Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Priests House Investigation, Sussex
Saturday 8th May 2010
Attending Investigators:Maria Street, Mark Pettet, Sarah Pettet & Rob Butler
Introduction & History
Standing in the beautiful surroundings of a traditional cottage garden on the edge of Ashdown Forest, the Priest House is an early 15th century timber-framed hall-house built as an estate office for the Priory of St. Pancras in Lewes to improve the administration of the Manor of the Rectory of West Hoathly.
In 1524 the Priory leased the Rectory Manor to John Browne, a “husbandman” of the parish & The Priest House became a family home.
When Henry VIII seized Lewes Priory’s property the Browne’s Manor was given to Thomas Cromwell. After his disgrace & execution the Manor formed part of the settlement of Anne of Cleves. Following her death, the Brownes paid rent to Queen Mary & then to Elizabeth I. In 1560 the Queen sold the property that had once belonged to Lewes Priory. The Brownes bought the Manor lands & The Priest House & set about modernising the building.
The house was originally an open hall, with a living room & upper chamber on the north end & a service end, with a buttery, pantry & solar, to the south. Large stone chimneys were built to replace the medieval open hearth, which enabled two new rooms to be created upstairs, each with their own fireplace. The original thatched roof was also replaced with Horsham stone.
The house remained in the hands of the Browne family for another hundred years but their fortunes were in decline & in 1695 the house & Manor had to be sold to pay off their debts. The new owner, Mrs. Anna Hooper of Barbados, split the building into two cottages for tenant farmers. For 200 years the house remained in the hands of absentee landlords who did little to maintain it.
In 1905 it was bought by John Godwin King, of Stonelands, West Hoathly. He carefully restored the building & in 1908 opened it to the public, to display his collection of locally gathered artefacts. In 1935 John Godwin King presented The Priest House & its contents to the Sussex Archaeological Society.
The House now contains a varied collection of 17th & 18th century country furniture, ironwork, embroidery & other domestic bygones, displayed in furnished rooms. It is complemented by a colourful cottage garden & small formal herb garden, which contain over 170 culinary, medicinal & household herbs.
Info & photo from www.sussexpast.co.uk
Floor plans from www.hauntedbritain.net
Personal Reports
Rob Butler
I was really looking forward to this one as I knew nothing about the house and there were only four of us attending which made it even more exciting (no offence meant to other team members).
As Maria and I made our way to Sussex the weather became very drizzly and then the roads became very narrow and eventually were one car width! We came to a little village called West Hoathly and there was this beautiful building set back up a little pathway (the priest house).
What an amazing building outside and inside, it was like history had never changed inside. Everything seemed now as it was 400 years ago!! Such an awesome feeling. As it was just the four of us we decided to stay together throughout the investigation. We did notice when we were doing the walk round how cold the building was. Tony the custodian who lives in part of the house made us feel very welcome (thanks Tony).
We began our investigation upstairs in the main bedroom. The temperature was cold, but normal for a house of that age and high beamed ceilings. We began calling out but heard nothing. Mark could see flashes of lights in one corner of the room but there was no explanation for this. We were in the main bedroom for quite a while and down the corridor I could see what appeared to be a white light moving into the next room. We decided to go into the next room which was much smaller than the bedroom but equally as cold. Nothing happened in here although there was the odd tapping but not when we called out.
We decided to stop for a break and then we resumed our investigation in the kitchen area. We decided to use the Franks Box and this had a very good effect. We were asking questions and two names were said, Thomas and Billy. When Sarah was looking through a bible that was on the kitchen table (after the investigation) there were a few names on the inside of the pages and two of them were Billy and Thomas. We had not looked at the bible before or during investigation. Nothing else really happened in the kitchen although when we were asking questions there were two distinct knocks that came from the dining room next door.
We decided to have a break and finish our investigation in the dining room. It was very cold in this room and although we were calling out and asking for any spirit to come forward it was really quiet and nothing happened at all apart from twice a cold breeze brushed my face and across the top of my nose. Mark could also feel it when I did. We decided to finish our investigation as the cold had really got to us and that was with warm clothing on!! Overall it was a very mixed night. Although the building was magnificent in age and history it didn’t offer much in the way of paranormal activity. Thanks to Tony for staying awake until the early hours for us and if we get the opportunity to come back then would love to.
Sarah Pettet
Vigil 1
Upstairs bedrooms and hall – It was getting very cold up here. We called out and took photos. We were not really getting responses. Mark saw a light and we tried to work out what it could have been, and then I saw one coming from behind Rob towards the wall. We checked to see if it might have been insects but could not find anything. We moved to the second bedroom. However, other than being cold I really did not sense or hear anything.
Vigil 2
We decided to do a Franks Box experiment in the old Kitchen. The results were interesting. Personally I distinctly heard the old man Billy, and when we called out to Billy we had a few more weird responses through the box. We also heard the name Thomas and when we called out to Thomas got a couple of thumps from the other room. We had the impression that the spirits we were possibly communicating with thought we were evil and did not want us here. At one point when we were calling to Billy we got a reply stay out of my head. The temperature overall in the house was getting colder and colder. We could not tell whether this was just from the outside or if there was something else causing it. When we took a break I was drawn to a book of photos which I leafed through – under this was a bible which when I opened it had been inscribed with the family names that had owned it – there was a father called William, a son William and a son Thomas – coincidence, or were we picking up on spirits that were attached to this book. (I spoke to the custodian of the house - who confirmed that whilst most of the articles in the house have been there since 1908, they did not relate to anyone who had actually lived in the house).
Vigil 3
The parlour – We made ourselves comfortable in here and took photos. Mark and Maria called out. We heard a few odd taps but were not really getting any responses. It got even colder whilst we were in this room. Again we could not tell if this was just in coincidence with outside temperatures or if something else were affecting the temperature. However, the Parlour was situated over a cold cellar. It came to the point where we all became too cold to carry on and decided to call it a day.
Summary – The priest’s house was an impressive example of a building of its age. It was certainly being looked after with a great deal of care. However, it was a very cold building. The atmosphere within the house seemed very calm and peaceable. Personally I did not sense very much here, but, unfortunately, I was not feeling well so it could be due to this that I could pick up much. The Priest house overall was a lovely place and possibly we just caught it at a relatively calm phase.
Maria Street
It was a slightly wet night when Rob and I set off for West Sussex for our investigation at The Priest House. We met with Mark and Sarah and made our way in to meet the Custodian, Antony Smith. He was very welcoming particularly as there were only four of us! We set up in the kitchen/shop and followed Antony on a tour. The Priest House is a lovely old property with beautiful gardens. It seems almost untouched since its birth hundreds of years ago. It is now split in two, with four rooms, (two up, two down) dedicated to the museum with the rest being used as living quarters for Antony.
After a group photo and a quick look around the shop, we set up and started our investigation. We went upstairs into the bedroom. I stood by Mark over by the front window and Rob and Sarah stood by the bed. We called out and Mark could see flashes of light in the far corner of the room. We closed the curtains to cancel out car headlights but Mark could still see them. We called out some more, but to no avail. The room was just very quiet so we moved down the corridor into the nursery and exhibition room. It too proved to be very quiet although we did think we heard a small murmur. Antony had told us the name of the first Custodian so we tried calling out for her by name, but could get nothing from it. I had an expression in my head which was ‘The boy who would be King’ but it meant nothing to me at the time. It was very very cold in the house and we were glad to stop for a break, especially as Antony had invited us to use his personal kitchen to make our cuppas, and his side of the house was heated and therefore decidedly much warmer. However we couldn’t skulk in there forever and it was back to the business at hand. We made our way into the big room downstairs which seemed full of clocks, a couple of which chimed. Sadly this was the only noise to be heard in here as even countless calling out could not provoke a response. It was also getting very much colder so we decided to stop for a hot drink and then carried on in the museum kitchen. We set up a Franks’ Box experiment and this is where the evening got much more interesting. The jury has been out for me on the Frank’s Box for quite a while as I have never been sure if there has just been random things said by random DJ’s but tonight was a little different. A voice came over the radio that sounded like no radio presenter that I have ever heard. It was deep and gravely, sounding almost like that of the Enfield Poltergeist. If anybody has heard it you will know precisely what I mean. What was interesting about it was that it wasn’t as regular as the other voices. It came at random intervals and wasn’t around for very long. Sarah could hear the names of Thomas and William being spoken and further investigation showed a bible on the premises containing these names.
There concluded our night at The Priest House, and, although very cold and quiet at times, the best was saved till last. I would like to thank Antony very much for accommodating such a small group and for allowing us the use of his very warm kitchen. I hope we can return at a later date, hopefully with a slightly bigger crowd for you.
Mark Pettet
Vigil 1
Upstairs rooms and hallway – It was starting to get dark up here. We took turns to call out and take photos but we did not really get any response. However I did see a light on the back wall, so we tried to figure out where/what this light came from. Apparently Sarah saw another light that came from behind Rob on the side wall. We did check to see if it was insects but could not see anything to suggest this. We went into the second bedroom. Apart from being colder in here it was very quiet.
Vigil 2
We settled down in the old kitchen to conduct a Franks Box experiment. This was quite interesting as the names Thomas and Billy were heard by all and not just the once either. When we called out to Thomas we did get a couple of knocks in the next room. We did pick up on other voices that had a slight demonic sound to them and were under the impression that we were not welcome. The temperature in the house was getting colder. When we took a break Sarah was looking at some books one of which was a bible. When she opened it, in it had been written the names of the family that owned it. There was a father and son called William, and a son called Thomas, hmmm.
Vigil 3
The parlour room. We got ourselves settled in here and took photos. Maria and I called out and we heard a few taps but just did not really get any responses. It was colder in here but we put that down to the Parlour being situated over a cold cellar. It got very cold so we got to the point where we decided to end the vigil and call it a night.