Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Plas Teg Investigation
Friday 10th November 2006 – 8.30pm – 3.00am
Attending Investigators – Julie Harwood, Ed Ashton, David Ireland, Amanda Horley, Simon Steadman, Rachel Bettany and Mark Pettet.
On site Team – Plas Teg Paranormal
Introduction
Our introduction to this report will be brief. Usually I like to give a good background to the location however on this occasion we were so taken with Plas Teg and the beautiful way it has been restored from near ruin that we have vowed to return soon with more of the team and so we do not want to give too much about the history away.
If people do want to read about the history and / or previous ghost sightings an excellent site is www.plasteg-paranormal.webeden.co.uk who were our hosts for the night or www.plasteg.co.uk
Plas Teg as it is today, courtesy of www.plasteg.com
This Jacobean Country House in Pontblyddyn is a jewel in the North Wales countryside. When you find it, it looms over you with its four immense turret corners but you can never appreciate the true size of it until you get inside. When you do enter you breath is taken away by the amazing and sympathetic way it has been restored over the past twenty one years by its devoted owner Mrs Cornelia Bayley who lives in just a small part of this massive residence. Her true devotion to the house is apparent when you hear of the condition it was in when she purchased it. Looking around you simply can not imagine it in disrepair and near ruin.
Plas Teg as it was in 1942
Picture courtesy of The National Library of Wales www.gtj.org.uk
We would like to thank Cornelia Bayley for allowing us into her home and also Gill and the members of Plas Teg Paranormal who were with us on the night. It was a pleasure to work with you and to meet a team with values so close to our own. We look forward to a return visit if you will have us.
Vigil Teams
We were delighted when members of Plas Teg Paranormal Gill & Alan (and guest Jane) accepted our invitation to join us on vigils.
Team 1
Julie
Ed
Simon
David
Alan (Plas Teg Paranormal)
Team 2
Amanda
Rachel
Mark
Gill (Plas Teg Paranormal)
Jane (Guest of Plas Teg Paranormal)
Plan for evening
| 8.30pm – 10.30pm | Group Arrive, set up, have tour of building & complete baseline tests |
| 10.30pm – 10.35pm | Quick break for hot drink |
| 10.35pm – 11.40pm | Vigil 1 Team 1 – first floor Team 2 – Top Floor |
| 11.40pm – 12.00am | Break |
| 12.00am – 1.15am | Vigil 2 Team 1 – Top Floor Team 2 – First Floor |
| 1.15am – 1.30am | Break |
| 1.30am – 2.30am | Whole team up to top floor for glass divination and to cover more rooms and monitor the Long Gallery. |
| 2.30am – 2.45am | Pack up |
| 2.45am – 3.00am | Debrief and a run through of the night incl a explanation of the history of the House from Gill. |
| 3.00am | Depart |
Baseline Tests completed by – Julie, Ed & Amanda
First Floor Dining Room – Temp 13.5 – 14.5 fluctuating, No raised EMF reading. Room has a very heavy atmosphere.
Indian Bedroom – Temp 14.5, No raised EMF reading. Very squeaky floor boards. Possible tapping sound coming from pipes in corner.
Staircase (Lower) – Temp 13, No raised EMF reading.
Staircase (Upper) – Temp 12, No raised EMF reading.
Main Landing (Top of main staircase) – Temp 14.5, No raised EMF reading. 400 year old carpet at top of stairs, team need to be aware of trip risk. Door to owners private area – out of bounds. 2 small bits of open plaster on wall by large painting (half way down staircase) team to be aware of this when taking pictures and filming.
Great Chamber/Hall - Temp 14.5, No raised EMF reading. Squeaky floor and door to owners private area – out of bounds.
Little bathroom – Temp 9 although it does not feel that cold. No raised EMF reading. Radiator is warm and has been on.
Top Floor corridor to Long Gallery – Temp 10.5 though it feels a lot colder (possible draft). No raised EMF reading.
Long Gallery – Temp 10.5 – 11.5 fluctuating. No raised EMF reading. Drafty as has open staircase at far end. Staircase at far end out of bounds area. Squeaky floor and lots of statues so team must be aware of this when taking photo’s and filming.
Regency Bedroom – Temp 10.5, No raised EMF reading.
Parrot Bedroom – Temp 10, No raised EMF reading.
Blue Room – Temp 10.5, No raised EMF reading.
Panelled Room – Temp 10. No raised EMF reading. All wood so team to be aware of cracking / settling sounds.
Bathroom in Panelled Rm – Temp 8, No raised EMF reading. Very old bathroom / shower furnishings.
Twin Poster Room – Temp 10, No raised EMF reading.
Vigil / Team Notes
Pre vigils – When David first walked into the building he picked up on the number 1610. He also senses a lot of babies possibly born out of wedlock.
He also feels a strong link to witchcraft but does not know why.
Team 1
10.40pm Indian Bedroom
10.41pm Temp 12.5, No notable EMF fluctuations.
10.45pm Team calling out and Julie is swaying
10.46pm Julie gets the name Emily but does not inform the group and just writes it down on the note sheets.
10.48pm Team hear knocking/tapping noises coming from the corner of the room however they remember the baseline picking up a possible tapping from pipes and are also aware it could be floorboards settling from the team moving around.
10.50pm All feel room is quiet and so decide to move into the Main dining Room. Temp in here has surprisingly increased to 16 but there are no notable EMF fluctuations.
10.55pm David is sure he sees something or someone waving at him from the Indian bedroom (near the window however there is a large flower display in the window that is slightly illuminated by the moon outside.
10.56pm Simon catches possible orb on camcorder by David. Temp in room 15.5, no notable EMF fluctuations.
10.58pm David decides to try using the diving rods as he and Alan feel there is something in the room.
Rods – ask to cross for yes answer, stay still for no
Is there someone here with us? – Yes
Is there a female with us? – hesitates and then Yes
Did you used to work here? – Yes
Were you a warden? – No
Julie decides to try an experiment as no one knows the name she noted on the sheets in the previous room.
Is your name Sarah? – No
Is your name Emily? – No
Is your name Charlotte? – No
At this point Alan (again not knowing which name Julie had thought of earlier) said he had been sensing the name Emily and Ed also confirmed he had thought of this name too.
Team decide that maybe if there is an Emily with us then maybe she would talk to Alan as she would recognise him.
Alan asks – Is there a spirit in this room called Emily? – Yes
Are you a little girl Emily? – Yes
Alan feels like he has a child holding his hand hence why he wanted to confirm Emily was a child.
Are you holding my hand Emily? – Yes
Alan then feels like he has a lot of children around him holding both of his hands.
Are there other children here Emily? – Yes
Can we ask you how old you are? – Yes
Alan then comes over to Julie and writes the number 6 on the note sheet. Julie is the only person who can see this. David is over 6 foot away and has the rods.
Alan explains he is going to count from 1 upwards in Welsh.
Emily will you cross the rods when we reach your age? – Yes
Rods cross when Alan reaches the number 6 in welsh. To confirm he now counts in English and the rods cross again at 6. Julie confirms to the group that Alan had written the number 6 on the note sheets before starting the experiment. Julie can also confirm to the best of her knowledge there is no way anyone could have seen the notes let alone David or that David does not speak any Welsh.
Team decide to move on to the Great Chamber and just as they are about to leave the room and while they are stood right under the chandelier it rattles and team hear a loud dragging noise from directly above. Team note to check with other team that it was not them. When they asked them they confirmed they did not drag anything on the floor and were not even above us at the time, they were on the next floor up!
Great Chamber – Temp 14.5, No notable EMF fluctuations.
Orbs picked up on several digital shots
Julie feels immediately ill at ease in this room and very anxious
Julie’s pulse in racing but she can not explain why
Asked why she feels anxious Julie explains it is not because she is nervous or scared but because she feels she has a lot on her mind and has a lot of worries.
While looking out onto main landing light turns on and then off a couple of seconds later. Team check and no one is out there.
Calling out – Simon hear 2 small taps on the window near him
Calling out again – Julie and Simon hear quite a loud tap by the harp in the corner
Julie returns to door end of the room and again is feeling anxious. Pulse still racing. Also has a feeling of not belonging, not being wanted and being forced to leave the area. After a couple of minutes Julie decides to leave the area and wait for the team at the top of the stairs.
Team carry on calling out in main chamber and just after David calls out Julie hears loud thump from wall at top of the stairs. Julie gets the feeling someone is trying to drive her out, get her away. David accompanies Julie at the top of the stairs and every time David calls out Julie gets a stabbing pain in her stomach like a really bad cramp.
Rest of the team join her to make their way down from the vigil and Julie explains that she does not feel comfortable in a group of all men (no offence to the male members) but she feels like she was not supposed to be there and was not wanted there especially in that room.
At the bottom of the main staircase Simon, Julie and Alan all stop as they can smell a very old, musty smell that they could not smell before. Julie describes it like a dirty man smell, BO, sweat and Simon and Alan say it is an old, dirty, musty smell. After a couple of seconds it has gone.
12am Long Gallery
Temp 12, No notable EMF fluctuations
Team stand at near end of gallery looking down towards far end / out of bounds stair case
12.10am Simon and David see someone walk left to right across the hall at the far end.
12.11am Team go down to investigate to check no one is there. No one found.
12.13am While down there Alan is picking up flashes of light from the disused area at the bottom of the stairs and a couple of the flashes are seen by the team too.
12.14am Julie & Ed while looking over the balcony and down the stairs hear a loud clanking noise from below. Ed tests the railings around the balcony to see if they made a similar noise and they did not.
12.15am Team start noticing how the area has got intensely cold and the temperature around the team on the landing has dropped to 8.
12.20am While the team are stood outside the parrot room Simon feels something touch his hand
12.25am Team decide to split into separate rooms to cover more area.
Ed goes into the blue room, David & Alan go into a room further down the corridor (David or Alan if you could let us know which room this was it can be added to the notes) Simon goes into the panelled room and Julie stays in the long gallery.
Simon in the panelled room seems to be getting the most response and he admits to feeling very ill at ease in there. Temp in the room is 11 but Simon feels a lot colder. 8.5 in the panelled room bathroom.
Julie in the gallery can hear what sounds like footsteps/movement/shuffling coming from the panelled room and Simon at the same time thinks Julie is moving as he can hear movement outside the room. Neither were in fact moving at all.
While filming on the gallery Julie picks up several flashes of light on the camcorder by Simons bedroom door (panelled room) and a moving orb that appears to go into the panelled room. Simon also sees a flash of light in the room seconds after. Julie calls out and the flash of light seems to appear in response.
Simon comes back out onto the gallery area and team resembles. Alan, Julie, David & Ed go into the panelled room and Simon stays out in the gallery. Simon hears footsteps coming up the back stairs but later this is confirmed to be the other team.
Julie and David call out in the panelled room. Julie feels a cold breeze on her face and again gets the feeling she does not belong with these men in this room. At one point she notes she feels like she is being shooed out by a large strong willed man.
Alan starts calling out and feels a draft on his chin. The temperature in the room is 11 and the bathroom is 8. Ed and Julie are both intensely cold on their right hand side but are aware that a strong draft could be coming from the bathroom door on their right.
Alan feels very sick and has to leave the room for a little while.
Julie and Ed hear a fairly loud tap from the corner of the room.
All team are now in the panelled room – Alan and David sense a big tall man and Alan almost feels his strength and size. Temperature in the room seems to be dropping rapidly as team are now shivering however the room temp is still recording at 11??
David feels a light touch on the top of his head after calling out and for a couple of minutes Julie and Ed can feels vibrations through the floor described as being similar to the feeling you have when you sit near someone who is nervously jiggling their leg.
Team 2
Vigil 1 Panelled bedroom
Temp 10
Polar bear toy left on red sofa
11:00 breeze across face, right to left near wall felt by Plas Teg staff
11:15 breath heard from bathroom area and orb spotted going into bathroom.
11:20 unmanned video camera stopped recording but did not switch off.
11:20 Mark and Rachel went into bathroom, temp 7 1/2, orbs spotted in bathroom
11:35 more orbs in bathroom temp up to 11 but felt colder.
All team members heard gusts of wind down chimney (but it was not windy at all)
Vigil 2 Floor 1
Temp 11-12
12:20 Gentle creaks and bangs coming from Indian bedroom
Some possible orbs caught on stills cameras
Teams 1&2
Team regroup and go back to top floor after a short break to try a séance/glass divination in the panelled room. Most of group go into panelled room. Julie, Ed & Rachel sit in Parrot Room for 10 minutes. Parrot room seems quite quiet but Rachel is sure she detects some movement in the gallery while she is filming out of the door.
Julie, Ed and Rachel re join rest of team in panelled room. Glass divination is showing little result so team decides to try calling out and then table tipping. While they do this Julie, Ed and Mark stay in gallery looking down to far end. Julie picks up a light on her camcorder that Mark also seems to catch on his camcorder. Tapes will be reviewed to confirm.
After a little while team in the panelled room are starting to feel the table vibrate a bit like Ed & Julie felt in the earlier vigil.
Ed takes over filming in the Long Gallery. After a couple of minutes Ed captures a strange black mist / shadow pass across in front of him that startles him as it was so close. Julie can confirm, as she did not have a camcorder and was looking around the room that there was no light that may have cause the mist / shadow and it was not apparent to the naked eye.
When we sought the advice of Paul from Plas Teg Paranormal he correctly advised us that to cause something like this, something needed to have passed in front of the infra red on the camcorder. To our knowledge nothing we could see with the naked eye did. A fantastic end to the evening.
Personal Reports
Julie Harwood
I have to say on arriving at Plas Teg I did not know what to expect. The house was nearly invisible from the road in the pitch black apart from a few distant lights in the trees. Gill and a couple of the Plas Teg Paranormal team greeted us and they led us into the house. They were so friendly and I chatted to Alan on the way to the house about the fact he had recently joined their team.
Once you step in front of the building your breath is taken away. I can only describe it like being a mixture between Eastbury Manor House and Marwell but bigger…much much bigger and far more imposing. After a couple of moments Ed and I decided top stop staring at the house in awe and go in. When you step into the great hall your breath is taken away yet again. The inside is just how Marwell and Eastbury Manor should look! With a great roaring fireplace, paintings on the walls taller than most rooms in my house and other beautiful period furniture the atmosphere just hits you.
After unpacking our stuff we had a chance to look at some of the footage Gill and her team had caught in their previous investigations and then when the last members had arrived we had a tour of the house. We used the original names for the rooms when on the tour as to not give us any clues as to what had been seen in rooms before or what they were famous for etc. Once the tour was over our appetite was wetted and we could not wait to crack on. Team 1 consisted of myself Ed, Simon, David and Alan. Our first area was the Indian bedroom, apart from getting the name Emily in there and swaying about a bit I did not experience anything and the other members of the team felt it was quiet so we moved into the Dining room next door.
This room interested me as I have always loved chandeliers and this room had a spectacular one. We positioned ourselves all around the room and David thought he would try using the divining rods. He called out and we got some response but got a much better response when Alan called out, we presumed because if there were any spirits in the house then maybe they would recognise him. 3 of us had thought of the name Emily and so he called out for her and as he was doing this he said he could feel someone holding his hand. The rods were moving slowly but well and we were able to confirm a age for her (6) by Alan counting in Welsh and asking her to cross the rods when it got to her age. David was holding the rods and Alan was opposite him and Alan came to me before counting and wrote the number 6 on the note sheet. No one else at any time could see what he had written let alone David who was over 6-7 feet away from me. The rods crossed at a number none of us could recognise (as to my knowledge no one in the room could count in welsh apart from Alan). When Alan counted back slowly showing us, the rods had indeed crossed at number 6. This was an interesting experiment with very interesting results indeed. Just as we were closing the session and about to leave the room we were all stood underneath the chandelier when all of us looked up as a very loud dragging noise was heard directly above us which cause the chandelier to shake and make the tinkling noise they make when being moved. We at first presumed it was the other team moving some chairs back along the floor after their vigil however when we checked with them they confirmed they had not dragged the chairs but lifted them and even more surprisingly were not actually on the floor above us but the floor above that. Very strange but I would like to know if the owners quarters were above us as and if she dragged or moved something as that would explain the noise and movement in the chandelier.
We then moved onto the Great Chamber and from the minute I walked into this room I felt anxious and like I did not belong there. My heart was beating so fast it was making me a little dizzy and I felt like I had something on my mind or worrying me. I felt a bit stupid being the only woman in my team and all the other men feeling fine in the area but after a while it got the better of me and for only the 2nd time since starting paranormal investigating I had to leave the area to compose myself as I felt like I was being driven out of the room. Once on the area at the top of the stairs I took a deep breath but then heard footsteps around me and a few knocks and bangs. I felt like I had not gone far enough and perhaps should have gone downstairs but I was intrigued by what was making me feel like this. I really got the impression that I was not allowed there and when David came out to see if I was ok he called out and I got a really painful cramp out of nowhere in my stomach. Every time David called out I got this. Luckily by this time the vigil was over and I was able to leave the area and go downstairs. This vigil really unnerved me.
The next vigils were interesting from a group point of view (see notes for team 1) but I myself did not experience anything apart from capturing some strange bright lights on the camcorder while sat alone in the Long Gallery and also Ed and I heard a very loud clanking noise when looking down the disused staircase. The most interesting thing came at the end of the night when Ed caught a strange mist like shadow move across in front of the camcorder. I was sat looking in the direction Ed was and I saw nothing out of the ordinary or anything that could have caused that. I am sure we will be analysing that carefully.
All in all a fantastic night and to date one of my favourite buildings to investigate. Would I go back? Wild horses could not keep me away and I would love to take a bigger team back so we could cover more areas. Thank you to Cornelia Bayley, Gill and all the members of the Plas Teg Paranormal Team. You were a pleasure to work with and if you are ever down in our neck of the woods you are more than welcome to join us on an investigation.
Apologies for the length of my report compared to other investigators however it was not until I started to write it that I realised I had seemed to pick up more from Plas Teg than I thought I had.
Ed Ashton
Plas Teg will for me probably go down as one of my favourite locations I have so far been fortunate enough to investigate. The atmosphere and character of this 17th century building almost hit me on arrival and stayed with me throughout the entire investigation.
The actual investigation itself was an enjoyable and interesting one. Like so many previous investigations, I am always fascinated with what other people pick up on and sense, even if I myself am not lucky enough to do so and with this investigation there was no exception. From fairly successful results with the divining rods (although, I'm afraid to say I have yet to be convinced with these), and names being picked out which may have had some relevance to the building's past. People claiming that they had heard various banging/knockings/tapings and seeing lights that came and went. There seemed to be a good mixture of things happening, even if a lot of the occurrences can probably be put down to normal conditions that we usually experience in a large old house.
Perhaps the most interesting area for me was probably the upper landing. Earlier when my team had its first vigil up there, both Simon and David claimed they had seen something move at the farthest end. Unfortunately, I did not see this myself, however later on when we were up there again for the final vigil, I picked up on camera for about a second, what I can only describe as a dark shadow moving across the night vision screen. I have to admit that when this occurred I was quite taken aback by it and could not come to any satisfying conclusion as to what it must have been. I believe that the footage definitely requires further analysis and I would be very interested to hear, especially from the technical bods, as to what on earth this might've been as it's very rare for me to come away from an investigation experiencing something which I cannot explain!
I'm happy to say that this investigation has only fuelled my interest in my quest to discover the existence of the paranormal, especially when there have been so many times previously where I have come away disappointed and have had to seriously doubt if such things did exist or not.
If there is a possibility of returning to Plas Teg, I would definitely be interested.
Amanda Horley
Although not the easiest place to find in the dark, Plas Teg is a stunning building both from the outside and inside. The work that the owner has done to turn it into the showpiece that it is today is amazing. All the rooms are beautifully decked out and give a fantastic atmosphere to the whole house. Definitely a place to visit in daylight as well as after dark.
Our first vigil was on the upper floor, and we spent some considerable time in the panelled bedroom where there were a lot of lights caught on camera moving in and out of the adjoining bathroom. We had little success with calling out. There were some creaks, but these could have been connected to the floorboards moving. The really interesting reaction for me was what sounded like a gale blowing down the chimney for half a minute or so. We checked outside after the vigil and there didn’t appear to be much wind that night!
We checked out the other rooms on that floor but experienced little other than the ever-present orbs jetting about everywhere.
Our second vigil was on the ground and second floor and again there were several orbs in the various rooms we went into. We did not get much response from calling out.
In the group séance we again visited the panelled bedroom and attempted to make contact through a glass. There may have been slight movement, but it was very faint. Again the video cameras were picking up a lot of orbs, but we didn’t feel that we made any strong connections with individual spirits.
This seems to have been a night where the video cameras were kept very busy, but otherwise it was quite quiet. Earlier in the evening I did develop a pressure headache in one of the upper rooms, which came on quickly but then cleared on leaving the room. It did not reappear when we did our group vigil in that area, but it had been a long drive up there and could have been related to that.
Rachel Bettany
Plas Teg was a fantastic building, on the first vigil not much was really witnessed, a few orbs in the bathroom of the panelled bedroom, the long corridor was also quiet.
The second vigil on the first floor was also quiet, some orbs were caught on the stills cameras, and a few creaks and bangs were heard but again not much happened to our team
At the end of the night I noticed an apple on the floor under a sofa in the kit room, nobody could remember touching the large fruit bowl, and it would of been difficult to knock anything out by accident, and a member of the Plas Teg team informed us that exactly the same thing had happened the week before, but before that they had never know it happen before.
All in all a quiet night but well worth the journey, apologises for been rather late, but a really good night and I would really like to go back.
Simon Steadman
After an eventful trip and being late, Plas Teg was definitely worth it. The night started off quietly. While in the long corridor, several bright flashes of light were seen by most of the team at the bottom of a blocked stairway, shortly after these Dave and myself think we saw a black shadow move from right to left across the corridor!! upon investigation of the room the shadow seemed to be aiming for I felt a light touch on my hand, the room was empty.
Unfortunately not much else happened to me, but Plas Teg is a stunning house a I would love to go back.
David Ireland
Well we have just finished the Plas Teg investigation in Wales and it is number one on my list of favourite and most active investigations. When me, Julie and Ed finally arrived at the location we found out it was definitely worth the long drive. Now bearing in mind that I dont read up on the history of buildings or areas and it normally takes me a while to make a link with the spirit world, I was surprised at how quick my first piece of information was given to me. We arrived about 8.30pm and as soon as I walked into the main door I was given "1610!", just like that, which surprised me. I told Julie I had been given a date and she said to write it down, so I did. We were waiting for Simon, Rachel and Mark to arrive and the information was coming in thick and fast. The entire building as I saw it was filled with babies and their mothers lying in beds. I noticed when I was given the vision that the mothers didn’t have wedding rings on. So when I wrote it down I simply put "mothers with babies born out of wedlock". We decided to go on the walk around while we were waiting for Simon, Rachel and Mark. The building is absolutely stunning. I cant describe in words how spectacular this building is. When we went to the second floor I was very much aware of a baby crawling along the floor and sitting under the table. We were in one particular room and I asked the guys from Plas Teg Paranormal if they ever get the feeling of being followed. They said yes and I said, "that would be the warden". One room that I thought was fascinating was a room with an original fireplace in it. This fireplace had three markings. One on the wall, and two markings the same level on either side of the fireplace. This was a spell which was used because people believed it would stop ghosts, spirits etc coming down there chimney into the house.
The part of this investigation that will stay with me and fascinate me forever is a vigil that took place with the whole team on the second floor landing. We had just switched the lights off and got settled. I sat away from the team and glanced down the other end of the landing towards a window. As I did I saw a massive silhouette of a figure pass across the window from one room to another. Being the brave one that I am (!) I joined the rest of the group pretty quickly to find Simon had seen the same thing. Simon went to investigate and we could hear footsteps on the staircase under the window which was cordoned off, then on the same landing Ed caught a shadow go from right to left across the camera when he was filming!
At the end of the night I spoke to one of the guys who is a member of Plas Teg Paranormal and asked him about the babies. He told me that the building was once used as an asylum to house babies and their mothers who were born out of wedlock. He also told me that the date I was given which was 1610, was the date in which the house was finalised!! it was started in 1604.
All in all this building is definitely one for further investigation and it would be so exciting to go back again. Thank you to Plas Teg Paranormal for all there hospitality, but most of all thank you to the lady that owns this beautiful building and giving us the honour to investigate such an active location.