Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Michelham Priory Investigation
Saturday 11th April 2009
Attending Investigators – Julie Harwood, Maria Street, Rachel Steadman, Simon Steadman, Gill O’Farrell, Mark Boulton, Mark Pettet, Sarah Couper, Mark Wright & Ross Richardson.
Time of Investigation – 8.30pm – 5.00am
A Little Bit of the History of Michelham Priory
The name Michelham is Anglo-Saxon and means “a large piece of land in a river bend” and lies in the ancient parish of Arlington.
The Augustinian Priory of the Holy Trinity was founded at Michelham in 1229 by Gilbert De L’Aigle whose family came from Normandy in France.
The Augustinian canons comprised one of the religious orders of the medieval church. They were known as the Black Canons because of the colour of their habit. They were not monks but ordained priests who renounced private property and live a disciplined but communal life.
Religious housing of this kind were expected to provide hospitality to travelers both rich and poor and lying near an important highway which led from Lewes and the ports of Hastings and Rye, it saw many guests for short and longer stays. Guests included the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1283 and King Edward I in 1302.
Prior John Leem resided at Michelham for forty three years between 1374 & 1417 and was a distinctive personality at the priory. When Prior Leem was succeeded in 1417 the priory was bought into increasing disrepute and in 1440 there were major troubles and in 1441 the new prior was seen to be wasting the priory funds by living extravagantly and failing to keep accounts. His rule over the canons was also bought into question when it was observed that the canons were not observing the rules of silence and were seen to be frequenting the tavern outside the priory gate. By 478 religious life had declined dramatically and the vestments and ornaments of the priory were in a bad state of repair. Canons openly chatted during religious services and one canon admitted “fornicating with a local married woman”.
King Henry VIII was not concerned with reforming the religion of England and with the aid of his secretary of state Thomas Cromwell closed all religious houses in England between 1536 & 1540, confiscating their property. Michelham Priory was dissolved in 1537. When all the Canons had left King Henry awarded the Priory to Thomas Cromwell (at a very low rent) as one of his many rewards for his services during the dissolutions.
In 1556 the Crown sold Michelham and the remaining lands surrounding it to John Foote of Arlington. He had been a tenant since 1542 and remained the Priory owner until 1574.
After 2 more changes of ownership in 1587 Thomas Pelham purchased the Priory. He built on extensive extensions to accommodate his growing family which included a new stone wing.
In 1599 the Pelham estate was declared bankrupt and on 6th April 1601 Pelham’s trustees sold Michelham to Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, the Lord Treasurer who was later created the Earl of Dorset. For the nearly the next 300 years the Priory stayed part of the Sackville’s extensive estates. During this time the estate was leased in parts to tenants who farmed and worked on the land. Over 500 acres was leased to Thomas Marshall Sackville’s auditor and surveyor who was also one if Sussex’s earliest map makers. He died at the priory in 1616 and was succeeded by his son also named Thomas who stayed on the land until 1634.
By 1662 the tenant was John Lulham and maps from this time show that priory had been extended yet again to include a medieval western range and the gable end of the Tudor wing. In the 1680’s new tenants Richard & Elizabeth Children moved into Michelham from Tonbridge. Unfortunately their arrival at the Priory was marked with tragedy when Richard died in 1687 aged just 51 and 2 of their children were buried in Arlington cemetery before Elizabeth died in 1693.
Tragedy seemed to follow when the new tenant John Walker also died after a very brief residency however his widow then his son and then his grandson Henry stayed residence for nearly the next 100 years.
Unfortunately by 1780 the western range was derelict through neglect.
From 1791 until 1861 three generations of the Child family took tenancy of the priory. William and Sarah Child were succeeded by their son, Thomas in 1821 but on 14th November 1896 James Eglington Anderson Gwynne of Folkington Manor bought the Priory from Lionel Sackville-West ending nearly three centuries of Sackville ownership. Mr. Gwynne did not live at the priory but he did begin a period of restoration of the Priors chamber and the lavatorium in the cloister before he died in 1915. His two sons used the priory as a hunting lodge until 1925 when the one surviving brother sold Michelham and 341 acres to Richard Beresford-Wright of Warwickshire. The remainder of the estate was divided into lots and sold at a separate sale.
The Beresford-Wrights set about restoration but a disastrous setback stopped them in their tracks when a fire gutted the Tudor wing in December 1927.
During the 2nd World War evacuees from Rotherhithe came to Michelham but by May 1940 Sussex was in the front line facing imminent German invasion and Mr. & Mrs. Beresford-Wright left the Priory for the duration of the war. One of their daughters who was a member of the land army stayed to work and maintain the land and in 1941 Canadian troops moved in. A plan for the Dieppe raid was drawn on a wall in the gatehouse, where it remains to this day. When the Canadians left in May 1943 the Priory became the Head Quarters for the Auxiliary Territorial Service who used Michelham as the working farm that it was.
Mr. Beresford-Wright died in 1951 and although he wanted to leave the Priory to the National Trust he could provide no endowment for its upkeep so Michelham was sold to a Mrs. Stella Hotblack in 1958 who wanted to preserve the Priory. She converted the buildings and eventually opened the Priory to the public. In 1959 Mrs. Hotblack gave Michelham Priory in trust to the Sussex Archaeological Society. Since 1959 the society has continued repairs to the house, restored the gatehouse, re roofed the barn, returned the mill to working order and undertaken excavation to discover more of the priories fascinating history.
The Ghosts of Michelham
One of the many alleged resident ghosts is that of Thomas Sackville. He is said to torment the ghost of a young girl called Rosie who apparently hides away in a priest hole behind the wood panelling on the stairs.
One of the most well known documented sightings is that of the grey lady who has been seen on many occasions on the bridge by the gatehouse. She has also been seen near the moat staring helplessly into the water. She is believed to be another former member of the Sackville family whose child drowned in the moat. She is also said to peer mournfully into the faces of sleeping guests and then drift away through walls.
Other reports also include a black hooded figure in the undercroft (not the dummy that is there!), a young boy in the kitchen area, a maid is also seen in the hall and on the stairs and a mysterious lady in Tudor clothing walks the corridors, the sound of her heels echoing through the building.
There are also tales of poltergeist activity, windows are said to open by themselves and objects mysteriously move on their own, people have also claimed to hear doors banging in deserted parts of the building. Many visitors to the priory have sensed the feeling of being watched or while others report sharp temperature variations and a feeling of unease.
The Investigation
Team 1
Julie
Mark W
Ross
Team 2
Simon
Sarah
Mark B
Team 3
Rachel
Maria
Gill
Mark P
Vigil Areas
The Undercroft – Team Room
The Gatehouse – 1st floor, 2nd floor (2nd floor will be locked off for experiments only)
First Floor (Priory)– Kitchen, The Tudor Room & The Music Room
Second Floor (Priory) – The Priors Room, The little bedroom (this will be a locked off area for experiments only), The Music Room.
Itinerary
8.30pm Arrive at Priory, Julie & Rachel go on H&S tour with host
9.00pm Rachel to take rest of team on tour of the Priory
Tech team (Simon, Mark P & Mark W) to set up equipment
Julie & Maria to conduct baseline readings ahead of tour
9.45pm Pre vigil break
10.15pm Vigil 1
Team 1 – Gatehouse
Team 2 – Ground Floor
Team 3 – First Floor
11.15pm Break
11.45pm Vigil 2
Team 1 – Ground Floor
Team 2 – First Floor
Team 3 – Gatehouse
12.45am Break
1.15am Vigil 3
Team 1 – First Floor
Team 2 – Gatehouse
Team 3 – Ground Floor
2.15am Break
2.45am Vigil 4
Whole team vigil in the gatehouse
3.30am Vigil 5
Chance for teams to re visit areas
4.15am Pack up equipment
5.00am Depart
Equipment
Gatehouse : 3 webcam set up + laptop (covering 3 floors)
Static thermometer
Digital VCR
Barrier Beams (Back Stairs)
Barrier Beams (Stairs to top floor)
Kitchen : Camcorder
Analogue VCR
Tudor Room (Dining) : Camcorder
Static Thermometer
Music Room : Camcorder
Stairs : Camcorder
Analogue VCR
Priors Room : Webcam + laptop
Satanic Books & Laser Trip wire (trigger objects)
Bedroom : Camcorder - LOCKED OFF ROOM – NO VIGILS
Barrier Beams
School Room : Camcorder
Bell on stand & toys (Trigger Objects)
Trigger Object Results
No trigger objects were moved during the investigation
Core Members Personal Reports
TEAM 1
Julie Harwood
I can not explain how much I was looking forward to returning to the Priory!
I was in a team with Mark Wright and Ross and our first vigil was in the Gatehouse. I was very apprehensive about this vigil and could feel myself trying to delay the inevitable before the vigil. We made our way over there and settled in on the first floor. It was strange as I noticed we all huddled together in the far corner and did not spread out in the area like we did on other investigations. I was the only one in my team to have investigated the priory & gatehouse before so I was determined not to say anything that could lead Mark and Ross into thinking anything. I was almost glad in a way when they started to report seeing something moving by the stairs. Mark described it as “just knowing something was moving”. They also both described something darting around the room (especially down the stairs). It was then that I felt my chair vibrate. I thought this was odd as there are no main roads near the gatehouse and we certainly had not heard any cars approaching. I was glad to know that Mark also felt a similar thing, but through his feet on the floor. We continued to call out and heard quite a few knocks, bangs and clicks, the loudest of which came from the floor directly above us and sounded like someone dropped a large piece of furniture on the floor (even though we knew there was nothing up there!).
After a break we started our second vigil in the downstairs area of the main priory building. We started in the dining room and when Ross walked past a certain point he started to sway and get a heady feeling, so much so that at one point he had to sit on the floor. We kept hearing taps and knocks from the music room so we decided to reposition ourselves there. Once in this room and calling out the knocks and bangs started in the dining room where we had just come from. We went back in there and as expected by this time the noises started again in the music room. At one point we radioed the team upstairs (Simon’s team) as they were making one hell of a racket. It sounded like they were moving tables around, but Simon confirmed immediately that all of his team were seated and still. We decided to split ourselves between the two rooms and the hall way. When we did this the noises stopped. It really did feel to us that we were being teased.
We then decided to spend the rest of our vigil in the undercroft. We made sure we covered as much area as we could with 3 people but the twenty minutes in there was fairly quiet. Just as we were leaving and heading back to the kitchen which was our team room, I saw Ross walk across in front of my and Mark who were stood to the side. I paid very little attention until Ross spoke to us and was actually behind us. Now I can not explain this as Mark also confirmed he thought Ross was in front of us as he had seen him move across our path. The team that were upstairs had still not come down and the team in the gatehouse had not returned yet either so we can not reasonably explain it as being one of them. This temporarily spooked Mark and I (and possibly Ross too!)
After another break we headed for our upstairs vigils, starting in the Priors room. We decided to try and record some EVP’s in here and we did hear a few knocks in response to our questions but these seemed to be a bit random. Mark also took some pictures near where I was sitting and there does appear to be some strange light markings on the wall which we could find no source for.
We then moved in to the school room. Mark and I sat on the bench in front of the window and Ross went to the far side of the room. We decided to continue our EVP work in here. We recorded these on Mark’s phone and we were also aware we had a locked off camcorder in the room with us. Just before we were due to leave Mark played the EVP back and we could clearly hear a voice that none of us recognised. It said something like “Whiney voice” and then “Sounds like OR do you hear that whiney voice”. I was calling out at the time, so that made me laugh! We decided to recreate the situation to see if it was one of us (though none of us remember saying it or hearing the other members say it). We all took turns recording in exactly the same place, to say the phrase “Do you hear that whiney voice”. We then played it back. The recordings of our mine and Marks voices were much louder than the previous voice and we could not even pick up Ross saying it as he was too far away. The phone that we were using to record was in exactly the same place as it has been all vigil (on Marks knee) and yet the volumes were so different. I believe the camcorder also recorded the voice and so we will have to look in to that further. It may turn out to be one of our voices but then that poses 2 questions. 1) Why don’t we remember anyone saying it 2) why is the volume so different when the location of the recorder did not change between the original recording and the tester recording less than 5 minutes later.
We had a free choice vigil next so Mark W, Mark B, Maria, Gill, Sarah & I returned upstairs with the Franks Box. I am very sceptical about this piece of equipment. Even though it does not stop when scanning radio channels it passes through them long enough to catch words that we are going to understand however just like glass divination etc I am happy to try these experiments in the hope of one day being proved wrong. Sarah read the control questions and then we all introduced ourselves. When we asked for our names to be read back to us we did hear quite a few of them however we also heard the name Neil more than a couple of times. We also kept hearing movement at the end of the corridor leading to the school room (which is where the main staircase is). Sarah and I had out attention caught by a woman stood there and then descending the stairs. I called out hello but there was no reply so Mark and I went to the top of the stairs but could see nothing. Unbelievably the camcorder we had recording on the stairs ran out of tape aprox 2 minutes before this woman descended the stairs! We radioed the team in the gatehouse and as we did I believe they heard an almighty banging noise but did confirm that all their team were accounted for. How do I feel about this woman? In my mind it was almost certainly a guest of the host who was located upstairs. Unfortunately we did not get a chance to speak to him before we left.
Another great night at the Priory and I have to say regardless of activity or not I would definitely return there for another investigation as the building always seems to turn up something for some and nothing for others which is intriguing in itself! Thank you to all at Michelham that made our visit possible.
Mark Wright
When I was about 7 years old, reading about the ghosts of Michelham Priory was one of the reasons that I became interested in the paranormal field. Back then, it was just pages in a book that I would read under my covers at night, trying to scare myself silly. Never did I think that one day I would have the chance to visit the Priory and investigate the very things I had been reading about first hand!
We arrived fairly early and had a wander up to the gatehouse, before long we were met by Matt who took Julie & Rachel for a quick walk around. Meanwhile we drove the cars under the gatehouse and into the grounds.
During the tour, all of the lights in The Undercroft had simply gone off and would not come back on, leaving us to walk through with our kit by torchlight & relocate our kit room to the kitchen.
Once inside the priory, Simon and I went of to set-up the cameras and experiments whilst the rest of the team took a tour. During the set-up, Simon had calibrated the beam-breakers in the priory room. About 4 minutes after setting these up we were across the hall setting more equipment up when the beam-breakers’ alarm sounded. We went to check and nothing had moved, this was confirmed after reviewing the Camcorder footage later, nothing visible on the screen had moved.
Our first vigil of the night saw the three of us, Julie, Ross & I in the gatehouse. Whilst sitting down and calling out, all of us felt a moving sensation, Julie described it as her chair shaking, whilst I felt the floor shaking under my feet (there are no main roads nearby, the entrance to the priory is down a private track which is closed off at night, also, although we were on a flight path, there was no airplane noise at the time we experienced this and for a good 10 minutes after). Sitting in the second floor of the gatehouse looking towards the stairs made us all feel uneasy, several times it looked like something blacker than black was moving in the shadows and on several occasions we all heard bangs, several within our proximity.
After a break, our next vigil saw us covering the downstairs area. During our time down here it seemed that whatever room we were in, noises would come from the room next to us so the three of us spread out across the 2 rooms and the hall. After we did this no more noises occurred.
We then moved into the Undercroft and sat in such a way we covered all angles of the room. We did hear a few noises in the room and I felt very uncomfortable sat next to the door (I normally do though so I think the feeling was just me being me). After our vigil ended here we walked out of the room and I turned to talk to Ross, I had seen him walk in front of me and was aware that he was stood there, when I looked up to talk to him he was not in front of me and came from round the corner behind me, Julie also confirmed that she had seen what she thought was Ross stood in front of us.
Our next vigil saw us upstairs, first off in the Priory room. We recorded several EVP sessions in here and when asking for a response, we did hear several localized knocks. I also took several photos of the area where Julie sat, all of them on the same camera using the same settings, on one of the pictures a bright “Y” is clear on the image above Julie’s head.
Moving into another room we continued the EVP sessions, playing the session back we heard the words “whiney voice” then about 20 seconds later the words “sounds like a whiney voice” can be heard both on my phone that I was recording on and on the camcorder that was in the room. We both recreated the scenario and repeated the words ourselves and could not match it to any one of the three of us. Also none of us can remember saying this.
After another break, intrigued by the earlier EVP results, we headed back up to the same room with Mark P’s “Franks box”. When asking for a name, 3 times over the course of a few minutes we heard the name “Neil”. Also, after introducing ourselves, we had 4 of our 5 names repeated back to us.
During this time, a few of us heard somebody walking up the stairs, about 50 feet away. A few seconds before this started I had a distinct unease about the area at the top of the stairs, almost like I knew something was about to happen. After hearing the footsteps I turned to Julie to see if she had heard them and turned back towards the stairs to catch a glimpse of a shadow on the wall at the top of the stairs move swiftly down them. There was no noise upon her descent. I say “her” as the others got a better look at her than I did and said it was a lady in a black gown/long coat with a bag. After going to the top of the stairs to investigate I headed back to the group and noticed a bright light outside on the grounds. I radioed the other team who were in the gatehouse to see if they were all accounted for, they were and they said they had heard running footsteps within the gatehouse and then the huge wooden gate bang about 30 seconds after we had seen the lady.
Not long after this we started to break to equipment down and pack everything up. It was a brilliant night, and I can only hope we will visit the Priory again in the future.
TEAM 2
Simon Steadman
We started by placing lock-off cameras and arranging the experiments:
GROUND FLOOR
Undercroft - lock off digital 8 camcorder and analogue voice recorder
Music room - lock off digital 8 camcorder
Dining room - lock off hi 8 camcorder
1ST FLOOR
Priors room - lock off streaming web cam, 2x trigger objects (books) laser tripwire
Childs bedroom - lock off hi 8 camcorder, 3x trigger objects (marbles, rosary), barrier beams
School room - lock off hi 8 camcorder, digital voice recorder, 4x trigger objects (bell, toy, cross, ball)
GATEHOUSE
1st floor room - 2x lock off streaming web cams, barrier beams blocking rear stairs, static thermometer
2nd floor room - 1x lock off streaming web cam, barrier beams blocking rear stairs, analogue voice recorder
INVESTIGATION
Vigil 1 downstairs area
Team members- Simon, Sarah and Mark
Music room/dining room/Undercroft.
E.M.F - none TEMP - 15-16
The vigil was quiet with only a small amount of possible activity caught; slight clicks and light anomalies both of these could have rational explanations.
Vigil 2 upstairs area
Prior’s room
E.M.F - none TEMP - 15
During this vigil we attempted to get a response by reciting some Latin prayers, we did seem to get some quiet noises from the corridor and we also experienced a static cold spot near to the statue in the alcove. We also tried some antagonistic calling out to try and elicit a response but had no luck.
Schoolroom
E.M.F - none TEMP - 15-16
This was another relatively quiet vigil with only light anomalies caught on stills camera. Whilst calling out we did hear what sounded like footsteps from the prior’s room like someone was descending the main staircase but on investigation no one was seen, the light from the priors room also seemed to fade but this could have been a trick of the light. I radioed the other team and no one had moved at that time so this remains unexplained.
Vigil 3 team 2 gatehouse
Team members - Simon, Sarah and Mark
1st floor
E.M.F - none TEMP - 12
On this vigil I did hear what sounded like quiet voices. We also heard odd noises from the rear stairwell and on investigation we discovered that it was nothing more than my squeaky shoe on the polished wood!!
2nd floor
Numerous light anomalies were caught on the streaming cams in this room and 3 footsteps were heard from the main staircase. No other evidence was captured.
Vigil 4 free team gatehouse
Team members - Simon, Rachel, Ross and Mark P.
On this vigil we decided to sit at one of the tables and try to get a response by using some Augustine chant music. During this the other team radioed from the main house to say they had just seen a woman on the staircase and at that time we heard a loud thud from the 2nd floor and footsteps on the main staircase to the gatehouse. I ran to check who was there but could find no one. I checked the ground floor and outside at the front gates (they were locked) this remains unexplained and quite possibly paranormal phenomena (the footage will be reviewed to see if we have caught any of these noises on camera).
Conclusion.
On the whole this 2nd visit to Michelham priory was not quite as active as our first, but I still feel that this location gives more questions than answers and I hope we have managed to capture some of the strange events on our equipment. I really enjoyed the investigation and I can’t wait to go back for a third attempt at catching some of the reported activity. My thanks go out to the staff that made this night possible.
Sarah Couper
The priory was set across a river with a gatehouse as the only visible means of entering over the river to the priory. In arrival it looked very picturesque, its whole setting was beautiful and I can imagine it would have been quite an impressive sight in it’s day. Once we were able to gain access through the gatehouse I could see that the actual priory building was smaller than I expected. The part of the building we had to enter through – the Undercroft – had an electrical problem (that had just happened), as the outside light had faded it was quite a spooky entrance – very dark and seemingly cave like due to its coved ceiling. Before we began vigils, I helped Rachel set up a few experiments in the schoolroom.
Vigil one Ground floor – Undercroft, Tudor Room and Music room
We started in the Tudor and music rooms as they ran into one another.
Took temp and EMF readings, personal photos. I was filming. We called out here but pretty quiet – a few unexplainable taps in Tudor room. On camera (still) caught a couple of light anomalies but nothing really interesting.
We left the rooms and moved to the under croft – again we took readings and photos, and then settled in to commence calling out. There was a white entrance board a short distance from me and when Simon called out I thought I saw it move, but it never happened again. We sat in here for the rest of the vigil but there was nothing further to report.
Vigil 2 Upstairs – Priors room, Childs room, school room and exhibits area.
We started in the prior’s room. We took readings and photos then settled down in various parts. I set the camcorder on a windowsill to record whilst I read put some prayers in very poor Latin. We called out after and during my reading but no response. I asked Simon to give them a go and after he read one, we heard a noise outside of room. Simon read out again, and we called out but no responses. I ran digital recorder whilst Simon read out again in hopes we might pick up something up. I took still photos when Simon had finished and was calling out and did get some light anomalies seemingly tracking across the room before one appeared beside Simon.
We moved from here to the schoolroom – took readings, photos and commenced filming in here. We called out. I was sat on the other side of the room to the guys and I could suddenly smell like film developer. Simon came over to my side of the room and could smell it to, and then it suddenly disappeared. We moved over to the doorway and Simon called out again – I turned to look at him and could have sworn I saw the dark outline of a tall male figure behind him momentarily. We received no responses to calls so moved to stand in the prior’s room, Mark went into the child’s room. Simon and I both heard a tap in the Priors room and called out, we then thought we saw Mark walk past the door as if going down stairs. We went into the exhibits area to look and found that Mark was in the School Room it would have been impossible for him to have walked past the door of the Priors room to get where he was. I went out on the stairwell where I could hear the team downstairs talking as they thought they had just seen someone on the stairs.
Vigil 3 Gate House.
1st floor – took readings etc and commenced filming. Took photos and called out – no responses experienced.
Went up to 2nd floor – did the same here. Simon and I heard a voice but could not confirm if it was not something non paranormal. I could see some light anomalies appearing on hub cameras when we called out. So I sat in front of the hub and called out asking for the anomalies to respond in certain ways – like move slowly – and on occasion they did seem to respond. We then thought we heard 3 footsteps but nothing more. On the way up the gate house steps Mark thought he could smell Menthol, interestingly on the way down we thought it smelt like public toilets.
Vigil 4 free vigil
I joined a group in the schoolroom where we decided to try a franks box experiment using controlled questions. We appeared to be getting responses to some of our questions (first Julie read, then Gill/Mark W, then myself. We recorded the sessions. Part way through some free questions we heard a noise out on the stair well and myself and Julie saw a figure go past – I saw part of a dark coat with a light coloured bag slung across the body. Julie went out asking if it was one the group but no one responded. We then saw the outside light go on and heard/saw a car start up so we can only assume this was not paranormal but a visitor to the building (as part of building is flats). Unfortunately, this was the end of our vigil.
We packed up our kit and dismantled experiments at the end of the investigation there appeared to have been no movement on any of the experiments.
Overview:
Overall it was an interesting location. I cannot conclusively say whether the building is haunted but equally I cannot say it is not either, due to the few things that we did experience. It would be an interesting location to go to again I think.
Mark Boulton
It was a shame that we arrived at the priory just as night was falling, because we could not get a full view of what looked to be an interesting set of buildings. We initially parked up just outside the gatehouse, before entering into the compound.
We entered the building proper through an area called the Undercroft (complete with a monk figure) and set up our base area in the kitchen. On the walk-through the actual building area we had access to was smaller than expected.
I was in team 2 with Simon (team leader) and Sarah. Our first vigil was held on the Ground floor, this includes the Undercroft, Tudor Room and Music room. We did the usual calling out, listening, photo’s and videoing. There was no real activity to report.
Between the vigils we had the opportunity to traverse the ‘secret passage’. This was entered through a panel along side the stairs to the third floor and allowed passage to the ground floor, unseen. Surprisingly this was in no way scary and remarkably clean and apparently well used.
Vigil 2 was held in the Upstairs rooms; these are the Prior’s room, Child’s room, schoolroom and an exhibition area. Again overall there was no real activity to report. When Simon and Sarah were in the prior’s room, I wandered into the child’s room. This was the only place in the whole building that made me feel slightly uneasy. This could have been because I was there on my own though. In the prior’s room Sarah and Simon also tried reading out some Latin prayers to try and invoke a response but there appeared to be no activity at all. At one stage Simon tried blaspheming but also to no avail. It was mentioned at one stage that perhaps any spirits could get ‘over used’ as it were. This did get me thinking that perhaps this could be true in a lot of cases.
Vigil 3 was held in the Gate House. We started on the first floor calling out and trying the emf meter for responses, again no real responses were recorded. We then went up to the second floor where the locked-off camera was. Both going up the stairs and coming back down again I did smell a menthol or ‘vic’ like odour that was unexplained. In the upstairs room I could see the monitor displaying the camera video. After looking at it for a while I could see definite light anomalies floating across the monitor, there didn’t appear to be any insects flying around, but this was the most activity experienced at Michelham.
For Vigil 4 the whole group was split into two, we went to the schoolroom while the other group went back over to the gatehouse. We tried to use the Franks box using pre-written questions (a good idea) and did seem to gather some responses.
Michelham priory is an interesting place, unfortunately we only had access to just a part. There were also residents living on site. This lead to perhaps the most interesting event (described elsewhere) of a lady being spotted walking down the stairs, that turned out to be a false alarm and either a resident or friend. The investigation though was still quite interesting.
TEAM 3
Rachel Steadman
I was really looking forward to the return visit to the priory as the first investigation we did there was so eventful. It was nice to see that nothing had changed which made the night a lot easier as we were able to get straight on with setting up the equipment. I took the members who had not been before on a quick tour of the main building, we then had a short break before starting the vigils.
Sarah and I set up some trigger objects in the schoolroom. A bell on a stand and a rabbit soft toy on the large round table, a small ball in the fireplace, and a cross on the small round table.
Team - Mark P
Maria
Gill
Vigil 1 - First floor
We started in the schoolroom, once settled we took photos and then started by calling out. We had no response so stayed sat quietly for a while listening for anything unusual, after about half an hour we moved to the Priors room, once we had all taken photos we tried calling out, I also tried playing music that might of caused offence to a religious person, but we had no response to this, we continued to call out, but again got nothing. This was a very quiet start to our night.
Vigil 2 - The gatehouse
We started in the first floor room, we spaced ourselves out, took photo’s and then started to call out again, this proved fruitless, so we moved up to the second floor, and tried the same thing, this time I tried playing some Gregorian chanting hoping this would entice any spirit to come forward. Gill also tried reading Latin prayers we did hear some taps from around us but nothing to really call paranormal. Mark did see some possible light anomalies while watching the P.C video surveillance we had set up in there, he did spot a small fly which he thought may have been showing up on the cameras, which he managed to remove, after this more possible light anomalies were seen.
Vigil 3 - The ground floor
We started this vigil in the Undercroft; we all sat quietly listening for anything odd, but got nothing. We tried calling out again but still nothing, so we moved on to the Tudor rooms, we settled in the far end in the music room area and again sat patiently waiting, after a short while a few bumps and bangs were heard from above us, like the sound of furniture being dragged across the floor. We checked by radio to see if they had moved any furniture, which they had not, within a few minutes we heard footsteps above us and mumbling, so I again checked to see if the other team were moving to another room or talking, which again they were not, shortly after this more noises were heard from upstairs and again the other team had not moved. So this is at the moment unexplained, we all definitely heard noises from above us. We tried calling out with no response, so I asked for another team to be affected, in less than a minute Julie radioed to apologise for the noise from upstairs as they were ‘a little spooked’ and were moving rooms.
Vigil 4 - The Gatehouse
For this vigil we all picked an area to go back to so the teams were different, Simon, Mark P, Ross and myself all choose to go back to the gatehouse, we started off on the first floor, taking photos and calling out as normal, with no response after a while we moved to the second floor, where again nothing happened, after a while we decided to try again on the first floor. I tried the chanting music again shortly after I switched it on an incredibly loud thud was heard from upstairs, followed by three or four rapid footsteps on the bottom set of stairs, we checked for someone coming up, but there was nobody there, nobody could of used the back staircase as there were barrier beams on them which did not go off, but were definitely working, while we were still looking for what had made the noises, the other team radioed to ask who had been into the main building as they had seen someone on the stairs, we informed them no one had left the gatehouse.
Conclusion
This investigation followed the same path as the first visit, if one team had experiences in a room the next didn’t, and little happened until the end of the night. It is a fantastic place, which seems unwilling to reveal much to its visitors, it lets you know you’re not alone but doesn’t give much away. It’s definitely worth a visit, and given the chance I would go back, as it’s different every time.
Maria Street
I very nearly didn’t make this one and if it wasn’t for Julie treating me for my birthday, I wouldn’t have done. Rachel and Simon very kindly gave me a lift there and we arrived around 7.30pm. The last time we came, it was in the depths of winter and was very cold and dark. This time, the weather was milder, albeit drizzly and we managed to catch a view of the place in the fading light. It was still as imposing as we remembered and it was lovely to once more drive over the moat and through the gatehouse and into the grounds. We set up in the kitchen as the lights in the Undercroft had all gone out. I was in team 3 with Rachel, Gill and Mark P. Our first vigil was to be on the first floor and we started in the School Room. We tried calling out but had no response. We persevered for a while, and then continued our vigil in the Prior’s Room. Rachel tried playing some Goth music she had on her phone, but once more, all was very quiet, with no response to calling out.
Our next vigil was to be held in the gatehouse, and previous experience had taught us to wrap up well. It was very very cold in here on our last visit, and although warmer on this visit, still much colder than outside. We started on the first floor and we positioned pound coins on some of the tables. We stood them up on end and asked for them to be pushed over, but to no avail. All was very quiet here so we moved on up to the second floor. We had set up a wireless camera with a laptop in here and Mark P monitored it whilst we all sat round and called out. Mark mentioned light anomalies on the laptop and a flash over my head, which appeared directly after me calling out. Nothing more happened in here so we moved back to the first floor where on our previous visit, the table had moved in response to calling out. We tried to elicit the same response but the table did not move.
Our next vigil was in the Undercroft where we could hear footsteps from above. Checking with the other team, we found they were perfectly still. The footsteps also sounded as if they were coming from the ramp just outside the room but there was nobody there. We moved on to the Music Room, where, once again footsteps were heard directly from above. These could be attributed to the other team only once, as the rest of the time they were still.
For our next vigil we split into two teams and I joined Julie, Mark B, Sarah, Gill, Rachel and Mark W in the schoolroom for a Frank’s Box experiment. It was in the middle of this that we all heard movement from the stairway and Julie and Mark both saw a blonde girl go down the stairs. We have yet to find out who she is, but I think we all believe she was human! The difficulty is that we cannot see how she got out of the grounds. The Frank’s Box was soon forgotten as we tried to trace her movements and it was soon time to end the evening. I would like to thank Julie so much for my wonderful birthday present and to Rachel and Simon for treating me to a lift. Thanks also to Mark and Sarah for the lift home.
Gillian O’Farrell
We arrived at the Priory as the last of the daylight faded. I was certainly anticipating lots of activity from a place that has a reputation as a highly paranormally active location. We had all the necessary elements of a historic location; a gatehouse, a moat, monks and many years of eventful occupation.
After we had our initial tour of the building we were told about the secret passage. This was irresistible so I had to go and take a look and squeeze myself through the tunnel behind the staircase. All seemed set for an active and eventful evening.
Vigil One - Schoolroom, Prior’s Room.
We started in the schoolroom and began calling out. We saw some flashes that turned out to be the other team downstairs taking photos. We called out but got little in terms of response and nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. Next we moved into the Prior’s room. This room was rather unnerving particularly because of the mannequin of a monk positioned at a desk whose eyes seemed to follow you! Rachel played some modern gothic-type music in an attempt to provoke some response. However, there was little sense of activity.
Vigil Two – Gatehouse
Next, we moved out of the Priory itself into the gatehouse that was considerably colder and felt very unpleasant. We sat for a while and called out then moved to the second floor. Rachel played some religious music and I read out some mass prayers in Latin. None of this invoked a response. There were some light anomalies that were likely to have been insects flying around. We also tried some table-tipping and positioned coins around the room but again experienced no activity.
Vigil Three – Ground Floor
Our vigil started in the Undercroft. Despite further calling out we got no response so moved further into the building to try in the Tudor rooms. Whilst here, we experienced some odd sounds and movements at one point as if furniture was being dragged across the floor above. The team upstairs were adamant that it was not them making the noise so at this point this is unexplained.
Vigil Four – Frank’s Box Experiment
For our final vigil we spilt into two larger groups and I opted to participate in using the Frank’s box in the music room. I have always found this box rather unsettling but somehow, despite the reputedly haunted location things seemed calm. We heard a couple of things from the box but nothing that seemed to be of much significance. Then, we heard a noise as if there were footsteps down the staircase. Most of the team were convinced that there was activity and several members saw a clear outline of a female and the noise continued on the staircase. A little later we saw the external light trigger and shortly afterwards a car drove away from the far cark park. We can only assume that this was a real person who had been visited one of the flats: the question remains why did she not answer us when she left at 4am in the morning when we asked if anyone was there? It is also baffling how she could make it out of the building so quickly in the dark, how she could not be seen in the grounds and how she managed to get through the gatehouse without opening the door.
Throughout the vigils I performed sound recording using a digital voice recorder. Upon analysis no anomalies were present.
Michelham was certainly an interesting location with a colourful past, but it did not want to reveal any secrets to us. There are enough stories of activity at this Priory and there have been plenty of human traumas in that location. If spirits do roam in this property, they did not want to provide evidence of their survival to us that night.
Mark Pettet
Michelham priory is set across a small river possibly a moat with a gatehouse that seemed to be the only way in or out of the priory. On arrival it looked like a great location, the setting it was in was what looked to be quite impressive sight. Once we gained access through the gatehouse, which was quite daunting. I saw the priory building was smaller than I anticipated. The entrance we had to enter the building was called `the Undercroft ` which was very dark and no light, and from what I gathered was a fuse-box problem (that had happened earlier). The light outside had all faded which turned the entranceway very dark and gave the room a tomb-like feel to it with it’s vaulted ceiling.
I had the great pleasure in setting up the infrared cameras in the gatehouse on my own which was met with a little apprehension. Before vigils started all lock-off cameras and trigger objects were set up.
Team 3 – Rachel, Maria, Gill, Myself
Vigil one Ground 1st floor The Priors Room, The little bedroom, The Music Room.
Took temp and EMF readings, photos. Rachel was doing the filming. Maria called out but seemed to be fairly quiet – apart from a few unexplainable knocks in the room. On stills camera nothing was caught. We left the first room and moved to the prior’s room. We took readings and photos again; we found some floor space and settled down and proceeded to call out. We sat in here for the rest of the vigil but there was nothing further to report.
Vigil 2 Gate House.
1st floor – took readings etc and filming. Took photos and called out and no results. We tried glass divination and table tipping again no results with this.
Went up to 2nd floor – did the same here. Still nothing. Few light anomalies on infrared cameras but nothing out of the ordinary happened here.
Vigil 3 Ground floor – Undercroft, Tudor Room and Music room
We started in the Tudor and music rooms as they ran into one another.
Took temp and EMF readings, personal photos. We called out here but very quiet as could hear team upstairs – a few unexplainable taps in Tudor room. On stills camera caught a couple of light anomalies but nothing really interesting.
We left the rooms and moved to the Undercroft – again we took readings and photos, and then settled then proceeded to call out. A few taps was heard but we
could not pinpoint the area it was coming from.
Vigil 4 free vigil
Myself, Simon, Rachel & Ross went to the gatehouse all was fairly quiet here apart from some disruption partway through. We heard what sounded like footsteps coming up the stairs Simon called out but no response, then heard the big gatehouse doors bang loudly. Later to find out that someone had been seen in the grounds and most likely had gone out through the door.
Conclusion.
Overall it was an interesting location. Though I cannot say whether the buildings do have paranormal activity. It would be an interesting location to go to again, I think.