Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Lyveden New Bield
9th September 2006 9pm-3:30am
Attending Investigators: Kerry Price, Julie Harwood, Maxine Willard, David Ireland, Steve Crouch, Abbie Holding, Val Butler, Laura, Sammy(guest), Steve Gilbert, Brian Ward, Ken Taylor, Ed Ashton.louise
Team 1:
Kerry - Team leader
Julie
Maxine - New member
David
Team 2:
Abbie - Team leader
Steve C
Val
Laura
Sammy- Guest
Team 3:
Steve G - Team leader
Louise
Ed
Brian
Ken
Vigil Areas
Main: The Lodge and Water Gardens
Additional: Orchard and Forest
Vigil Rota:
9.00pm- Meet up and introductions
9.15pm- Tour of the site by Mark our guide for the evening
10pm - Set up equipment and locked off experiments and distribution of equipment
10.30pm- Break
10.45pm –1st Vigil
11.45pm- 2nd Vigil
12.45am- Break
1.00am- 3rd Vigil
2.00am- Pack up
Locked Off Equipment
1 camera + trigger object kitchen area
motion sensors + dictaphone stairs area ( spare camcorder, Ken’s motion sensors and Kerry’s dictaphone).
Equipment
Team 1:
Kerry’s or Julie’s camcorder
Kerry’s EMF meter
Kerry’s Thermometer
+ 1 torch + 1 UV armband per person
Team 2:
Steve C’s Camcorder
Julie’s EMF meter
Julie’s Temperature gun
+ 1 torch + 1 UV armband per person
Team 3:
Ken’s Camcorder
Ken’s Thermometer
Ken’s EMF meter
+ 1 torch + 1 UV armband per person
Vigil 1:
Team 1: - The Water Gardens
Team 2: - The Lodge – East Wing
Team 3: - The Lodge –West Wing
Vigil 2:
Team 1: - The Lodge - West Wing
Team 2: - The Water Gardens
Team 3: - The Lodge – East Wing
Vigil 3:
Team 1: - The Lodge - East Wing
Team 2: - The Lodge- West Wing
Team 3: - The Water Gardens
2 years ago Mark Bradshaw the current property manager saw the image of a long-faced bearded man standing at one bay of the upper-story windows. The figure appeared to walk across the window before disappearing. Also a local printer reported seeing a similar apparition at one of the bay windows 7 metres from the ground.
The east wing of the house(front entrance) is lies on a point where 2 ley lines cross.
Local folklore states the middle or moated garden is haunted by the ghosts of the 43rd Highland Regiment ( Black Watch) , 98 of whom were captured 1743 by the King’s men and surrendered without bloodshed. Although 1 died of hunger and is said to be buried within the water garden. According to legend on stormy nights the pipes and drums of the Black Watch can be heard.
Team 1 Vigil notes:
Water Gardens 10:30-11:30pm
10:30pm- team split into 2 groups, Kerry and Maxine, David and Julie. Kerry’s group head to the outside of the water gardens and the other the part nearest the house.
10:45pm-Kerry feels disorientated and breathless both hear footsteps.
10:46pm- Kerry hears a scream from the 1st mound and then sees what appears to be a person move through the trees on the mound. Kerry can sense a female and a male presence.
10:50pm- Both Kerry and Maxine feel a little unsettled and can’t remember how to get back across the water.
11pm- Kerry’s and David’s group meet up again. Both Julie and David have had a fright as they have both seen a man behind the bench between the trees, figure dispersed when the torch was shone on it. There isn’t anything between the trees that they could have mistaken for a figure.
11:05pm-Julie stands near the water and starts retching as though she has seen something horrible, this subsides when she moves away from the water.
11.10pm- All call out. Noises heard. Kerry calls out for the man to walk towards them, footsteps heard coming towards them.
David says the man has a shovel in his hands and is guarding the body he buried. We walk a bit further into the mans space, Kerry calls out to try and force the man into reacting. David feels very angry and says that the man is swearing and angry, so Kerry continues to taunt. Footsteps are again heard coming towards us!
11:15pm-Camcorder goes continually in and out of focus, more footsteps heard and David feels as though the man is stood to his left hand side. Noises heard again coming from that direction. All feel a little disorientated.
David believes that a man is buried in the woods which the man is guarding and feels as though the body was only hidden there for a while which was then thrown into the water and discovered by a female.
Vigil 2: Kitchen Area/West Wing 11:45pm-12:45am
11:50pm- David senses a woman in the area of the kitchen, believes she was hung and then cut down by the man ‘ with power’.
12:00am- Kerry senses that the woman was raped and dragged to the area behind the fireplace.
12:05am- David believes that the man/men were religious men, with brown habits with yellow bead belts (franciscan?).
David can see big banners hanging from high up, red with gold piping around the edges.
12:10am- Both David and Kerry believe the woman to be sitting in almost foetal position in the opposite corner to the entrance door to the kitchen. Both see movement and tapping sounds heard in this area.
12:15am- Kerry/David sense the woman being beaten and kicked and raped and is covered in blood, can see someone trying to force her up by digging fingers underneath her ribcage which Kerry feels and can see men standing and sitting in the windows/fireplaces above watching the ‘ sport’.
12:20am- Calling out continues and scene is played over again, possibly residual energy.
Things continue in this manner until vigil end.
Vigil 3: East Wing 1:15am-2:05am
Team joins with team 2 for a séance in the kitchen area.
1:20am- Séance starts and people hear noises from the same corner as previously experienced.
1:25am- Abbie becomes affected by the activity and is angry and upset and sits down.Julie brings David’s and my attention to the position that Abbie is sitting in which is the same position as they saw the woman in.
Calling out continues and we try to get some kind of reaction.
As we are calling out, Steve gets responses to the calling out which seem to be taunting us back and the spirit loses temper, slams his book down. Temperature seems to drop!
Val senses dogs around her, possibly hunting dogs from the description she gives.
We get Abbie to move into the circle as she is very affected by the atmosphere and cannot join in the séance.
Julie gets orb responses to calling out. We have a big fright when an insect buzzes down Steves neck and we break the circle.
Activity ceases and no further responses are recorded.
Séance closes
Personal Reports
Brian ward
Vigil 1
I was in team3 with Steve Gilbert, Louise,Ed ,Ken our first vigil was in the west wing of the lodge there was a few temperature changes but this I put down to there being no glass in the windows. There was a couple of light anomalies these I think where down to some little beetle type bugs I saw on the walls when I first walked around and there was also Bats flying about. To me nothing else happened in this area
Vigil 2
We moved into the east wing of the lodge again nothing happened to me I don't know about the rest of the team.
In the east and the west wings of the lodge it was so dark it did not let the night vision focus
Hens nothing much was picked up on night vision there was one possible orb taking on digital camera.
Last vigil The water gardens and woods well what can I say nothing at all happened it was so very calm unusually calm not a sound of wildlife movement perhaps it was scared of by the first team that went up there there was an owl that was very close to us that was all.
Conclusion
I had big expectations for this location after reading a few reports on the internet but nothing of any paranormal activity was felt by me.
A lovely building and garden area I would really like to walk around in the daylight to see
Everything. I would like to thank Kerry and the national trust for letting us investigates this location.
Maxine Willard
When I arrived at the location, it was very impressive. After driving up this dirt track in the dark, you suddenly come across this very old house which looks like a ruin, but in fact was never completed. There was nearly a full moon and the night was quite light.
Being the "new girl" and feeling slightly out of place, I was soon introduced to the other team members and made to feel at home.
I was taken on a tour of the house before the investigation began by Kerry. We entered through what would have been the servants entrance. Once inside you could see just how unfinished the house is. There is no staircase, upper floors or roof. You could see where fireplaces and doors would have been and there is a small room which would have been the bakery. I must say that apart from the quiteness and the darkness, I didn't feel anything about the atmosphere of the house, but hoped that this would change as the night progressed.
The first vigil was in the water gardens. We split into three teams. There was Kerry, Julie, David and me in Team One. We split into two groups. Julie and David went in one direction and Kerry and me in the other armed with torches and a camcorder. Kerry soon felt uneasy as we wandered around and asked out if anyone was there to which there was no reply. I felt that we were being watched, but this was probably because we were on our own in the dark surrounded by trees. Kerry did not feel that she wanted to venture up onto the mound and sensed "screaming". We made our way back to David and Julie who were very agitated. They had both seen a man standing between two trees who appeared to be waving at them. Julie felt the sensation of choking and footsteps were heard, although these could be attributed to small animals moving around.
The second vigil was in the East Wing of the house. I think this was the kitchen area which had the bakery leading off of it. Here we stood in silence. I did hear a strange scratching noise coming from the corner of the room. I did feel very headachy and a bit like I had been punched in the stomach the whole time spent there. I think that some orbs were caught on camera. We all seemed to be drawn to that one particular corner of the room where David sensed a girl crouched down. It was interesting that the camcorder did not focus when pointed in that direction. We then ventured into the bakery. Kerry felt very warm in here, although I didn't feel any change in temperature. David again sensed the girl and also the presence of a man. I didn't unfortunately sense this, just felt drawn to the doorway as though someone was standing there.
After this we all went back to our cars for a short break and then we returned with all the team members back to the East Wing. Here we held a seance. After linking hands it wasn't long before the presence of a man was felt and the name Father Martin was given. Julie was using the camcorder and hopefully orbs were caught. This man seemed to focus his energy on Abby who felt extremely unwell at this point and had to leave the circle. A presence was felt walking around us, but seemed to stay around David, Kerry and Steve. Footsteps were also heard. At one point, David went and stood where the presence of the girl was and strangly his face seemed to change and became blurred. This I think was due to the dark and tired eyes. The seance was closed down as Abby still felt unwell and we all went back outside.
All in all the investigation was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I actually saw how the equipment was used. I feel somewhat cheated ie no orbs caught on my camera! Hopefully next time!Julie Harwood
I was excited to be able to attend the Lyveden New Bield Investigation. I had only seen pictures of it before and had always wanted to visit, so when Kerry invited some members of the Dorset & Hampshire Team I was certain I wanted to go. The site itself intruiges me. Having more than a keen interest in history made it all the more interesting for me. It is not often you find a incomplete house of this scale in the middle if the countryside and I would like to thank the National Trust for allowing us to investigate there.
I was in a team with Kerry, David & Maxine and the first of our vigils was in the forest and water gardens. This area was massive and so we decided to split into 2 teams for the first half of the vigil. David and I remained one side of the gardens / canal and Kerry and Maxine went over to the other side. David and I called out and for the first 5 or 10 minutes its fair to say that we received replies but only from the sheep in the field and various wildlife around us. I sat on the bench (please see the website report I mention a little further on in my report as after comparing photographs we believe this to be exactly the same place) facing the largest mound / island and canal and David stood infront of me facing me. I was note taking on my dictaphone and it kept switching itself on and off which was very strange. David was picking up on the spirit of a man that had been murdered and buried and at one point he thought he could hear a very weak mans voice cry out. David was looking over me into the forest behind me when suddenly he jumped and said he could see something in the woods behind me. He asked me to have a look to see if I could see what he could see. I got up to look expecting to be able to say oh no thats a tree or a trick of the light but when I looked, between 2 trees we could see the outline of a man just stood looking at us. I could see him appear to move and David said he did seem to be waving at us in slow motion. This did freak us out and so we shone the torch over there and he seemed to disappear. I would be able to explain this away if when I had shone the torch there, there had been something innocent in the place that looked like in the dark it could resemble the form of a person, but when the light was shone there was nothing there at all. At this point David seemed to get very angry and on several occassions I had to almost physically stop him from marching into the woods as he felt he wanted to confront the man we could no longer see. At this point Kerry and Maxine returned and we explained what we had seen to them. They had also experienced some strange things so we decided to go back in the woods and see if we could get any further reaction. Kerry did most of the calling out as this seemed to create the most response. David and Kerry both felt this was a cowardly but arrogant man who was jeering us because 3 of us were women. He certainly picked on the wrong woman when he took on Kerry! Several times Kerry asked him to walk towards us and each time we could hear the sound of footsteps coming towards us. This was slightly unnerving as we had never had this before but we stood our ground determined not to move away and be intimidated. Each time we would hear 3, 4 or 5 footsteps and then they would stop until Kerry called out again. Then we heard the sound of people coming from by the canal so we went back out of the woods to investigate thinking another team had joined us and were being a little noisey, but there was no one there.
Kerry and David were talking about a woman being trapped in the grounds and the house by a man and to be honest I was just having a look around when all of a sudden just as David said the women in the group with brown or dark hair need to be careful I started to choke and wretch and felt sick to my stomach. I described it at the time as being like I had seen something really disgusting and I bent over towards the canal and really was seconds away from being sick. I had a searing pain in my left side and I was doubled over. I had felt fine all evening and in a couple of minutes I felt fine again. That was really odd and I cannot explain why I felt like that. Since the investigation Kerry and Brian have forwarded me this website and I was very very interested to read the similarities between the 2 different groups experiences of this location. To see their report click http://www.microbears.co.uk/mwnewsite/lyveden.htm
Our second and third vigil was in the house. Kerry and David were picking up on what they believe was residual energy, it was fascinating to listen to, if a little sad. They picked up on a woman who was being abused and tortured for entertainment and worse than that the abuser was a man of the cloth. I was filming for most of these vigils and a lot of orbs / light anomalies were caught at what seemed like prominent moments when either Kerry or David were calling out. We also joined with Team 2 and did a seance in the same room. A couple of the members again were picking up on a man of Roman Catholic faith and Abbie seemed to be affected quite badly by something to the point she had to sit down against the wall as she was swaying so much. The odd thing was that when I looked at her through the nightvision camcorder she was sat exactly how David described the woman he was picking up on in the earlier vigil. Knees up, head in her hands, almost in a foetal position.
A fantastic location and while it is still hard for me to say, yes I experienced something paranormal I can atleast admit that on several occassions I found it hard to explain various experiences that my group had. Once again thank you to the National Trust and also to Kerry and the rest of the London & Essex team for inviting us to join them.
Steve Gilbert
Well i didnt know anything about this site at all before i arrived and so appraoched it with an very open mind. Ive no doubt other people will have experienced at lot of stuff.
The biggest mystery is why they never completed the roof and floor to the building because it would have been magnificent im sure.
Dissapointing then that nothing really presented itself - i suppose for a sceptic it was a location that was always going to be a all or nothing type night as things like temperature change and shadows and noises were always going to be present anyway.Really from a scientific point of view you are then relying on large EMF readings (which cant be explained as there is no power near the building) or some sort of poltergeist activity at the least and im sorry to say neither of these things occured for me. We live in hope.
Ed Ashton
I did not get a chance to look at this strange building in the daylight, but the brightness of the full moon shining down upon it and on the surrounding fields gave it a very surreal quality. No doubt the complete deathly (but overwhemingly calm) silence save for the odd owl here and there, also contributed to this.
Nothing at all was experienced by myself throughout the entire investigation and I felt totally at ease within the building and the wood, although, admittedly, the light from the full moon and the calm, still weather conditions helped.
A very non-eventful investigation then but a fascinating location all the same.
Kerry Price
I must admit I was excited and a little scared about this investigation, it would be my 1st outside vigil for many, many years. I had not read much about the site and so didn’t pass too much information on to the rest of the group, as I wanted us not to have any preconceptions about Lyveden.
What I did know was that a ghost had been seen on the upper levels of a man believed to have been the original owner of the building and that there was supposed to be some activity connected with a battle that had taken place around the site.
As Steve and myself drew up to the building, I was amazed at the condition of the building; it certainly didn't look 400 years old.
We were met by Mark Bradshaw who was kind enough to give us a tour of the building, not too much information was given away so as not to put ideas into our heads.
On entering the door to the kitchen area both Steve and myself heard a thud behind us as though a rock had been dropped on the floor. We could not find any reason for the noise and there were certainly no rocks around, well not of the size that could be picked up without moving equipment.
As the rest of the teams started to arrive I took them into the building to show them around. On the next 2 tours the same noise occurred in the same area but a scraping/scratching noise was also detected on the wall to the left of the entrance to the kitchen. The thudding noise did not occur when I showed Julie, Steve Gilbert, Brian, Ed and Maxine around. It felt a bit different inside then, as though whatever was in there had gone.
Before the investigation started Steve Crouch decided to have a walk around the water gardens and mound. He had already commented on how he did not like the woods and felt that there was a woman there, I also felt the presence of a woman but was not given any more information. Both myself and Steve had heard a noise behind us which was either shuffling or whispering around the area of the ditch that one has to skirt around to navigate back to the front of the cottage.
Also, some of us thought that we saw someone walk around the building from North to East and also some flashes of light in the top floor area windows.
During the 1st vigil, my team once again split into 2 groups. Myself and Maxine going through the wooded area and the far side of the water gardens while David and Julie explored the side nearest the house. It is important to note that my torch batteries died on approaching the water garden which when checked later worked.
I felt very uncomfortable in the area approaching the 1st mound. I felt a male presence on the slope going down to the water and heard what I believe to be a woman screaming from the top of the mound. It is odd that before entering the woods we could hear all sorts of wildlife going on owls, sheep, badgers and the occasional stoat or pine martin killing a water bird. All unsettling noises but, distinguishable animal noises but, once entering the woods these noises could not be heard other than a bird flying off occasionally.
I also had the feeling that someone was behind me, I have had that feeling many times and I always find it puts my hackles up!
We got a bit disorientated and made our way slowly back to the other 2 members of the team only to find them in a bit of a state. Julie had been sitting on the bench facing the water while David had been standing opposite her. David saw a man behind Julie in the trees, Julie turned around and saw the man shone a torch in that direction and nothing was there. Not anything that was human or that would give the impression of a person being there. I was quite scared at hearing this as I had thought that there was a man in the woods with us.
David said that someone with dark brown hair would be affected and he should warn them, at this point Julie felt ill and started retching and she had a stabbing pain in her side. She was in a bad way and we all thought that she would be sick, this subsided when she moved away from the water.
We started calling out and I asked for the man to walk towards us at which point we heard footsteps coming towards us. David said that the man had a shovel and had buried someone in the woods. The footsteps happened on a few occasions which was quite unsettling, on every occasion as a response to our calling out. David seemed to be quite angry and I was calling out trying to get a reaction so that whoever was there would show himself, again footsteps were heard. We then heard a group of people heading in our direction, thinking that it was one of the other groups we were getting ready to tell them off, as they were noisy but on investigation no one was there!
It is also interesting to point out that while researching the building after the investigation I came across a report from another paranormal group who had a similar experience in this area.
To read the other groups report click link on Julie's report.
The night vision camcorder that I was using did not seem to be able to film particularly well in this area and kept going in and out of focus. I had thought earlier that I had left the lens cap on or did not have it switched to night vision but all was in order. Very strange!
The next vigil was in the kitchen area of the house. I was looking forward to this part as we had heard noises earlier in this section. Both David and myself picked up on a woman here that was raped and murdered, David believed that she had been killed by a man of the cloth. I could not pick up much about the man but when David said that the man had a brown robe on I had the image very strong in my mind. The woman unfortunately was easier to pick up on, however I believe that the energy was residual. Myself and David kept getting an image in the same area, in one corner crouching down against the wall, hunched over head in hands, knees to chin. Some taps and orbs etc were witnessed in the area, however the image seemed to replay itself without sound. It wasn't scary, just sad.
I also felt that either her body or another persons had been hidden in the small bread oven in the adjoining room as I could sense the smell of decaying flesh and every time that I could smell it, my mind was drawn to that area. I also picked up on people standing and sitting in the window and fire spaces on the floor above watching what was happening to the woman that we picked up on. It seemed that the killing was for sport and pleasure.
For the final vigil we joined forces with Abbie's team for a séance in the kitchen area.
Very early in to the séance Abbie felt that she needed to sit down as she kept swaying.
We called out and again some knocks and taps were heard in the area where David and myself had seen the image. David went to stand in that area while we continued the séance. Some members pointed out that they could not see David’s head and sometimes it looked as though his physiognomy had changed to someone else’s.
As we picked up on the woman again, Julie drew our attention to Abbie who was now out of the séance and sitting against the wall. She was in the same position as we had seen the woman in! David was picking up on the man of the cloth again whom he believed to be father Martin, Steve thought Patrick. Steve was getting replies to our calling out. I tried coaxing out some activity but nothing more was forthcoming.
In all an interesting if somewhat disappointing investigation. The occurrences in the house seemed to be residual energy. Nothing was picked up on the locked off equipment. The trigger object of a cross had moved slightly to the right however, the locked off camera had run out of battery (although it was a long life one) and no spares were available, so the movement cannot be verified.
It is strange that at the beginning of the evening there was some activity, the thuds in the house and the weird experience by the water garden and also the movement around the outside of the house. After the experience of the water garden nothing really happened in the way of activity.
David Ireland
Hi guys,well we have just come back from Lyvden New Bield in Peterborough and i have to say that ever since i have joined Southern Paranormal this has to be one of my top ten favourite investigations. This was an incredibly unique investigation for the group. obviously we have investigated manor houses and private houses but we have never investigated a house that was left unfinished for over 400 years!!
Me,Steve,Julie and Ed arrived at the location late (sorry Kerry). We got there about 9:15 and everyone was already waiting for us. As every one else had managed to get there on time they had already looked around the area its was our turn for the tour. Steve Crouch (L&E team member). Came up to me before we entered the building and told me that i might need to call my guides forward early as he had sensed a lot of things within the area but believed that most of the things were outside of the building. Taking serious note of this as i always do on an investigation i began to prepare myself for the night ahead. As soon as i walked through the door to enter the house i sensed something straight away. When i shut my eyes i had the image of a woman. The strange thing was me was when i sense spirit i usually see them in there entire form. This time was very different. I had the close up of a womans face. Her face was extremely red like it was being starved of oxygen. The image began to progress and i saw that a rope was around the womans neck. I was given the impression that she was being strangled. well how wrong i was.
Vigil one
I was in a team with Julie, kerry and Maxine (new L&E member) and our first vigil was in the forest area that was located to the right of the house. Walking up to the forest was fine. We decided to split up so we could cover more ground and Julie suggested that we keep one sensitive per group so i stayed with Julie and Kerry was with Maxine. Me and Julie stayed at the front of the forest which was just in front of a lake. we waited for each other to settle before calling out. Me and julie began calling out and as soon as we did i sensed a man digging a hole in the forest with a shovel. we called out some more and got some strange noises around the forest. i looked back in the forest and have never been as shocked as i was on this investigation. I physically saw a man stood in the forest waving at me and julie. I told julie to getup and look in the forest. She looked in and saw exactly the same which is very strange for julie. We put our torch on the tree that he was stood by to see if it was kerry or maxine and when we did the image was gone. we switched off the torch and he wasnt there. being the investigative people that we are me and julie decided to walk into the forest to see if anything was in there. When i walked in i sensed another male presence in the forest but not the male that was digging. i felt that this was a man that was killed in the manor house but was buried in the forest which was why the other man was digging a hole. Kerry and maxine joined us back round the front of the forest and we told them what happened. We were swapping stories when i turned round and saw julie bent over retching as though she was going to be sick. When i saw julie doing this i sensed a female spirit doing exactly the same thing stood in exactly the same spot. I looked in the water and saw a body floating. I told the others that a woman who the man was tied with romantically had found him floating in the river. I also sensed that the man with the shovel stays in the forest because that was what he did the night he buried the other man so no one would disturb where he had buried him. he then uncovered the body and disposed of it in the river.
vigil two
vigil two was the same group but this time in the house. when i walked in the house i sensed the same woman that i had picked up outside. to cut a long story short i sensed that she was physically raped and abused in the house by monks. i dont want to be more specific as it troubles me to even think about what i was sensing in the house as what i was getting as to horrific for words.
conclusion
this building was absolutely spectacular and i would defintely be the first person to put my name down for a revisit. I would like to thank the people that look after the building and also thanks to Steve Crouch who gave me a warning prior to the walk round.
Louise
1st Vigil - East Wing
As we entered the old ruin and walked through the servants entrance Ken and I felt nothing unusual. Once we had been in the building a while I sensed people sitting on the floor and a ginger cat walking around. As we made our way around there were breezes, but that could be because there was no roof ever built on the top of the building.
2nd Vigil - West Wing
Still walking around the building Ken and I felt very little, apart from we picked up on some orbs on the camcorder. Although we saw these we still did not feel anything in this part of the building.
3rd Vigil - The Water Gardens
We all walked to the water gardens which were opposite the fort through a gate, we made sure that we stayed together. The trees were very still, which was unusual because of the breezes which were in the building. It was very odd and made me feel uncomfortable that the area was so quiet. Further into the vigil we decided to walk back to a bench which we had seen earlier, looking back through the trees they looked very dark and unusually still. We started to feel at how cold and quiet it was. It was very strange not to hear or see anything apart from dead silence.