Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Falstaff's Experience, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire
Saturday April 12th 2008
Attending Investigators: Val Butler, Ken Taylor, Steen Spencer, Jim Arnold, Gary Hayes, Mandy Firth, Marie Holder, Sandy Rutter, Amanda Horley, Eileen Rutter, Emma MacDonald, Sarah Couper, Mark Pettet, Rachel Steadman & Simon Steadman
Hosts: Janet and John Ford
Introduction
Shrieves House and Barn in William Shakespeare's town of Stratford-upon-Avon is known today as The Falstaff's Experience and has a story that goes back almost one thousand years. Through the ages there has been plague, fire, treason, religious persecution, war, murder and witchcraft.
William Shrieve was the first tenant of this house in 1536.
In 1564 three months after William Shakespeare was born plague came to Stratford, the first victim was a wool merchant who lived just one hundred yards away from the house.
Four major fires have hit the house, the worst of which was in 1595 and almost completely destroyed it.
Troops from the English Civil War at Edgehill in 1642 were billeted at the Shrieves House.
The courtyard still has the original cobblestones that date back to Shakespeare's time.
Today the Falstaff's Experience is a museum run by John and Janet Ford and is open for the public to wander around and step back in time.
We would like to say a big thank you to our hosts Janet and John for making our groups visit possible.
The Investigation
Vigil Areas
Library
Arcade Room and Garden
Plague Room to the bear
Bear to the stairway
Teams
Team 1
Val Butler (Team Leader)
Sandy Rutter
Rachel Steadman
Marion McCaffery
Team 2
Jim Arnold (Team Leader)
Marie Holder
Mandy Firth
Mark Pettet
Team 3
Steen Spencer (Team Leader)
Sarah Couper
Gary Hayes
Emma MacDonald
Team 4
Simon Steadman (Team Leader)
Ken Taylor
Amanda Horley
Eileen Rutter
Itinerary
9-45 All member to meet at The Falstaff's Experience
10.00 Team meets with our hosts Janet and John Ford
10-15 Walk around Falstaff's with host Janet
10-45 Teams divide to start Vigils.
Team / Vigil Notes>
Team 1
Vigil 1 The Library
EMF Reading 0 Temperature 8.6
Val calls out to spirit to come forward, nothing is heard or seen, Marion calls out again all is quiet.
Val feels that there is a little girl around, scruffy and bewildered. Rachel calls out to spirit, but again it is very quiet. Team move into the passage way leading from the library EMF here 0 temperatures 7.6-8.8 Val calls out again and then Marion is touched on the top of her head; Val says the little girl is still with her. Rachel starts to call to spirit but no occurrences. All team feel ok. Marion has a funny feeling on her forehead then Sandy hears a tap on the wall. Rachel asks spirit to make a noise and a click is heard by all, she asks again for another click and two clicks are heard by all. Back to the library Val asks spirit to come forward and she feels a cold breeze close to the right side of her face. Rachel hears a rubbing sound across the candle holder. No other occurrences in here.
Vigil 2 Arcade Room
EMF Reading 0 Temperature 8-9 degrees
Team held an Ouija séance in the smaller room off the arcade, Sandy placed a locked off camera behind Marion and the séance began, asked if male presence here answer was yes, and then the camcorder switched off although there was sixty two minutes remaining.
Questions to spirit:
Is there more than one spirit her planchette pointed to nine?
Q Can you spell?
A Yes
Q What is the first letter of your first name?
A C
Q Second letter please
A U
Q Third letter please
A H
Q Fourth letter please
A T
Q Are you a girl
A Yes
Q What was the year you were here?
A 1904
We asked several more questions but believed spirit was just playing around with us as further communication did not make any sense.
Val has the name of Lucy and also the name of William and asked spirit if he was William and planchette moved to yes. Val had the feeling that there was more than one William here as she felt muzzled in her head. Then she sensed that John was around us also. We tried table tipping and Val felt a cold breeze across her left hand, temperature showed her right hand was 13.4 and the left hand 17.6. Marion and Val both smell camphorated oil.
Vigil 3 Bear and Tavern
EMF Reading 0 Temperature Bear Room 9.4-9.8 Tavern 8.2-8.6
Rachel and Val tried automatic handwriting writing sitting on the floor, asking many questions only a very slight movement of the pencil. Val still felt Lucy was around and asked her to move the lead stick but nothing happened. Marion called out no response. Rachel calls out and a small light was caught on the camcorder.
Val throws a penny and asked for it to be thrown back, again nothing. All take turns in calling to spirit; small tapping heard when Rachel called out. Marion and Val feel very cold. Sandy then says he is very cold and his hands are icy cold, temperature on hands 11.4 then they rose to 16.6.
Val has the feeling that Lucy steals jewelry and invites Lucy to come over and take the rings of her fingers, nothing happened. Rachel and Val see a light anomaly in the corner by the well. Val gets the name of John and someone being gutted she sees blood everywhere. No other occurrences in here.
Vigil 4 Plague Room to the Bear
Rachel asks for spirit to come forward no sound is heard. Rachel feels like she doesn't care and is sitting on the floor. Val feels depressed but the same time wants to laugh. Sandy feels ok in here. Val did not like the staircase that led up to the plague room felt this area to be very sinister. Nothing else was encountered.
Team 2
Vigil 1 Library to stairs
Jim is being drawn to the mirror; Marie used her diving rods they moved away and then back to the centre, asked where they were pointed, moved across to middle of room and after a while they crossed.
Q are you male
A no
Q female
A yes
Q are you a child
A no
Q older than 39
A yes
Q are we in danger here
A yes
Q from a male spirit
A yes
Q can he physically harm us
A yes
Q has he hurt anyone before
A yes
Q is he in the building with us
A yes
Q in this room
A yes
The rods showed behind Marie
Q are we in danger now
A no
Q are other groups in danger
A no
Mandy feels uneasy all get colder, Mandy asked spirit to knock, we had one tap for female, Marie thought she heard a scraping on the floor, Mandy tried the rods, Jim heard a tap but not sure where it came from he felt a cold draught across his face.
Vigil 2 Plague room to bear
EMF 0 Temperatures 11.5
Jim called out and Marie said she heard a shuffle coming from further along the passage. Marie said she felt a draught in the civil war part. Temperature checked and was between 11.8- 12.0. Jim complained his chest felt tight.
Mark, Mandy and Marie heard a whistle. All conducted a séance in the middle of the room. Jim asks for spirit to come closer and then had the same draught as Marie had before. Marie also heard a sharp outtake of breath. Jim said he thought there was someone standing in the doorway and also the image of bodies being thorn down a shoot out into the street below.
Vigil 3 Bear and Tavern
EMF 0 Temperatures 11.0
Jim felt something touch him on the top of his head, maybe a cobweb or a fly. All was very quiet although Jim started shaking after calling out, he was frozen to the spot and says it's the first time he has felt a negative presence. No other occurrences in here.
Vigil 4 Coin Arcade and courtyard
EMF 1.3 Temperatures 12.0
We set up Ouija board in the arcade but there was no activity. Jim calls out for spirit, but nothing is heard Marie and Mandy take turns in calling out, again there is no response. Jim called out again, he sees a light in the doorway and then we all heard what sounded like a penny dropping in one of the slot machines. While calling out there have been a few click sounds coming from the doorway. Apart from these happenings all was very quiet.
Team 3
Vigil 1Tavern Area
Steen called out for spirit but all was very quiet, Sarah then called out also with no response. We all feel happy with no bad feelings in this area
Vigil 2 plague room to Bear
Steen calls out for spirit to come forward and communicate with us, but no response. He then said he can smell rotting flesh everyone then said they could also smell it. We tried Ouija séance with Steen again asking spirit to come and join us. Again no response. Everyone feeling ok in this area.
Vigil 3 Library
Everyone feels childish and happy in this area, Steen asked for spirit to join us but there was no response. No other occurrences in this area.
Vigil 4 The Arcade
Again in this location every one was feeling good with no bad feelings. Steen again asked spirit to come forward but nothing was heard or seen. Very quiet.
Team 4
Vigil 1 Arcade and courtyard
EMF 5 Temperatures 10.5
Amanda sees a white light from outside and Simon hears taps on the staircase. Temperature now 6.5 degrees and within a minute drops to 5.0.degrees. Amanda and Ken smell something odd both feel it smells of doughnuts. Temperature drops to 3.3. Simon and Amanda can smell leather. All take turns in touching the horse and all feel sea-sick. Eileen and Ken both see the curtains move. Amanda and Simon can now smell tobacco.
Vigil 2 Bear and Tavern
Amanda can feel the presence of a cat and she and Eileen feel someone is in the doorway. Simon and Amanda can still smell tobacco, and then the Simon's camcorder battery died and the same time Kens digital camera batteries died.
It is really cold by the devils chair and Amanda is shivering and really feels cold. Simon sat on the devils chair and felt very cold, more so at knee height than head height. The temperature dropped from 12/13 degrees to7 degrees and then started to rise again to 7.5 degrees.
Metallic clicks heard twice behind the devils chair and now the temperature is 4.8 degrees. A clunk sound came from the tavern room; temperature in there was 4.8 degrees. On the stairs the temperature started at 4 then 3.3 then 2 degrees.
Vigil 3 Plague room to bear
EMF 0 Temperatures 10.5
Ken could smell wet sheets here. Eileen called out to spirit but nothing heard. Amanda senses a woman, a lady of the night, a woman sitting with hands together as if waiting for business, a woman from the time of Shakespeare. Simon calls out nothing is heard. Amanda gets the name of Simone a French woman.
Temperature has dropped from 15 degrees to 10 degrees. Simon again calls out and the temperature dropped again to 7.5 degrees. All hear sound like soldiers are here by the battle scene. Ken has a pain in his back.
Personal Reports
Val Butler
I felt quite nervous spending a night at Falstaff's as four years ago I visited it by day and did not like the atmosphere in the building was it going to be the same again?
The Library
I called out to spirit to come forward but all was very quiet, I felt a presence was with me all the time I was in this area and for a while could not see who it was. Then I sensed a little girl was with me aged about 7-8 a scruffy soul just staring at me with wide eyes. I had a cold blow go across the right side of my face, I called out to spirit again but there was no response
Arcade Room
I felt quite at ease in the arcade but uneasy in the small room of of it. The team tried the Ouija board in the small room with some success. I still felt the presence of the little girl with me and got the name of LUCY. When I asked spirit if Lucy was with us I felt a very cold blow go across my right hand and the smell of camphorated oil that was quite strong. Nothing else felt in this area.
Bear Room and Tavern
I sat with Rachel on the tavern floor and we tried automatic hand writing but the pencil only moved about an inch. Lucy was still with me. I threw a penny across the floor and asked for it to be thrown back again but to no avail. I was freezing in this room. I moved into the room where the devils chair is, but I could not sit on it. I started to feel depressed at what I do not know, but then at the same time wanted to laugh.
Lucy again was with me, I had the feeling she was looking at the rings on my fingers and in my head I had the words thief. I called out to Lucy to come forward, I outstretched my fingers and asked her to take my rings, all gold I told her come and take them. Nothing happened. (The next day I had two painful fingers on my right hand) was it Lucy trying to remove the rings?
I saw a light in the corner where the well was but nothing was there
Plague Room to Bear
Walking my way up the wooden staircase I had a horrible feeling like I had four years previously. I did not like this area at all it had a strange feel to it of what I do not know. The corner where the plants were I felt was hiding something. There were spirits around me, staring but not coming forward no matter how many times I asked. No other occurrences here.
Summary
I know this to be a very old building and with age floor boards creek, but this seemed to be the only sounds I heard. I felt excited and yet a little disappointed that nothing else came through on the night, not to say however I wouldn't on another night. I have been on a lot of locations with much activity which goes to prove that spirits do not always do as you want them to on command. This to me is what paranormal investigating is all about.
I would like to thank Janet and John for making us so very welcome and for the coffee and tea that they provided for us.
Ken Taylor
I arrived at The Falstaff's quite excited as I was to be left alone in the hub with all the equipment. I set up two infra red remote cameras linked to two monitors and linked again to two DVD recorders.
To my amazement when entering The Falstaff's someone or something would not allow the cameras to work, this I tried many times but all with the same results.
I joined up with team four for the rest of the vigils.
In the arcade I could smell doughnuts and saw the curtains move, but no other occurrences.
In the plague room area I could smell wet sheets, and had a pain in my back. Further on where the battle scene was I heard the sound of soldiers.
Apart from feeling cold I did not experience anything unusual throughout.
One day I would like to return out of curiosity, just to try and work out why the infra red cameras worked just outside The Falstaff's door but would not work just inside.
This to me is a mystery!!!!!
Jim Arnold
Vigil 1 Plague room to Bear
During our walk round Val and I had felt very tight around the chest, so I was looking forward to coming back here. We found our way back and due to the fact this building was all open, we picked a spot which we thought was furthest away from the other teams.
There were taps that we all heard, but we put this down to the other teams. We sat down forming a circle. During this I picked up on the presence of a young girl she was frightened of a male spirit that was present in the house. I asked were we in danger, she said yes.
I asked her how old she was. And I believe she was around 12, I also saw her walking with a crutch.
Marie asked me to ask her name, I was told Lizzie , but this didn't sound quite right, it sounded like it was being said with an accent, and the name being drawn out more.
Vigil 2 The Library
We all stood here and found it very quiet. I was drawn to the mirror for some reason, but saw nothing. I watched Marie use her dowsing rods we all saw the rods move in response to questions. This time the spirit was female and confirmed what had been told to me by the young girl on the first Vigil. Then the rods stopped, and we had nothing else.
Vigil 3 The Arcade
Again here 3 of us formed a circle, and tried using the Ouija board, but gave up after a while as there was nothing, no sound, no movement, we all tried to communicate in different ways, but no one had anything here.
Vigil 4 Tavern to Bear Room
We made our way to the last vigil in hope of getting something. We all took turns, but nothing for a while. I then asked for any spirit person to make themselves known to me, or my guides.
Marie noticed that I had started shaking, I said that I was shaking so much it hurt, and I tried to move, but found I couldn't so Marie pushed me.
I then found I was in contact with a male spirit he seemed to be tall, but bent over a little, and I felt that he had an arched back. I didn't like this person very much, but he would not talk to me or the others.
That was about it, and we returned to the hub.
Over all I was a little disappointed with Falstaff. We had heard so much about the place, and what to expect, and found really nothing.
I did not find anything frightening about any part of the place. To me it was not scary in any way, and with the lack of activity it was one of the quietest places I have ever been. This being said we can't expect results all the time.
Marie Holder
I had not heard of this museum before which is sometimes a bonus when doing a paranormal investigation as you can go into it with a clean slate as it where and not know anything about its history. The location certainly had an atmosphere to it especially on the second floor in the part we called the ‘plague room'.
We were showed round by one of our lovely hosts and then we split into our groups.
Vigil 1 Plague Room
After settling down and taking pictures, Jim, called out and I heard a shuffling noise behind me and also felt a distinctive draught in the civil war part of the room, the temperature was checked and was found to be between 11.8º and 12º.
Jim said his chest felt tight. Mark, Mandy and I heard a whistling noise. We then conducted a séance in the middle room. Jim called out and he said he felt the same draught as me. I then heard a sharp intake of breath.
Jim said he saw someone standing in the doorway he also said he had an image of bodies being thrown down a chute into the street.
Jim also picked up the spirit of a little girl aged around 12 called Lizzie, however he was saying the name rather unusually which tended to indicate that Lizzie was foreign but Jim could not make out her accent.
I did not pick up anything during this vigil, I just felt very cold. Mark said he some light anomalies on camcorder passing behind me
Vigil 2 Library and passage
Apart from feeling very cold I did not experience anything unusual. I used the rods and we contacted a female spirit older than 39 who is married and who was standing in the middle of the room. She warned us that there is a male spirit who wants to harm us physically and to be on our guard.
When we returned to the hub, Jim warned the rest of the group to be extra vigilant on vigils
Vigil 3 Tavern and bear
Again, apart from feeling very cold, I did not feel or pick up anything unusual on this vigil. We did hear the odd tapping noise coming from the next room, however there was another team conducting a vigil quite close to us.
Conclusion
This location did show a lot of promise on the walk around as it was very atmospheric but unfortunately on this occasion the spirits did not want to make contact on this particular evening apart from the little girl Jim contacted while we were upstairs.
I would like to thank our hosts for the evening for making us so very welcome.
Emma MacDonald
I was really looking forward to this investigation and was hoping that we would produce some good results due to previous reports but I unfortunately have nothing to report as the evening was very quiet.
Vigil 1 Tavern and Corridor
It was very quiet in this area, Sarah and Steen both called out to spirit to come forward, but unfortunately nothing happened. I don't know why but I had the giggles and found myself giving the mannequins that were around names.
Vigil 2 The Plague Room to Bear
Again in this area I could not sense anything, although the team did try using the Ouija board. Steen was asking for any spirits to come forward, but the planchette never moved. There was an unusual smell I noticed which Steen thought was like rotting flesh I felt quite relaxed in here. No other occurrences.
Vigil 3 The Library
There were no bad vibes in this area and we all felt quite relaxed and happy although I felt a little childish. Steen called out to spirit but again nothing came through to us.
Vigil 4 the Arcade
Like the other vigils throughout the night this area was very quiet, Steen again asked for spirit to come forward but alas nothing happened.
Conclusion
I was excited to be going to Stratford-upon-Avon's Falstaff's Experience, a place steeped in history and I wish I could have experienced more. To me it was a quiet night. Thank you Janet and John for allowing us into your fascinating Museum.
Mark Pettet
Vigil 1 the Library
Marie was communicating with her rods with a woman over the age of 39 who had her husband with her. They knew the little girl upstairs and also warned us that we were in danger of a bad spirit; unfortunately the spirit never came through to us
Vigil 2 Plague Room to Bear
Climbing the staircase to the plague room I had the feeling that I was being watched, when I looked up I could see a mannequin leaning out of the window. Jim picked up on a presence of a little girl by the name of Lizzie who walked with a stick or crutch, he also had stomach cramps. He was told by the little girl that we were all in danger. Nothing else encountered here.
Vigil 3 Bear to Tavern
I didn't feel very much at all in this area, nothing came through to me.
Arcade
My fellow team members held an Ouija séance in here but again nothing happened, although I did feel a little uneasy sitting facing the door.
To sum the evening up I found it to be a quiet location on the paranormal front but interesting none the less.
Gary Hayes
Vigil 1 Tavern area
I felt quite unnerved being in a room with five mannequins especially the little boy whose eyes seemed to be following me everywhere. Apart from that I did not experience anything paranormal in this area.
Vigil 2 Plague Room and corridor
As it was very quiet the group tried to contact spirit by being polite, pleading, being aggressive but sadly nothing was coming through. We all tried to contact spirit through the Ouija but alas all was very quiet.
Vigil 3The Library
I was extremely optimistic that something would come through in the library but yet again this area proved to be very quiet.
Vigil 4 Arcade
Steen tried yet again to call out to spirit to come forward but as before whatever was here was not going to communicate with us.
This Shakespearean building in the heart of Stratford-upon-Avon was a perfect venue to hold an investigation. Unfortunately I never felt anything paranormal about Falstaff's. However haunted, or not haunted, I enjoyed the night.
My thanks go to all those at The Falstaff's who allowed us to investigate and to my team for the night Steen, Emma and Sarah.
Amanda Horley
Vigil 1 Arcade
We were split into small teams for this investigation, and for the first vigil my team was covering the coin machine room, and the outside passageway. The passageway was very quiet, but there seemed to be a mix of things happening in the coin machine room. From time to time there was a smell of doughnuts cooking, or candy floss. In an alcove there was a metal horse that looked as if it had once been a rocking horse. I felt very drawn towards it, and when I placed a hand on it, I felt like I was swaying.
Slightly seasick. This was confirmed by other members of the team who also tried touching it. Shortly before we left this area we were became aware that one of the curtains was moving when it hadn't done so during the rest of the vigil. It was an old building, so it could have been a breeze, but there wasn't anywhere obvious for it to come from.
Vigil 2 Tavern
Our second vigil was upstairs in the Tavern room and the room next door to it. We started out in the Tavern room and I sat with my back to the pub scene that was set up. At one point it felt like someone was standing behind me, but it was a very distant feeling. I did however feel a knock on my lower back at one point. After a time we moved into the next room and I stood with Eileen next to the devil's chair. It felt as if the temperature was dropping rapidly and this was confirmed by the temperature gun. After a time I moved away and felt warmer, although I didn't warm up properly for the rest of the night.
Vigil 3 Plague Room
The third vigil saw us in the plague room and adjoining room. In the adjoining area I got a sudden sense of a French prostitute called Simone, who enjoyed her work, but could also appear demure and genteel. Quite an actress. Unfortunately I was unable to get any further information. As with the man in the Tavern room, she seemed very distant, and I had trouble connecting with her. The room felt warmer while she was around, but as soon as she left the temperature plummeted again. The plague room felt very quiet, but very cold. I was unable to stop shivering although the temperature gun showed it was 9°C
Vigil 4 the Library
Our final vigil was in the library room. This room was very flat, and although we tried the Ouija board, I didn't sense anything.
All in all, this was a much quieter investigation than I was expecting. There didn't seem to be much around, and what was there was right at the edge of my senses and quite difficult to pick up. I would like to go back and have another try, but preferably in the middle of the summer
Mandy Firth
Vigil 1- Plague Room
Temp-11.5 EMF 0
I felt a bit uneasy at the top of the stairs; overall this was a very quiet area with no activity for me.
Vigil 2-Library
Temp-10.5 EMF 0
I felt ok in this room till the last 5 minutes when I felt a little uneasy but couldn't explain why,
Overall this area was a quiet location with no activity for me.
Vigil 3- coin room
I called out a number of times trying a number of ideas but nothing worked. I felt fine in this room the whole time I was in there.
Vigil 4-Tavern
I felt fine in this room again it was quiet with no activity.
I would like to thank our hosts for the evening in allowing us to do this investigation.
Steen Spencer
Vigil 1 Tavern area
I called out to spirit several times but there was no reaction. I felt calm and relaxed in here but no other occurrences
Vigil 2 Plague Room corridor.
I was getting a horrible aroma I can only describe as rotting flesh, but was it the effect that the room had on me. I again called out for spirit to come forward but nothing happened. I tried contacting spirit with the Ouija but again nothing came through.
Vigil 3 Library
In the library I felt unusually happy and playful, but not sure why I should have felt like this. Apart from these feelings all was very quiet for me.
Vigil 4 Arcade
Time and time again I called for any spirits to come forward but like before nothing came through, this area I again felt fine in with no occurrences I decided at the end of the evening to walk around by myself, but I never picked up on anything which was a shame. Although there was no paranormal activity I enjoyed the atmosphere.
Overview
The Falstaff's is a very nice, well kept building with a very authentic feeling. It is a lovely place to come to and very informative of this particular era.
Marion McCaffery
It was with great excitement and trepidation that I began this vigil having heard of the many reported sightings and other ghostly things. To step through the large wooden gates onto a cobblestone street that was reported to have been there since Shakespeare's time was amazing.
Vigil 1 Library and Passage
Temp reading 8.6 and the EMF Meter showed no movement. We all take flash pictures of various parts of the room. After Val called out and I also called out for spirit to show their presence temperature reading dipped to 7 to 7.8. I felt something touching the top of my head Val was feeling a bit sick. Rachel also called out and Sandy . We moved into the area leading to the stairs where the temperature reading was ranging from 8 to 9.8. Sandy called out and a tapping noise was heard, called out again and two more taps where heard (11.20pm). We decided to split into two pairs, Rachel and I went into the library and Val and Sandy stayed in the passageway to the stairs. Rachel was feeling a blowing on the back of head and Val felt a blowing on her face. A noise was heard behind Rachel on the candlestick holder which was like a rubbing noise. Nothing of significant importance to report from this area.
Vigil 2 The Arcade
Temperature reading was 8 to 9 no movement on the EMF meter. We all took flash photos of the room at different angles. We set up an Ouija Board in the small anti room. A locked of camera was set up just over my shoulder and I and Val took notes. Mainly Val, Rachel and Sandy put fingers on the pointer. Rachel was also taking video pictures of the séance. The camera behind me suddenly switched off as we started calling out. Camera was rechecked found to be ok and switched back on. We asked if there was a lot of spirits here in the room with us – answer yes 9 spirits.
Asked the spirit to start spelling his name if he could we got CUH could have been initials. Val got a sense a little girl and asked if there was one with us at the table and got a yes answer back. We got a date of 1904 apparently the spirit we were allegedly speaking to have worked and lived in this building. Something important happened in this building many years ago, he was murdered here and angry that he had passed over. The spirit knew the person that killed him; we found out that he had been shot by a man called William. He knew why he had been shot, William was a friend and they had argued. We found that a lot of the questions we asked where not answered and a bit vague in information. A John and a William was also present in the room. In the end we felt that we were being played with as the answers were vague and not consistent. We then tried table tipping, Val felt a cold breeze the left had gave a temp reading of 17.6 and the right hand where she felt the cold gave a reading of 13.4.
Vigil 3 Tavern area
EMF reading was normal and the temperature was 9.4 to 9.8 in the Superstition room to 8.2 in the Tavern room. After we all took flash photos Rachel set up the automatic writing set, then Val and Rachel asked for spirit to move the pencil. I took notes and Sandy was filming in the rooms.
Rachel asked if a little girl was in the room, Val asked if she was called Lucy, the planchette was doing little movements on the paper but only a small line was seen when removed. We threw a coin to see if it would be thrown back but nothing happened. Rachel saw small lights in the video being shown to her. I sensed coldness down my left side also Val felt cold but seeing that it was in the early hours of the morning and it was a draughty place lot of holes here and there we would feel cold. In the Superstition/witchcraft room Val got the feeling that a man was gutted and killed here and she saw a lot of blood on the floor. Again nothing happened.
Plague Room to Bear
Temperature 9 to 9.8 and EMF reading normal.
We took our photos and on one of the photos that Val took a mist was seen on James second portrait. We all called out again nothing were seen or heard.
Summary
After all the hype leading up to this vigil I felt a little disappointed. I felt here there was nothing at all to bother us. No sounds where heard despite us all calling out. I felt no presences or spirit at all. I am quite psychic and do sense and feel presence around me but not this night. As far as I am concerned the coldness felt and movement of hair on head could all be put down to draught and lights seen on the camcorder could have been dust or insects.
Rachel Steadman
I had been to Falstaff's before for the night ghost walk and so was really looking forward to doing a full investigation. I think this is one of the creepiest looking locations I have ever done.
Vigil 1 Library and passage
The library was the smallest room to investigate; we started by taking photos and calling out to which we had no response. We kept trying for a while before moving into the passage where again we took photos, again we took turns in calling out but no response, some quiet sounds were heard but I cannot rule out that it came from the team upstairs. I did however catch one small light on my video camera. Sandy and Val went into the passage and Marion and I stayed in the library but again we had no luck. Val and I heard something brush past a large candlestick, at first I thought it was Val, but she was convinced she was not close enough to have touched it.
Vigil 2 Arcade
We started by taking photos then settled down with a Ouija board, almost immediately the planchette started to move, we asked spirit if they were male, it moved to yes. We asked how spirit died and got a yes to shot. Asked again if they could spell name and got the answer yes. It spelt of the letters CUHT, we asked if it meant Cuthbert to which it answered no. I asked spirit to move the planchette quickly in a circle and if it was still angry at the way he died. The planchette did move rapidly in a circle. While it was moving I asked if spirit knew who killed him. The planchette stopped so abruptly on yes that my hand shot off of it.
We asked for a date and we got two dates 1904 and 1866 although when we asked if these were correct both times the pointer moved to no. We could not get a yes to any suggestions we put forward as to who had shot him, we tried family members, boss, lover and friend although we did get the letter W as the first initial. Val suggested William to him which we got a reply of yes. After this all went quiet. The video footage of the séance is quite good.
Vigil 3 Tavern and passage
We started by taking photographs and then settled down and started to call out, again being so close we could hear another team. There were no taps or bangs that could have been paranormal activity.
We moved into the tavern room where Val and I tried automatic hand writing and got a small amount of activity. Val sensed a little girl by the name of Lucy, although we did not have any response I do know from my previous visit that there is supposedly the spirit of a young girl who was a pick pocket in the tavern room. I did catch several lights on the video camera all in the same area near the fire[place. My first thought was it could have been dust from the fireplace but I found out when I returned home that the fireplace is a fake.
Vigil 4 Plague Room and corridor.
As usual we started by taking some photographs an then calling out to spirit, but again no audible response. So we sat quietly. Val took several photos of a large picture of burial scene and on everyone there was either a fog or a light anomaly of some description, but no on else in the team seemed to get anything. I have checked my photos carefully and have nothing on them, which I found very strange as we were all stood together in a line and took photographs together.
The only thing I found a little strange was that on several occasions as we walked though the courtyard to go off site a few of us noticed a strong smell of wood smoke. It was the sort of smell you would associate with a wooden building burning as it was to much to be a wood fir. It was not constant it would come and go in a matter of seconds, but at least six of us smelt it during the night.
Falstaff's is a fascinating place, but I think it was a case of right place wrong time, as I personally came away with little evidence. Although it does give us the perfect excuse to return and try again.
Simon Steadman
I was looking forward to this investigation as I have visited the Falstaff's Experience day and night ghost walk. I have to say that this place is creepy! Almost on par with The Ancient Ram Inn.
Vigil 1 The Arcade
After the initial bumps and bangs from the other teams settling down we all tried calling out but after several attempts, all of which drew no reply, we split up to cover the vigil area fully with Ken in the yard (plus a locked off camera) myself in the entrance to the arcade and Eileen and Amanda the other end of the arcade. The only experience in this room was a strange feeling of unbalance near to the rocking horse but this could have been down to a manner of physical factors. Unfortunately in my opinion on this vigil we caught no activity.
Vigil 2 Tavern and corridor.
In this area I knew what kind of paranormal activity has occurred in the past ( due to eye witnesses) so I had an idea of what to expect so I did my best to keep this knowledge to myself. Again it unfortunately turned out that none of the team managed to catch any unusual effects during the time allocated to us. We did try calling out and asking for something to happen but with no results.
Vigil 3 Plague room to bear
Walking to this area through the narrow corridors we did feel a little on edge, this dissipated as soon as we entered the main area. Once there we locked off a camera and spread out to take still shots I also set up an EVPP experiment. We did experience temperature differences of up to 10 degrees which was unusual. Amanda had the feeling of a French woman who was a little loose with her morals but after asking out in English and in French we had no replies. With no other evidence presenting itself we called it time.
During the breaks one thing that quite a few of us did experience was the random smell of wood burning, on checking around no satisfactory cause could be found.
Vigil 4 The Library
Seeing that this was to be our last vigil this evening we decided to try a Ouija board, but this had no discernable results so we tried glass divination with the yes/no table kindly provided by the owners of the venue. Again this experiment had no positive results, we called out and also took stills and video footage but in my opinion nothing of any significance happened.
A little disheartened we called it a night.
The Falstaff's House is a scary place to be, but on this night I feel the entities that are supposed to reside in this fantastic building had the night off. It was a great night all round, but paranormally very quiet. I think that we need to return just to have another crack at it and maybe things will be a little more responsive then.
Sarah Couper
For all of the night we followed the same routine. We checked temperature readings in each area we visited and we took photo's (I actually took very few) but only a couple showed anything slightly out of the ordinary. Steen did most of the filming for our team and Emma took our notes. All of us took turns calling out. The only deviation from this is when we tried the Ouija board in the Plague room, but we had no movement on the board. I filmed this vigil.
We had feelings of indigestion in ALL the rooms upstairs and in the hall/library downstairs and I felt sick in the Soldier/Army room thought in hindsight this could have something to do with an illness I currently have.
I think we all felt a little disheartened that nothing was happening and we did our best to keep each others spirits up through out the investigation. I felt as a team we all worked well together, providing support and encouragement.
I don't dispute that Falstaff's is haunted; it is just unfortunate that I never saw/experienced any evidence of it, which was a shame.
Sandy Rutter
Eileen Simon Rachel and I arrived just before the others and so we had a good look at the building. It looked fantastic. We then we met John from the house who was doing the tour that night with us. Then the others started to arrive and we all went inside. We met Janet and John who owned Shrieves. Janet showed us round the building. It was a good tour.
Vigil one
Our first vigil was in the Library. We took a few pictures and filmed but I personally got nothing. We tried calling out but no avail. Unfortunately then we started to hear the other groups as the walls where very thin.
Vigil Two
Again we took a few pictures and we settled in. We tried a Ouija board and we seemed to get in touch with a person called William. Val was asking for a girl called Lucy as she was following Val all the time but Lucy didn't come forward.
Vigil three
This was in the Tavern and the Bear room.
We took a few pictures and Rachel tried automatic hand writing but to know avail so I had a little walk all by myself. I could have sworn something was behind me. When I turned round it was very eerie as I caught the bear inside the cage.
Nothing else happened for me on the night but it was a great privilege to be able to investigate this house. Thank you to the owners for letting us. It may have been a quiet night but no less interesting all the same.
Eileen Rutter
I found Shrieves House and Barn a very old and creepy looking Tudor House.
Vigil one
We went in to court yard and Garden took photo's very light and noisy from pub next door so then we went into the penny slot room. We called out but unfortunately there were no responses in here. Amanda smelt something Sugary and when we put our hand on the tin horse it felt like you were swaying otherwise very quiet in here, just a few laughs and giggles hear from upstairs.
Vigil 2
We went upstairs from the tavern to the bear room. We called out and asked if any one with us but no response. Although it felt very creepy and was very dark it was very quiet and still.
Vigil 3
We went up the stairs again and to the other end. Again it seemed very quiet. We called out - no response to anything unfortunately. Very dark in here when lights are out. Simon sat in the devils chair in this room. Laughing heard but we know now it was from another team but nothing else noted for this room.
Vigil 4
We went into the library room with and we tried the Ouija board. We kept asking different questions but alas no replies.
A very quiet night but well worth a visit to this creepy old building.