Southern Paranormal - Investigations
The Kings Theatre Investigation
Saturday 7th February 2009
Attending Investigators – Julie Harwood, Di Moore, Eileen Rutter, Marie Holder, Mark Wright, Alison Crocker, Emma Curtis & Rich Smith.
Guest Investigators - Kieran Gillingham, Jane Gillingham, Karen Reynolds-Day, Maggie Watts, Marcus & Diane & Alison Brettell.
Time of Investigation – 9pm – 3am
Teams
Team 1
Julie – Vigil Team Leader
Alison C
Mark
Rich
Kieran
Jane
Karen
Alison B
Team 2
Marie –Vigil Team Leader
Di
Eileen
Emma
Marcus
Diane
Maggie
Vigil Area's
The “Theatre” which includes - Dress Circle & boxes, The Gods "Upper Gallery" & Stalls - in particular rows R, S & T
The “Surrounding” which includes – On the stage, under the Stage, foyer, corridors, the hexagonal room, dressing rooms if available and other areas not classed as the main auditorium.
Itinerary
8.45pm Team meet outside rear entrance to theatre
9.00pm Meet guide, enter theatre & have tour
9.45pm Vigil 1
Team 1 – The Theatre
Team 2 – The Surrounding
10.45pm Break
11.00pm Vigil 2
Team 1 – The Surrounding
Team 2 – The Theatre
12.00am Break
12.15am Vigil 3
Team 1 – The Theatre
Team 2 – The Surrounding
1.15am Break
1.30am Vigil 4
Team 1 – The Surrounding
Team 2 – The Theatre
2.30am Pack up
3.00am Depart
Locked off Experiments & Camcorders
1 x night vision camcorder in “the Gods” covering the left hand side of the area (if you are stood with your back to the stage).
1 x Data Logger in “the Gods” monitoring atmospheric conditions.
1 x night vision camcorder in the 1st floor circle, on the left (if you are stood with your back to the stage).
Webcam and Microphone covering the main dressing room (team base) linked straight to laptop.
Personal Reports
Team 1
Julie Harwood
Normally I leave writing my report until at least 24 hours after the investigation as it helps me collate my notes in my head and get all the details in order however I am writing this report 40 minutes after arriving home (1 hr 40 minutes after leaving the location). This one I feel needs to be documented immediately.
We have investigated the Kings Theatre in Southsea before and so when David, the General Manager said we could return short notice I was pleased and knew the team would be too. It was just such a shame that many could not attend as I knew they were some of the ones that really wanted to go back. This being said we were joined on the night by enthusiastic guests who were a pleasure to work with and our newest member Rich.
After a tour with Guy (our host for the night) we got our kit and pressed on wanting to make the most of the time we had. My team which consisted of Myself, Mark W, Alison C, Rich and our guests Kieran, Jane, Karen & Alison B started our night with a vigil in the auditorium. The auditorium is stunning and we all spaced ourselves out along the right hand side (the right being if you stood with your back to the stage). Alison C picked up a lot in here and kept seeing things out the corner of her eye. She also mentioned she saw the top of a mans head in the pit area at the front of the stage. We called out and heard a few taps and knocks but we could not be sure that this was not just the old building settling down as the night got colder. The exception to this was when I stood at the back of the auditorium while Mark called out and we all heard 2 very purposeful knocks that seemed to be in response to him calling out. They were coming from what I think is the sound or lighting cubicle or close to there. I could imagine a woman falling over the balcony from the floor above us, except IO did not imagine her falling but instead being pulled back to safety. I am not sure what made me think this. Alison C called out for anyone in the group to be given a name and I immediately got the name Michael but I did not tell anyone about this as I wanted to see if someone else also got this name.
For our next vigil we started off on the stage. Alison C was drawn to the far end of the stage (right hand side) where the table is. We threw a small stone (that we had found on the stage) a couple of times, asking for it to be thrown back but unfortunately this did not happen. The only feeling I got whilst on stage, was a feeling of being watched, ironic I know seeing we were on a stage! I did however capture a couple of interesting wispy light anomalies on camcorder between Mark and Rich just as they reported feeling cold. I will be interested to see them when they have been enhanced and analysed by our media analysis. After a while on the stage we moved on to under the stage. We all sat in a line at the back. I felt very sick in here as I believe did Alison C. I could also feel that Mark was not to keen to be there either. Again I felt like we were being watched from the shadows. The only major thing that worried us down there was the noise of the urinals flushing through, a noise I really should have remembered from last time but made me, Jane and Alison C jump never the less. Interestingly, Alison came up with the name Michael down here and I told her that that was the name that I had thought of in the auditorium on the earlier vigil.
After a short break it was time for our team to go into the auditorium again whilst Marie’s team went to the first floor and settled in the corridor. I suggested that we spread ourselves over the floors of the auditorium and so Alison C and Rich went up into “the gods” on the top floor. Kieran, Jane and Karen went into one of the boxes on the right hand side of the stage (as you face it). Alison B and I went into the box directly opposite Kieran, Jane and Karen (on the left hand side of the stage) and Mark stayed on the ground floor in front of the stage. It is important to note where everyone was located. We all experienced small, odd things whilst in our separate areas. I know Kieran, Jane and Karen felt an intense cold when we were calling out and Alison B got the name Patrick. Shortly after Alison B and I in the box felt the cold. Its swept in like someone had just turned a fan on and it was interesting to note that when we felt cold Kieran, Jane and Karen opposite us felt warmer. We could not see Alison C and Rich up in the gods although we could clearly see around the rest of the auditorium as the emergency lights were on. Very suddenly many of the camera’s and camcorders started playing up. Karen’s digital camera turned itself off, Kieran’s camcorder turned itself on and Mark’s camcorder turned itself off, all in the space of a couple of seconds. We were just discussing this when Alison looked to her right, past me and jumped, yelped with a look of horror on her face. She grabbed my arm tightly and pointed to a man stood in row D near the door to the corridor in the circle (on our level). We all looked up and quickly our minds were put at rest when Mark said and I realised it was Rich who had obviously come down from the gods and had relocated there. This caused a mini break out of hysterics and laughing as poor Alison had had such a fright. I turned to Alison and said, “don’t worry we have all been caught out like that before”. Mark then took a picture of where Rich was. I then turned towards where Rich was standing and said something along the lines of “oih, don’t you go scaring my guests like that Rich”. Rich did not answer me and after a short time moved and walked out of the door behind him into the corridor. It was at this time that I thought it was a bit odd he had not said anything in reply to us and did not seem to be laughing like we all were at poor Alison’s fright. Less than 5 seconds later I heard Alison C call down from the gods (top floor) and these words will stay with me forever “Julie, Rich is here”. It seemed like slow motion but we all looked up and could clearly see Alison and Rich waving down at us, completely unaware of why Rich’s name kept being mentioned. After a short stunned silence we went into mini panic mode. 6 of us had clearly seen the man we thought was Rich. Thinking it must have been Marcus from the other team we contacted Marie on the walkie talkie and she confirmed that none of her team had moved and Emma was in fact sat the closest to the door. Not only had no one moved but they had seen no one walk into the corridor from the auditorium even though they were less than 15 foot away from the door that 6 of us saw the man walk through. With this Mark went to see Guy in his office as he was the only other person in the building however he was happily sat in his office, a long way from where we were reading his book. He had not left the office at all. He came back with Mark and we explained what we had seen. Logically thinking though, if it was Guy or anyone else for that matter, they would have had to go past the team in the corridor as we all saw him go out the door or he would have had to turn around and come back into our sight. Guy confirmed there was no where else he could have gone. One way in, one way out. Luckily Mark had taken a picture which indeed does show clearly a man stood behind the seat in row D and as Mark had done this, his camera flashed and illuminated the man on Kieran’s camcorder. We were all stunned and were struggling with explaining it. Try as we might, with our logical scientific heads on we could not explain it. This was not a ghostly figure, it was not hazy, shadowy or in any way unusual. It was solid and in all six of our eyes a real person. Something I will never forget is leaning over the balcony to talk to him and him not responding. He did not appear to me to be unusually dressed and he had quite a heavy set, rounded face but nothing out of the ordinary, hence why we never questioned him being there. I am just so pleased that not only was he witnessed by 6 people at the same time (which in itself is so rare) but also from 3 viewpoints/perspectives and also caught on digital camera and camcorder!
We did another vigil after this in the corridor where the other team had been sat. On our way to this area I noticed a sweet smell of Vanilla near where we had seen the man standing. The only smell we were aware of in the theatre at anytime was the paint smell which Guy warned us about on our tour. It was odd to smell something so strong and sweet. We put ourselves where the former team had been and clearly if someone had walked through that door we would have seen them, it was still well lit. Alison could sense two children in this area peeping round the far corner at us. We walked down into the foyer and several members of the team felt uncomfortable or ill in here. It felt a bit odd to me (and very cold) but nothing out of the ordinary. We did however notice a picture of Frank Matcham, the architect employed to design the theatre and I have to say it does bear an uncanny resemblance to the man in the photo on Marks camera. Just a fluke?
David, I can not thank you enough for allowing us this last minute investigation of theatre. In my wildest dreams I could not imagine we would experience / see what we did. I am still trying to explain it logically now but keep hitting a dead end with the fact that, why if 6 of us saw him walk out of that door then why did no one walk past Emma and the other team?
I will of course let you have copies of the picture and camcorder footage. Thank you also to Guy for being our host for the night. I hope we have not completely put you off working at the theatre at night!
Mark Wright
We entered at the Kings theatre about 9pm where we were greeted by Guy, our host and given a tour. The theatre is huge, there are so many staircases, corridors, nooks and crannies it would be quite easy to get lost!
Despite its size though it was a lovely place, a “proper” theatre.
After the tour our new member Rich & I setup all the camcorders throughout the theatre we then split up into our 2 teams with our team going into the main Theatre, the sound pit, the balconies and the bottom seating area.
Whilst in this area we did experience a few knocks and bangs that we couldn’t account for, this could have been the theatre settling, there was no way of really telling, although a few times these knocks seemed very deliberate and in response to calling out.
After a break we then ventured to the stage area, personally I didn’t experience anything here; EMF readings were all over the place due to the amount of cable’s and breaker boxes for all the lights and various other bits of equipment. Again we experienced a few knocks and one particularly loud bang on a pipe that was otherwise silent.
Moving on under the stage I felt very uncomfortable, I really did not like this area. It really was blacker than black down there and only seemed to get darker when our eyes should have been adjusting to the light. We found some chairs and lined them up in a row and sat down. I sat on the end near an “opening” in the wall which felt very creepy, I put it down to the natural feeling of places like that where it feels like someone is watching you. While I was sat there holding my head in my hands (nursing a bit of a headache) something felt like it flicked my knee.
The mood took a lighter feel when one of the urinals in an adjoining loo completed its self clean which was extremely loud and echoed through out the room making a few of us jump as it was so quiet before it happened.
After another break, I set up my laptop with a webcam in the room where we had stored all of our gear, thinking that this is a room which rarely gets surveyed.
We then went back out to the main theatre seating area, before when we were here we noticed that some of the knocks seemed to come from above, so Julie had us split up so if something did happen we could have somebody up there to check it out. Richard and Alison on the very top floor, or the “Gods” as its called, Kieran, Jane & Karen in a balcony box on the right of the stage down, Alison & Julie on the opposite side to them in a balcony box & finally myself on the bottom floor near the sound pit.
Little did we know that Julie’s decision to have us split up and cover the area like this would allow us to document possibly the best paranormal evidence we have seen to date.
A few of us experienced severe cold spots, not just the normal breeze but very intense cold. Within a few seconds of this my camcorder turned itself off (I had set it up and it had only used 8 minutes of the tape and was plugged into the mains), Kieran’s camcorder turned itself on & Karen’s camera turned itself off, all within the space of a few seconds.
After this had happened I saw Rich walk through the door on the first floor (a stones throw from where Alison and Julie sat in the balcony) and sit down. A good 30 seconds later Alison shrieked, I took a picture of where she was pointing which is where Richard was sitting. She said that she could see a man in row D. I told her not to worry it was only Rich, I had seen him come in earlier, we all had a laugh about this and Julie said “don’t you go scaring my friends like that Rich” with that Rich got up and walked out.
About 5 seconds later we hear Alison who is up in the Gods say very calmly “Julie, Rich is here”. We all looked up and sure enough Rich was up there waving down at us.
I will never forget that feeling that I felt after we saw Alison and Richard waving down at us, I’m a long time sufferer of sleep paralysis and anyone who as ever had this will know what I mean when I say that the “buzzing” in my head started, it was that same sound that accompanies every episode of sleep paralysis. Everything seemed to slow down as my brain tried to work out what we had just seen!
Everyone was stunned into silence, you could have heard a pin drop. 6 of us had just witnessed this man walk through the door, sit down for a good 30-40 seconds then leave. Afterwards we all said how it felt odd that the man never reacted to anything we said especially the mini hysterical fit after Alison yelled, and didn’t really acknowledge we were there. When I noticed him when he first came in I could see he was looking down to my left but thought nothing of it because at that time he was still Rich.
Julie was straight on the walkie talkie checking on everyone’s whereabouts, Marie confirmed that nobody had been through that door and that the closest person to it was Emma who had been sitting down and not moved, nobody had passed her to go through the door that we saw the man come out of.
Kieran was filming in the direction of the man at the time and after review both of our bits of footage as I took the picture when Alison screamed the flash illuminated the area where the man was enough for Kieran’s camcorder to pick it up on film where you can see him turn to walk out, also the picture I took clearly shows him stood there looking down.
I went to Guys office to ask if he had been out, he sat there engrossed in a book with his feet up and confirmed he hadn’t moved. I showed him the picture & to say he was surprised would have been an understatement, he followed us through to the area with the concern that someone had broken in as the person in the picture clearly is none of our team. We found nobody; there was no way anyone could have got to the area where we saw him without at least one of us seeing him go past.
We took EMF readings of the area but nothing came up, we stood for a good 30 minutes trying to explain logically what could have happened, this wasn’t a ghostly figure, a misty apparition or a light anomaly of any sort, this was a solid figure, we found it funny that all the time, money and hours spent on trying to see a ghost, when it does happen we think it’s one of us and shrug it off only realising what had happened after he had gone.
Try as we might we could not explain it, for me, and I think I speak for us all who saw him when I say it was the best paranormal experience I have ever had. And for 6 of us to see it and capture it on camcorder and camera is the icing on the cake.
We had a break after this then headed to the corridor where the person would have had to have walked through to come through the door. We sat down discussing what had happened. In my pocket I had a temperature gun and an EMF meter, I had been sitting still for a good five minutes when it felt like someone grabbed the temperature gun and pulled it, it was such an obvious movement 2 other people heard it!
Looking down the corridor felt strange, like something was looking back at you.
Our last vigil of the night saw us back on the stage, again I felt/saw nothing here.
After this Kieran and I went round and collected all the camera’s and we all packed up and said our goodbye’s. The drive back flew by with Julie, Alison and I discussing the events of the night and events in the past. I got home about 4:30. 8:30 came round and I was still awake going over what had happened in my head so I just gave up trying to sleep and got up!
Needless to say it was an Amazing night, a big thanks to Guy for showing us around/keeping us safe & a big thanks to Julie for arranging it all.
Alison Crocker
The Auditorium
I had numerous corner of the eye sightings, shadows, tops of heads walking along here and in the tour picked up on a woman who was a singer who met a tragic end due to grief and sadness. I kept seeing a small man in the pit but just saw the top of his head. I also sensed strongly the presence of a magician and actor who had birds flying around the stage as part of his act. I felt it was around 1890 - 1900's. I saw many times a smallish man walking along the back row of the downstairs level between the two doors at the back.
The Stage
Immediately drawn to the far corner by the stage in this area. I sensed a male figure's energy there, he worked there from the start of the theatre and I sensed there was something not quite right with his arms? I feel his energy hangs about due to being unhappy about something that’s happened in the theatre and his 'falling out' with the owner. He was very reluctant to come forward and I feel his name began with a B, like Bill or similar. He is a little man. about 5ft 2 maybe 3 who's average build with a balding head. He appeared in my mind wearing thick trousers and braces. His role in the theatre was stage hand. We sat for a short time underneath the stage and felt a bit unnerved initially, I was given the name Mike/Michael and this linked to a name Julie got earlier. After a spooky experience with the urinals making strange noises we decided to move to another place after the nervy feeling seemed to vanish. Myself and Julie felt a bit yuk as we both described it.
The Gods
Rich and myself spent a short amount of time about 20 minutes in the Gods. It was freezing up there and had a weird atmosphere. I immediately sensed a builder had died here during the construction of the theatre and he still 'haunts' the area. Both Rich and myself had the feeling we should run down the stairs after our short time there. Very creepy and odd. Our investigation was over-shadowed by the fantastic events in the auditorium witnessed by other members in the team. It's a huge pity neither Rich or myself saw any of the goings on...very disappointing. We decided to go and join the other team members.
Corridor outside the Auditorium/Foyer
We sat quietly on a bench seat. I was drawn to the corridor along by the foyer. I saw a small child (about 7) peeping around the corner whose' name I feel began with M. There was another with her but I didn't see her. They dated back to about early 1900's and wore long dresses. We had a look around the foyer and it felt really cold (possibly due to being near the entrance of the building) and a little menacing... just edgy and a bit uncomfortable. Alison said she felt sick, I had a headache and felt a bit yuk. The stairs by one of the exits to the stage had a very weird effect on me. As soon as I reached this spot I couldn't stop giggling...laughing like a lunatic and finding everything hilarious, even things that normally I wouldn't have found funny. I quoted Michael Barrymore and 'top middle or bottom' at some stage in the investigation and kept thinking about him...??
All in all this location was eerie, intense and 'moody'. I really enjoyed myself and it was joy to work with a great, open minded and logical team. I hope the guests come on other investigations!
Notes to above – Alison also picked up on the names Ron / Ronnie and Douglas. In the 1960's there was a theatre group there that billed Ron Moody and the director was Douglas Squires. Also, there is an actor called Ronnie Douglas but I failed to find a connection to the Theatre. Michael Barrymore did appear in the theatre in a production of Scrooge in 2006/7.
Rich Smith
This is my first investigation with Southern Paranormal UK and it was good to meet the team at last. On arrival at the Kings Theatre we were met by a sceptical Guy who is in charge of the stage-door area and security for the theatre.
After a brief whistle-stop tour of the theatre by Guy we began to set up equipment. I accompanied Mark and assisted him in setting up equipment prior to the investigative vigils starting. We set up locked off cameras on the stage facing the auditorium and on the first floor stalls adjacent to the box. Finally we went up to the upper gallery also known as ‘the gods’ to place the Mini DV and Temperature Data Logger (TDL) that I’d bought along.
I realised whilst up in ‘the gods’ that I’d forgotten to bring my infra red booster from the rest area so after accompanying Mark back downstairs, I picked it up and proceeded once more (alone this time) up to the gallery to place the IR booster. It was on my way up that I had a tingling sensation on the back of my neck on the first floor flight of stairs (photo attached). It only lasted for the one flight and I ascended right up to the gallery to place the IR booster with no other feelings.
The same happened on the way down, a strange prickling sensation on the back of my neck but only on this particular flight of stairs. The whole stairwell was similarly ambiently lit by fire exit signs and was of a uniformly cold temperature.
The first vigil was already underway by the time I had come down to the auditorium. I settled into a seat near the middle to watch and listen. I heard a sound off to my right like a marble being rolled along the floor; I believe Mark heard it also so I repositioned to get a better vantage point. I relocated to the back row of the auditorium where I could both see and hear the whole room.
Apart from a few more non-descript sounds and ‘corner of eye’ shadows nothing of real interest was seen or heard.
During vigil 2 we ventured under the stage. The mood was happily playful with everyone in good spirits (no pun intended) We arranged some chairs in a line at the far end and settled down to call out, watch and listen. I sat between two female members of the team and apart from more ‘corner of the eye’ phenomena and the ever present sound of the over-active urinals, witnessed nothing anomalous. After about 5 to 10 minutes I became aware of a stale alcohol on breath smell (something I’m used to as a Paramedic!) Not wishing to cause any offence on my first investigation I chose not to mention anything in case either one of the two female team members had had a drink prior to the investigation. Towards the end of the investigation someone else mentioned that they had smelt it too, its only now on reflection that I connected the two.
After a short break we separated into twos and threes. I was fortunate to be paired with Alison C. for vigil 3. After experiencing the prickling sensation on my neck in the stairwell I suggested to Alison that she might find the upper gallery interesting to which Julie agreed. However the trip upstairs was for me uneventful and no reoccurrence of the phenomena I had earlier witnessed was experienced on this occasion.
We walked about the upper gallery getting a feel for the area, the omnipresent urinals began their cleansing routine and we settled to watch the ‘performance’. I heard some rustling to my left and went over to investigate, nothing was found and we put it down to the distorted sound from the urinals. The acoustics at this level are superb and we could hear conversations far down below us.
Alison and I became aware of a growing ‘commotion’ down in the stalls. Julie was in one of the boxes and speaking to someone. I caught the name Rich and listened more intently on hearing my name being mentioned. I again heard my name and Alison called down to Julie that we were still up in the gods. We began waving and immediately heard a growing tension in everyone’s voice downstairs. We heard the sound of a door creaking and banging shut underneath us to the left of the auditorium and decided to go downstairs to see what was going on. On our arrival there was a little pandemonium as evidence of a ‘figure’ had been seen by 6 independent witnesses from 3 different perspectives and had been captured on both stills and camcorder.
Guy the security man looked visibly shaken when he was shown the footage afterwards. He didn’t recognise the ‘figure’ and the ‘figure’ certainly didn’t look like anyone present on the team. Talking to Guy afterwards it would have been impossible for someone to gain entrance into the theatre without him knowing. Also the fact that the other team were at the end of the same corridor that the ‘figure’ disappeared down meant it was a seemingly impossible occurrence which as we all know did happen.
This phenomenon prompted the team to reconsider the next vigil area and we proceeded to the stalls in the area where the figure had been seen. Before the next vigil started I proceeded up to the gods once more to collect the locked off DV recorder and also the TDL to use on the first floor stalls area. On the second flight up I felt the hairs on my neck prickle once more which stopped as I ascended the next flight. I retrieved the camera and TDL and came back down. Again the hairs on my neck stood up on reaching the same flight. I took photos of the flight of stairs in question which are unremarkable.
We set up the TDL on the seats where the figure had been seen and proceeded to conduct our final vigil of the night in the corridor adjacent to where the figure was witnessed to have turned into. Apart from alternating drops in temperature and Mark being touched there was nothing to report. Alison C and I wandered into the entrance foyer. Almost in unison Alison remarked how prickly it felt whilst I commented on the aggressive feeling I felt there.
On walking down to the rest area after this vigil I noticed a smell of sweet vanilla in the area where the figure had been seen.
A final vigil was conducted backstage to which nothing else was witnessed.
On arrival back home I analysed the TDL. I found that it had malfunctioned in a way which I haven't been yet able to replicate. Basically I programmed it on my pc at home prior to me leaving for the venue. I set the sample rate for once a second and set the correct date and time. On arrival at the venue the date and time were correct and the tamper tape was still in place and all looked fine. I pressed record once Mark and I had identified a suitable location in 'the gods'. On analysis back home the time shown was 6 hours and 19 minutes out! I double checked it prior to leaving and prior to placing. I have found this device to be reliable in the past.
Also the relative humidity which takes a few minutes to settle when it has been placed anywhere seems to go goes haywire for a good 15 to 20 minutes at the start of logging which is not normal for this device. Temperature shows an overall steady fall from 16 degrees to 14 degrees throughout the recording period.
As heat rises and the TDL was placed high up in the gods I would have expected this reading to be similar to the rest of the theatre at 16 degrees or even slightly higher. There was no draughts detected and all was still. On bringing the TDL down to the site of the witnessed figure I got the same prickle on the back of my neck at the same location on the stairs as before. The TDL showed nothing remarkable at the scene of the witnessed figure but picked up the presence of Guy the security man when he sat next to it. The TDL’s relative humidity reading rises when a body is close to it due to breath, body temperature and sweat etc... So overall TDL was working ok.
All in all a fantastic investigation and one that I certainly won’t forget in a hurry.
Footage From Team One - Auditorium
This is a still frame from the Camcorder footage filmed by Kieran Gillingham. Please note this is protected by copyright SP UK 2009. This image can not be copied, used, displayed or reproduced in any way without express permission.
This is a still digital camera image taken by Mark Wright. Please note this is protected by copyright SP UK 2009. This image can not be copied, used, displayed or reproduced in any way without express permission.
Team 2
Marie Holder
Introduction
It was great having the opportunity to visit this wonderful building again and I was really looking forward to it. I hoped that it was going to be as active as our previous visit.
When we arrived at the location we were all given a tour of the building.
Vigil 1 – Surrounding – (Stage)
We made our way to the stage and after taking a few pictures I decided to call out. There were lots of taps which were mainly coming from the pipes at the rear of the stage. At first I thought they might be heating pipes but on closer inspection they were just piping and not connected to anything so I was at a loss as to why there could be tapping and knocking noises coming from them when there was no one standing by them.
I then got the name Henry in my head with a second name beginning with J which could either have been Jones or James. Di said she had the name Henry James in her head.
I asked if whoever was with us could move the curtains or do something to indicate their presence but there was no response.
Di picked up a person standing by the stairs leading to the above stage area, but I did not experience anything else unusual so I suggested we move to another area.
Surrounding – (Under Stage)
After only a couple of minutes of being in this area we all heard what sounded like a moan, which nobody admitted to have done. I asked out but got no response.
Di and Maggie said they saw something move and Emma heard a loud thud next to her, I walked down to the dead end and stood there to see if I could sense anything.
After a while the sensation of standing there on my own got very uncomfortable and I moved away from that area, but while there I picked up on the name Mark.
Vigil 2 – Theatre (Auditorium)
It was very quiet in this area. I sat in Row R for a while and felt lightheaded but nothing else was experienced. We made our way upstairs to the dress circle but it was also very quiet here.
Vigil 3 - Surrounding – (Foyer)
Nothing unusual was experienced in this area.
Surrounding – (Corridor behind Auditorium)
While sitting on the sofas behind the auditorium, Emma and I heard footsteps going up the steps located in one of the other corridors leading to the gents toilets. We investigated but found nothing, while we were investigating this area one of the toilets in the gents flushed which made us both jump, Marcus went in to see if anybody was there but there wasn’t.
The area seemed to get colder and colder the longer we sat there as well as darker which is unusual as your eyes should get used to the dark. We also heard doors banging but that could have been people outside that were milling about because the pubs had recently closed. Most of us rushed to the foyer to see if we could see anything but we didn’t. While we were there we saw a picture of Frank Matcham, the architect of the theatre. Although I did not mention it to anyone earlier I had the name Frank come to me while on one of the earlier vigils and thought nothing of it at the time and I was unaware of who Frank could of been. Coincidence?
During this vigil the other team were in the auditorium doing their vigil and this is my account of what happened:
I saw Marcus (or who I think was Marcus) enter the auditorium via the door on the extreme left as your sitting on the sofas facing the auditorium but I did not see him come back into the corridor. I then heard the other team talking and they sounded quite excited so we all went to see what was going on.
Julie told us that she was sitting in one of the boxes and had seen someone take a seat for a while then get up and leave. Alison and other members of Julies team said they saw the person enter the auditorium via the door I mentioned before. Julie said she talked to whoever it was as she thought that it was someone in her team but it wasn’t, because the person she thought it was, was on the top floor of the auditorium.
I thought it might have been Marcus but he denied having gone through that door let alone sat down and said that he only peeked his head round the next door along (middle door) but I could have sworn I saw somebody enter the auditorium by that left hand door.
Vigil 4 – Theatre – (Auditorium)
We made our way back to the main auditorium and we split up, some going over to the other side of the room and others (including myself) chose to take a seat by the area where the ‘mystery man’ was seen.
Unfortunately however I experienced nothing unusual in this area. We then went up to the top of the seating area but nothing happened.
We then decided to join the other team on the stage for a final vigil. Alison Crocker said she sensed somebody standing in the same place Di mentioned in our first vigil.
I did not experience anything in this area on this occasion.
Conclusion
What a fantastic investigation. Who was that who went into the auditorium?
Di Moore
On arriving at this most beautiful Theatre in Southsea we met the rest of group and went inside. Guy showed us round. On the Stage (which made me feel sick in pit of my stomach) I could smell this funny odour ). Then we went around the auditorium, Dress circle and Boxes, Upper Gallery and Stall, Foyer and Corridors, Many thanks to him for this tour.
Stage
Walking onto the Stage I could still smell this odour which to me smelt like old body odour. I asked if anyone else could smell this and a couple of the group could smell what they thought was a musty smell. We stood in silence then called out. Marie our team leader called out first, we heard some tapping sounds but thought this could have been the pipes, on investigating the pipes we found them to be stage scaffolding (and not pipes at all). We called out again and the tapping noise's moved around the stage. I had Rigger in my mind and asked the group if there was a job in the Theatre as a Rigger. The group said they thought there was, a Stage Rigger. As we stood there I asked if spirit could put anything into our thoughts then asked if anyone was picking anything up. Marie said the name Henry at the same time I was thinking James, we said could this be Henry James. I was drawn to the front of the stage on the left hand side which had a small stairway (only about three steps). I just could not stop looking at this area and was sure there was a man in spirit there. I went across to these steps and fell up them. This area was cold and made me shiver, there were lots of cold spots on the stage.
Under the Stage
This was cold and eerie. There were lots of creeks and tapping. We stood there and called out, nothing. We called out again and heard taps. This was a very dark place with the lights out. Emma and I were stood away from the group and I walked along a walkway. As I stood there at the end (which was a dead end) it got very black the more I looked at this corner the darker it got. I told Emma and she agreed. Standing there in silence, Emma shouted which made me jump. She thought something had touched her. Marie came over and went into this corner and felt threatened, she didn’t like this corner, we called out but nothing else was experienced.
Auditorium
We sat around the auditorium and called out (noises were coming from outside). My eyes were on the back as I was sure there was something there. The side also had a feeling like we were being watched. We moved to upstairs and the boxes, (this was the right hand side of the stage). Above the boxes on the left there was some large spot lights. I could see a glow there and asked if anyone had there touch shining on this point, but no, I put my touch in the area to show the group just were I had seen this glow but nobody had seen it.
Foyer
Nothing for me here. We walked round the corridors (these were like a maze not knowing where you will end up). We ended up in the corridor outside the Dress Circle and sat there. The end of this corridor got darker and darker then the other group who were in the auditorium started calling out and talking excitedly. Our team apart from Eileen, Maggie and I left to see what was going on. As the three of us sat there it was like something had rushed by us and we felt a cold breeze go past.
You will read what happened to them in there reports it's amazing.
This was an amazing place to investigate so thank you Kings Theatre Trust for letting us do an investigation again in your beautiful theatre.