is what I attempted to do, I am ashamed to say. We all flew out of the tunnel at great speed and with great relief.
Not content with that we had a much needed break to calm our nerves and another group went back down to room 8.It was late and many people had left but we thought that we should try again with a different mix of people. This vigil was also to prove interesting. Alan was picking up orbs on calling out and the sequence of events from our 1st vigil in here seemed to replay itself. We heard noises in the corridor and taps behind the benches again. We knew we only had a little footage left so made sure that we left when the tape ran out. I sat on the left hand bench next to Julie and I was very aware that I couldn't see anything. I averted my gaze from the doorway as I didn't want to feel panicked like I did before, I wish I hadn't. As I was staring into the blackness of the floor, I started to see the colour red in a shape about the size of a football in front of Julie and I on the floor. As I stared at it features appeared and it turned into a woman's face on the floor staring up at me. I whispered to Julie that there was someone on the floor in front of us and she said that she knew. At that point the tape ran out for which I am grateful and we bid a much safer retreat.
This was a fantastic investigation with many people picking up on names and situations that were confirmed by the guides. The Dictaphone tape affair is more than a little weird and inexplicable, the amount of orb activity, noises and feelings were overwhelming.
After speaking to Simon on the night he said that we had been lucky as the fort isn't usually active throughout the night of an investigation and there has never been activity after 3:00am. I am glad that we experienced this place which is a must for any group serious about capturing some good evidence.
A return visit has been planned for the summer with again a different mix of people. I wait with excitement and trepidation to go back, I hope we get as much activity as we did on that night but don't want to be that scared! Many, many thanks go out to the staff at Coalhouse Fort. Their helpfulness, knowledge and sheer friendliness made this night one I shall never forget.