Southern Paranormal - Investigations
South Hill Park Investigation
Saturday 3rd September 2011
Attending Investigators - Julie Harwood, Maria Street, Steve Boston, Sarah Pettet, Mark Pettet, Amanda Horley, Robin Turton, Wendy Callaway, David Baxter, Emma Filce, Paul Flexman, Laura Munday and Stuart Blake.
Guest Investigator - Veronika Kravcova
Host - John Potter
Our sincere thanks go to Jane Howard, Jan Allen, John Potter and Mike Aslin for making our visit to South Hill Park possible. We look forward to returning there in the near future to cover some of the areas we did not have time to investigate this time.
History
South Hill Park is an elegant red-brick mansion, mostly of the Victorian period. It stands within fine gardens and the remnants of its original 800 acre park which still features two lakes situate at Birch Hill in Bracknell.
The first house on the site was built in 1760 for a retired senior official in Government of Bengal named William Watts. His architect constructed a fashionable two storey brick Italianate building decorated with stucco and a Baroque tower. Watts enclosed some 30 acres of common land to add to the park he was creating and found himself obliged to erect a set of almshouse near Easthampstead Church as a form of compensation to the locals. Unfortunately, he died only four years later, and the house began its journey through a number of new owners.
The Hon. Henry Bouverie was there until 1787, then Sir Stephen Lushington and George Canning, who acquired the property in about 1801. In this same year, he engaged Sir John Soane to make alterations at the house in preparation for the arrival of his new bride. Canning was a Great Statesman, being Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under William Pitt and Foreign Secretary under Lord Portland. In 1809, he was famously wounded in the thigh during a duel with the Minister for War, Lord Castlereagh, after an argument concerning troop movements against Napoleon. But he had sold South Hill Park the previous year and the house did not see its one time owner appointed as Prime Minister in 1827.
The Earls of Limerick were the next owners of the Park, followed by Sir James Matheson. In 1853, he sold the estate to the Judge Advocate General, Sir William Goodenough Hayter. His busy political career had left him somewhat depressed and he was found drowned in the lake at South Hill Park in 1878. Towards the end of the century, his son, Sir Arthur Divett Hayter, rebuilt most of the house following a disastrous fire. Under the direction of Temple Moore, the building we see today was erected in local Lawrence brick and Bath stone. The east wing of the original house was, however, retained within the new structure. The Hayter Coat of Arms, featuring three golden bulls' heads and a scallop shell can thus be seen over the main entrance. William Gladstone visited the Hayters at South Hill Park in 1893 and a plaque in the grounds records that he planted an oak tree there. Sir Arthur was in inherited the Haversham Barony in 1906, but he had no direct heirs and, in 1929, the house passed to his wife's nephew, a Major Rickman. This man is best known for shooting himself in the Gun Room in 1940.
During the Second World War, South Hill Park was occupied by the Royal Sea Bathing Hospital, which had been evacuated from Margate. After the War, it was divided into flats, but was purchased by the BBC in 1953 and parts were converted into studios and acoustically treated rooms. In 1963, the Bracknell Development Corporation acquired the house as part of an extension of the new town's designated coverage. They let South Hill Park to Ferranti in 1965 and it was used as laboratories and offices until early 1972 when proposals for its conversion to an Arts Centre and theatre were agreed. The house is now one of the largest and diverse arts facilities in the country. It also has a secondary reputation as one of the most haunted houses in Berkshire.
South Hill Park is now an Arts Centre run by Bracknell Forest Borough Council.
Information taken from - www.berkshirehistory.com by David Nash Ford.
The Investigation
Teams
Team 1
Julie
Maria
Paul
Robin
Team 2
Amanda
Mark
Laura
Team 3
Steve
David
Emma
Team 4
Sarah
Wendy
Stuart
Veronika
Vigil Areas
Area 1 - 1st floor: Studio theatre & dressing rooms
Studio 1 & 2
Corridor
Area 2 - Ground floor: Tall Hall
Mirror Gallery
Garden Room
Watts Room
Cellar Bar
Area 3 - 1st floor: Recital Room
Area at top of main stairs
Long Gallery
Studio 3
Area 4 - Ground floor: Atrium Bar & Restaurant
Terrace Room
Cinema & Theatre
Itinerary
9.45pm Meet outside location
10.00pm Meet duty Manager settle in to team room.
Start Tech & experiment set up
10.30pm Meet host (John Potter)
11.15pm Finish tech & experiment set up
11.45pm Pre vigils break
12.00am Vigil 1
Team 1 - Area 1
Team 2 - Area 2
Team 3 - Area 3
Team 4 - Area 4
12.45am Break
1.00am Vigil 2
Team 1 - Area 2
Team 2 - Area 3
Team 3 - Area 4
Team 4 - Area 1
1.45am Break
2.00am Vigil 3
Team 1 - Area 3
Team 2 - Area 4
Team 3 - Area 1
Team 4 - Area 2
2.45am Break
3.00am Vigil 4
Team 1 - Area 4
Team 2 - Area 1
Team 3 - Area 2
Team 4 - Area 3
3.45am Clear down of equipment
4.30am Depart
Personal Reports
Maria Street
Having done the pre-investigation visit the week before, I knew what to expect from this impressive site. The building was huge inside and out and had a great feel about it. I had a feeling we were in for a good night.
After our meet and greet, we set up for the night and started our vigils. I was in team 1 with Julie, Paul and Robin. Our first vigil was on the 1st floor and we started in the Studio Theatre. We settled down and started to call out. We were treated to a few taps but think these were down to the lights settling. More interestingly the fully charged battery in our camcorder ran out after 11 minutes. We needed to cover as much ground as possible so we moved on to the first dressing room to do an EVP experiment. Paul heard what sounded like a female voice through his sonic ear amplifier. We wondered if it could have come from outside but I was sat right by the window and I didn't hear it at all. Something we did hear was a whistle, a bit like a kettle whistling. This could have been the wildlife however. We moved into the next dressing room and right away I did not like this room. It had a horrible feel about it and I felt quite uncomfortable in here. Julie felt the same way and also felt very sick. This was a light dressing room, so this could not be put down to the dark. We called out and Julie started to feel worse and had to leave the room. I followed her into the corridor whilst the boys stayed in the dressing room. It was whilst we were out here that we heard 'Pssst'. We also saw somebody on the stairs. We checked with the boys but they had not seen anybody there and they were in the dressing room. Nobody could have come down the stairs or gone up them without passing Julie and I. Robin had also heard the 'Pssst'. We checked the toilets adjoined to the dressing rooms to check for automatic air fresheners but there weren't any. We all continued to stay in the corridor and we heard another 'Pssst'. I noticed a cold breeze behind Julie but it disappeared as soon as Paul took a picture of her. Paul could also see things on the stairs, out of the corner of his eye. We asked if they could affect Mark P who would be on the next vigil. We asked if he could be affected in the same way as Julie was, very sick. Julie and Paul both heard what sounded like a cat meowing or a child crying. It came from inside the building, possibly from the theatre, but we had no idea what had made the sound. It was soon time to go for break but what a fantastic first vigil!
Our next vigil was in the cellar bar. This was a very atmospheric area and we were looking forward to it greatly, especially as Mark P. had been affected down here, interestingly he felt very sick! We settled down and called out. The area was split into three, the stage area, the bar area and a tunnel. We started in the stage area where I saw a mist move down Paul's body. It was not cold and he was not smoking. I have no idea what this was and unfortunately nobody else saw it. We had no response to our calling out however, so carried on to the bar area. This was quiet for me also. We finished in the tunnel but again; all was quiet for me although Julie's camera kept showing a red light that we could not locate.
Our next vigil was in the Garden Room. We sat quietly and called out. Julie could imagine a man in a grey uniform in this room, but not English. We wondered if it could be German. Julie and Paul could imagine him stood by the fireplace and Paul could feel pressure pushing down on his head and shoulders. I got the name of 'Champagne Charlie'. Julie immediately confirmed she had had the name of Charlie in the dressing room where we conducted our EVP experiment and she had written it down. Paul said when I said the name; the pressure went from him, which was very strange. All was quiet after this so we moved to The Recital Room. This was a beautiful wood panelled room, which was once used as a library. We sat around the room and called out. Julie and Paul felt there was a man here who was a bit of a coward, somebody who may have been high ranking in the army, somebody who would have expected his men to do something he was not willing to do himself. Paul also felt the atmosphere was quite heavy. He called out and we heard what sounded like a door slamming but in close vicinity. I had the name of Anna Karenina in my head. I knew she was famous for something but I didn't know what. I have since looked it up and it was a book by Leo Tolstoy who wrote War and Peace, which Robin and Julie had suggested. I still have no idea what the relevance is however. Robin and Julie suggested it could be something to do with the Crimean War but what the connection is I still don't know. We moved on to our break but before we did we asked for Steve to be affected in some way and we heard what sounded like the howling of wind. The battery also went on Julie's camera once more.
After break we carried on in the Terrace Room. I really did not like the feel of this room on my walk-round earlier and it felt no better this time. We sat around the room and settled in for our vigil. Paul was feeling the pressure he'd felt earlier on in the Garden Room. I just felt very uncomfortable. This room really did not have a good feel about it. It was a non-descript room in half-light so there was no real reason for the oppressive atmosphere in here. My ears were ringing, as if we had just come out of a very noisy environment. We were also treated to thuds almost as soon as we had started. We also heard a knock. Could this knock been a slow closing door? We opened it to check but it closed straightaway so we are still not totally sure. Julie carried on calling out and she heard two whistles. She asked for the sound to be repeated but all was quiet. A little later I heard what sounded like a giggle. It didn't happen again however. Julie had an unpleasant taste of blood in her mouth; so much so that she had to check her mouth wasn't bleeding. I got the impression of a nurse and I felt she was dressed in pink. She wasn't the only one; there were a few of them stood around the room with their arms crossed in front of them as if they were waiting for instruction or an inspection. Paul and I both heard a whisper but unfortunately this hasn't shown up on my audio. Towards the end of the vigil we heard what sounded like a female whimper and Robin heard somebody exhaling. We asked for the sound to be repeated but it as all quiet. We could hear the other team talking upstairs but this was a very definite sound, not what we had originally heard.
This concluded our investigation at South Hill Park and what a night! I feel there is so much to explore in this wonderful building and would love a return visit. Thank you to all our hosts for being so friendly and accommodating and that includes Jane who showed me around the week before.
Julie Harwood
It is a very rare treat when I get to do an investigation with no prior knowledge of the history of the site or indeed the history of apparent paranormal activity that has taken place there but thanks to Maria Street & Rob Butler who did the pre investigation visit this was one of those times!
I was in a team with Maria, Robin and Paul and after a warm welcome from the staff of South Hill we were able to start our vigils. Our first one was on the first floor and we began in the small studio theatre. We had a lot of areas to cover so our plan was to spend a little time in each area. We started calling out in here and we all heard very distinct taps however as they were coming from our head we were able to explain those as being the strip lights cooling down. We also heard a distinctive knock by the door and creaking. I rushed over to the door and swung it open and the security guard was walking around outside the rooms so unfortunately we have to put this down to this and sound carrying. Just before we decided to move on I noticed that my camcorder battery appeared to dying and was dropping from 60 minutes of power to 20 minutes and finally turned itself off. This was only after 11 minutes of filming. I have no explanation for this as it was my camcorder and the battery I was using that night was less than a couple of weeks old (and fully charged by myself earlier in the day). We then decided to move on to the first dressing room where Paul suggested we try some evp work. We all took turn calling out various questions and leaving approximately 2 minutes between each question. On reviewing the recording it does not appear to have caught anything abnormal. In this room we also heard what sounded like a kettle whistling. We then decided to move on to the second dressing room but on stepping outside the door of the room we were in (and in to the corridor) I felt immediately very ill and like I was going to be sick. I mentioned this to my team mates but then tried to ignore it. We went in to the second dressing room and I was immediately restless in here. I still felt very sick and so tried standing in various parts of the room but it would not go away. In the end (to save me being sick in front of my team mates as I was now retching) I went back in to the corridor. Maria came with me and I was able to control my breathing and avoid being sick. This was such a real feeling and I am 100% sure that if I had not left the room I would have been sick! While Maria and I stood in the corridor talking about the feeling we both heard a loud, undeniable "Pssst" sound like someone trying to get your attention. Just as Maria and I looked at each other Robin popped his head out of the dressing room to confirm he had also clearly heard it. Paul then came out of the dressing room and Maria and I thought we saw him on the small staircase by the door. We both saw a figure dressed in a light grey jumper ascend the staircase. In hindsight it could not have possibly been Paul as he was dressed in dark clothes. Robin went to the top of the stair case and confirmed there was no one there and the doors at the top were locked. Unknown to me Paul had been seeing something out of the corner of his eye on the stair case and had come out of the dressing room to check it out. We settled down again in the corridor and all heard the sound of either a child crying or a cat meowing. Again it was a very definite sound and very audible. We wondered if it was wildlife outside though to be honest it came from within the building (possibly as close as the studio theatre). Our time was now up and we had to return to the team room for a break. It was a fantastic first vigil and if it wasn't for other teams having to spend time in that area, I think my team could have spent all night there!
Our next vigil was in the cellar bar and tunnel running off of it. This was a quiet vigil for me (and my team in general I think). We spent a little time in the bar area and then took a walk along the tunnel. I think the biggest scare we got was seeing the security guard coming down the tunnel towards us. While in this area I picked up some odd red lights on some pictures. These are still being analysed by our stills analysis team as we are unable to explain them at the moment.
The next vigil for us was in the Garden room. In here I could imagine a foreign soldier dressed in a grey uniform stood leaning up against the fireplace. Funnily without we mentioning it Paul went and stood by the fireplace and almost replicated the stance I had in my mind. A little while later Maria got the name Charlie, as "Champagne Charlie" which was interesting as while conducting our evp in dressing room one I had the name Charlie pop in to my head so I just noted it down and didn't tell anyone. In this room Robin & I felt Maria was getting some connection to the Crimean war but I will let her explain so I don't get the details wrong. I felt that if there was a man in this room he was a bit on the cowardly side. We called out and heard a door slam very close by. We checked with the other teams but it was not any of them. Unfortunately as security was still around we have to consider it may have been him.
Our last vigil of the night was in the Terrace Room. Robin and I seemed ok in this room but Maria and Paul clearly were not as comfortable and their personalities while in here reflected that. We were seemingly getting knocks in response to questions however we were concerned this may have come from one of the slow closing doors. We tested this out but could not replicate the exact same noises, though I have to say in my opinion they were similar. I called out and I heard 2 very distinct whistle sounds however no one else heard them, even though Maria was sat less than 2 foot away from me. I can never understand when that happens! Towards the end of the vigil I had to check my mouth for blood as I had a very distinctive taste of blood very suddenly. Maria also sensed a nurse in Pink and I believe Robin or Paul heard a exhaling sound that we could not attribute to one of the team.
I had a fantastic night at South Hill Park and am only disappointed that we did not cover all of the areas we had access to. If we were allowed another visit I am sure we could cover these as well. I think next time we will also make sure our breaks coincide with when security does his walk around as this made it difficult to rule out 3rd party noises.
My thanks go to Jan, Jane, Mike and John for making our visit possible.
Wendy Callaway
We arrived at this stunning venue at 21:45 and spent some time admiring and photographing the outside of the building.
We were taken through to the team room at about 22:00 and set up all the kit we would be using for the evening. Myself, Laura, Stuart and Veronika (guest), with Sarah's supervision, set up the trigger objects for the evening, which were based around the Victorian Era. These were set up as follows:-
Recital Room - Prayer book on bottom shelf, set up with barrier beams
Studio Theatre - Marbles, chalkboard, mini childrens books on front row of seats
Area between Atrium and Theatre Lobby - Playing cards and period coins on windowsills
Watts Room - Cut throat razor and make up compact, on windowsills
Room off vigil room - Postcard on windowsill, monopoly pieces on top of piano, photography on mantelpiece
By midnight we were all set up and raring to go.
I was in Team 4 with Sarah, Stuart and Veronika
Vigil 1 - Atrium, Atrium Bar & Terrace, Terrace Room
Atrium Bar & Terrace
Temp - 24°C
KII - no readings other than around the back of the bar area. On the other side of this was a bank of fridges
We started this vigil in the Atrium Bar and Terrace. This area was very noisy both due to the volume of equipment in here and the noise carrying from teams and staff in other areas. For the first 10 minutes of the vigil the lights were also on. After 20 minutes of calling out we decided to move on to the next area.
The Ceramics Room was locked, so we moved on to the Terrace Room.
Terrace Room
Temp - 21°C
KII - no readings
As you walked in to the Terrace Room there was a short corridor, a small boiler room off to the right and then the room opened out into quite a large area. It looked like there was originally a door to the right of the fireplace that had been filled in at some point. I felt nothing in this room initially, it was quite light, we were able to hear the team moving around upstairs and there were some children playing on the lawn who were very distracting.
At 00:27 we heard a bang by the main door to the room, like someone was out there but when we investigated we couldn't hear / see anything. We called out throughout the vigil but had no responses.
Towards the end of this vigil we moved back into the Atrium Bar and Terrace but we had no experiences in here.
Vigil 2 - Studio Theatre, Studio 1, Studio 2 and Corridor - 1st Floor
Studio Theatre
Temp - 22/23°C
KII - no readings
We started Vigil 2 in the Studio Theatre. This is a small room, painted black with purple seating down one end and a stage area down the other, with lots of lighting rigs and equipment above it.
We settled down onto the seating area and called out. During the vigil we did hear some noises, banging and clicking, but it was difficult to work out if these were settlement in the room or not. The seating in this room was particularly noisy and banged and moved as we moved around.
I didn't really feel anything in this room, it just felt neutral.
Multimedia Room
Temp - 21°C
KII - no readings
For the second part of this vigil we moved in to the Multimedia Room. This was a small, carpeted room with a beautiful fireplace and a number of painted murals around the walls. There was a connecting door in this room, but it was locked.
I started by sitting on a chair about 2 foot in front of the fireplace. I immediately felt like a man was stood behind me and I got the name Edward. I didn't feel any oppression from this person, he was just stood there. Others were complaining of being really cold in this room, but I felt warm bordering on clammy.
Sarah was sat opposite me and was feeling unwell so we swapped seats. Almost immediately I had a pain in my right ear and started to feel queasy.
I then moved again to the chair about 3 foot to my right where Stuart had been sitting.
We called out throughout this vigil, we had no KII readings, but we all felt unwell during our time in this room and were pleased to leave.
Vigil 3 - Entrance Hall, Mirror Gallery, Garden Room, Watts Room and Cellar Bar
Cellar Bar
Temp - 21°C
KII - no readings
We all wanted to spend time in the Cellar Bar, so we started out vigil in here. The Cellar Bar was below our vigil room and was exactly what it says on the tin - a bar in the cellar! The Cellar Bar was down the stairs and to the left, as you walked in there was a small stage area and a Fire Exit door, a door to the far left went to the bar and the toilets - we kept this closed.
Opposite the door to the Cellar Bar there was another door to a tunnel - we left both doors open during the vigil.
We tried calling out but other than some shuffling in the corner we got nothing. (Having spoken to the rest of the team after the vigil we believe that there may have been a frog in the room that was causing these noises).
Sarah had bought her divining rods with her so we used these, Sarah did most of the work, but when she had enough I took over. We managed to establish that there was a man in the room with us by the name of John Gorman, he was 27 and in the military. He told us that he wore a red uniform and he lived at South Hill Park, but this is not where he died.
Sarah was affected with a pain in her left side and he agreed that this was how he died, from a wound to his left side. However, whilst we were trying to find out exactly how the wound was caused he just disappeared and the rods stopped moving completely.
This was the end of our 3rd vigil. We didn't get time to visit any of the other areas.
Vigil 4 - Recital Room, Long Gallery, Studio 3 and Silversmithing Room - 1st Floor
Recital Room
Temp - 21°C
KII - no readings
We started our final vigil in the Recital Room which was up the stairs on the right. It looked like it was originally a library as there was heavy wood panelling and shelving around the walls. There was a door at the far end of this room that led to a corridor and on to Studio 3 and a number of other rooms.
We tried calling out in here but did not get any responses. I had a blinding headache in this room, but when Sarah asked for this to stop it started to ease almost immediately.
We attempted to get the glass to move in here but had no response.
Studio 3
Temp - 21°C
KII - no readings
We tried to move in to the Silversmithing Room but as this was locked we decided to try Studio 3.
This room was small and bare, with a number of headless manequins in one corner. We did not get any feelings or experiences in this area and moved on to the galleried landing.
Galleried Landing
We spent the last part of our vigil on the landing in the middle of the stairs. We did some calling out but had no responses here.
Conclusion
This is an amazing venue, everyone in our group had some personal experiences and I would love to go back!
Steve Boston
South Hill Park had never been investigated by the team before so it was a first for everybody. I knew a little about the building, how it was once a large mansion style home that is now used as an arts centre. I was also aware that it had the reputation as one of the most haunted houses in Berkshire.
We arrived at the house around 21:45. The old building still retains all of its old characteristics from the front; however a newer style theatre has been added to the left of the house at some point in recent years.
After meeting with staff Mark P and I took a walk around with Maria and a staff member who pointed out the most active areas of the building. The activity seemed to be focused on the first floor. We focused on the Recital Room and Landing / Stair area as well as the Studio Theatre and Landing area.
I set up my kit around the Studio Theatre and the outer Landing area, whilst Mark P covered the Recital Room and Landing / Stair Way. Then, before the investigation got under way I had a lone walk around and took some Long Exposure Digital Photos and IR Stills Photos. These have been reviewed and have produced no evidence.
Once Tech Setup was done we re-joined the team and split into our groups.
Team 3 - Steve - Emma - David
Vigil 1 - Area 2 (Recital Room, Studio 3, 1St Floor) (0001 - 0045hrs)
We began our night in the Recital Room. This part of the building houses a grand piano, the room has very high walls that are wood panelled and it still has a very old house feel to it. Base line readings of temperature and EMF were taken and nothing was picked up. Mark P had his Digital Video Recorder set up in this room with the monitor tucked away in the corner.
We settled down after having a look about the room. I set up the Raudive Receiver, a new piece of audio equipment used for capturing EVP Voices in White Noise. This was the first investigation where this has been used. We had no responses to calling out and after a short time we decided to use the Raudive Receiver for an EVP Session. Emma took over using the Camcorder and I switched on the device. After asking a series of questions the recorder was turned off for later analysis. We also had a standard digital voice recorder in operation next to the device for continuity.
At the conclusion of the EVP session I looked at Marks Digital Video Recorder Screen and saw that all the cameras now displayed 'NO RECORD' they had definitely been working on entering the room as I'd taken a look at his camera positions. I notified the others and went to work fault finding his kit. I checked all the video and power cables, they were all fine. I traced the power lead for the cameras down the plug socket in the wall. I had to move a chair out the way that had been placed in front of the sockets to prevent tripping on the leads. It was then that I saw the plug that powered the three cameras was slightly out of the wall, just enough to disconnect it from the electricity supply. I gave the plug a push and all the camera came back on line. The plug needed to be pushed all the way home in order for it to work. There is no way that any of the team went near enough to the sockets or the leads to have pulled it out of the wall. I cannot explain why this happened.
After this we tried some glass work, recording both on Digital Voice Recorder and Raudive Device. We had no movement on the glass. There were also no strange temperature changes of activations on our K2 EMF Meter. With time ticking on we decided to move to Studio 3.
On arrival at Studio 3 we settled down onto the floor. This was a much more modern looking art studio style room which had a number of headless mannequins stored to the left of the room (A nice surprise when you first walk into the room). We did our baselines and set down for another EVP session using both the recording devices. This was a very quiet room and we had no unexplained occurrences. We decided to move on and briefly take a look at the other rooms in our area and the Landing area.
With no other strange occurrences the clock ticket over to twelve forty five and this set of vigils drew to a close and we went for a much needed break.
Vigil 2 - Area 4 (Terrace Restaurant, Terrace Room, Ground Floor) (0100-0145hrs)
After the break we made our way to the Terrace Restaurant located on the Ground Floor. This room was full of background noise making it impossible to use the Personal Ear Amplifier. The room had a much more modern feel to it over the rest of the house. This was due to a large conversion that had extended the building at the back, taking with it what was once the Terrace/Patio area of the house.
We settled down on a table at the back left-hand side of the room and began calling out. I set up the Raudive Device and began an EVP session. During this I whistled and asked for it to be copied. We had no audible response but on reviewing the audio caught by the Raudive Device you can clearly hear a whistle among the white noise. There is no way this could be a human voice as the device uses abstract radio frequencies to record results. Shortly after this I caught movement out the corner of my eye and turned to my right. At this point I am sure I saw the top of someone's head moving at speed (like a run) behind the partition wall on the other side of the serving counter. The rest of the person's body was obstructed from my view due to my position. I immediately got up and ran round to where I had seen the movement. There was no one there!
From the Restaurant we went to the Terrace Room. This was a fairly bare room with white walls and a small piano that was stored in the far right hand corner. Emma had a brief scare when she opened a closet door and a broom fell out toward her! We settled down having done baselines and tried some calling out. We had no strange occurrences in this room and eventually we made our way back out to the hall and back to the Restaurant area where we met up with our host for the evening and the onsite security. After a brief discussion with them about what I had seen in the room it was time for the vigil to draw to a close and we went for a break.
Vigil 3 - Area 1 (Studio Theatre, Dressing Room, Studio 1, 1st Floor) (0200-0245hrs)
Having been party to the pre-investigation walk around I was aware our area had the reputation as one of the most active areas of the building. We began by making our way to the Studio Theatre. The theatre was very small with matt black walls and lighting rigs on the ceiling. The matt black decoration made video recording a near impossibility as it just soaked up the IR lighting from the Camcorder. We settled down into the seating area and began calling out and carrying out EVP work. We had a very quiet vigil in this area with nothing at all to note. We soon made our way to the backstage area of the Studio Theatre where the Dressing Room was. We set up for further EVP work and recorded video on the Camcorder. This was another quiet area with no temperature changes and no K2 activation.
With time now getting short we made our way to Studio 1 for the final part of this set of vigils.
Studio 1 was again very quiet with no activity at all. It was now quarter to three and time for our last break.
Vigil 4 - Area 3 (Basement Bar & Tunnel) (0300-0345hrs)
With the night almost over we headed down the stone stairs and into the basement bar for our final vigil.
We immediately headed down the basement tunnel for the first part of the vigil, exploring it to the double fire doors and the end store. With the lights out and no natural light source the darkness in this part of the building was perpetual. I used the Camcorders view finder as a way of seeing with the Nightshot and Bolt-On IR Light both turned on.
Having satisfied our curiosity with a dark tour of the tunnel we settled back down for the rest of the vigil in the main basement. We began by calling out, taking temperature and EMF readings. There was nothing out of the ordinary. It was then that we heard a shuffling / scraping sound from by the external cellar door. On investigation we found a small frog had made its way into the room and was looking for escape. We let him out and continued with the investigation. It was around this time that Emma thought she could hear voices on the Personal Ear Amplifier. She kept hearing the voice say 'Not Here' or words to that effect. My audio review of the Raudive Receiver for this area has picked up nothing unusual. Shortly after David felt a tug on his jeans, this was followed by the feeling that someone had touched his arm.
Time ticked by and before long it was quarter to four and time to start breaking the kit down.
After Thought
South Hill Park had proved to be a very worthwhile location to investigate. Our team had a few unexplained events and a little audio evidence. I am yet to review the footage from the Camcorder or the Digital Video Recorder and its two cameras.
I'd like to return to South Hill Park in the future for a follow up investigation, having spoken to people from other teams it's clear that almost every team experienced some strange events during this investigation.
Sarah Pettet
Team 4 - Sarah, Wendy, Stuart and Veronika
First Impressions - My Initial impression of the building from the outside was amazement at the size of what we were going to be covering for the night. I had no idea of the history of the building as I did not look it up, but I had the impression that there was a school connection in some way to the building, and also a military connection as well. I was very much drawn to the attic room windows for some reason. Once inside of the building my amazement continued - this was one impressive building. I again picked up on the military connection inside, and in the Haversham room (kit room) had the impression of a man of military stance, a very busy energy which seemed to make me feel quite hyperactive and showed in my behaviour when I was in this room. This energy was also quite impatient and during mine and Amanda's training chat with Stuart and Veronika I found I was getting very impatient and annoyed with Amanda, I desperately wanted to interrupt her and tell her to be quiet now - however, I managed to contain this, I hope (!), as I was aware this was not me.
Vigil one - Area 4
Atrium Bar and terrace There were EMF readings from the cafe area due to fridges. The average temperature was 24°C.
Initially the lights were on in this area and we could not switch them off. Also our host and security officer were still locking up and using the area, so unfortunately there was some noise. We settled ourselves in and took photos and readings. We all felt quite calm and peaceful in this area. After a while our host switched the lights off for us. We called out but we had no response, nor did we sense anything. At one point I did remark that I could taste cinnamon, but this could have been residual tastes and flavours from the cafe area's use during the day/evening. We decided to move on to the ceramics room - however this was locked so we then entered the Terrace Room.
Terrace Room - Average temperature 22°C, no EMF reactions.
This room smelt of fresh paint and there was some noise from a boiler that we found in a cupboard within the room. I looked out of the window and remarked that the grounds were nice and that they were possibly quite active. We settled in, took some photos and commenced calling out. In response to my first call out we clearly heard a bang (picked up on the digital recorder). I went to check to see if anyone was around, but no one was there. The room was accessed by a narrow corridor and I placed one of the voice recorders within here and we called out again to see if we could get a repeat. This time I stood in the neck of the corridor. We did not get a repeat of the sound. On reflection on listening to the digital recorder, it could have been a team entering the room above; however, we heard no movement across the floor from them. I did feel uneasy stood where I was but we think it was due to the corridor being so dark but the room itself being so light. Shortly after we heard some voices which appeared to be coming from outside and upon looking out of the window we found the noise was coming from some teenagers who were messing about in the grounds. As it was disturbing our vigil we decided that we would find the security guard and let them know and move back to the terrace/atrium bar area.
Back in the atrium bar/terrace area we rechecked the temperature which had dipped down to 22°C from the last time we were in there. Again we felt very comfortable in the area. We still called out and we heard a tapping sound every now and again, but found that it was the equipment/fridges in the cafe bar area. We wound the vigil up and went back to the kit room.
Vigil 2
Area 1 - Studio Theatre - Average temperature 22.5°C, No EMF
We settled ourselves down, took photos and had to sort the camcorder out. It kept flagging up a dirty heads warning but we were able to get it working again. We heard a noise like 3 taps which we thought was Wendy moving on the seat but we were unable to replicate it. We felt comfortable in here. We called out none the less. I do have an anomaly on my voice recorder which I will get checked out. We could also clearly hear the traffic on the road outside. With nothing happening here we decided to move to another room.
Multimedia Room - average temperature 21°C degrees, No EMF
Wendy and Veronika sat one side of the room (near the fireplace) and Stuart and I sat the opposite side. We took photos - at one point my camera would not take a picture and I had to switch it off and then on again. We started calling out. We all felt something was going to happen in this room. Wendy felt that there was someone behind her and got the name Edward. Around the same time I had a sense of someone near me. I also felt coldness on my left shoulder; however, we ruled this as a draft from the window which was not shuttered properly. There were no significant changes in temperature around any of us at any time despite feeling otherwise. We continued to call out. I felt as though I was unable to relax. We called out again and I began to feel quite clammy and very sick. At the same time Stuart felt a cool breeze round his head (no draft source near him). I was feeling really very ill and as Wendy and Veronika were feeling ok we decided to swap seats. Stuart and I started feeling better, so we called out again, and immediately Wendy started to feel a bit unwell and like she had earache. Veronika then started feeling clammy and sick and she also felt like someone was walking up and down between me and Stuart. She thought she also saw someone shorter sat in front of Stuart, but we were unsure if this was due to a trick of the light and shadows. At one point we heard a loud tap behind Stuart but we were unable to get a repeat of this. Wendy began to feel claustrophobic. I also heard a name but I was unsure if it was Torrence or Terrence or Terry that I heard as it was very quiet. We ran out of vigil time and were unable to establish what was happening in this room. Interestingly at the end of the night after discussions with other teams we discovered we were not the only ones to be affected by the clamminess and sick feeling.
Vigil 3 - Area 2 - Cellar Bar and tunnel - average temperature 19°C, no EMF.
We settled ourselves into this room. Unusually for me I found the cellar room quite a nice area. Normally I hate being in cellars. It may have been because there was a light source in this area. I sat directly opposite the door and the tunnel so I could see if anything was going on in this area. We took photos and settled down. We then started calling out; we were getting no responses to calling out so we decided to try the rods as an experiment. We asked if there were any spirits in the room and got a positive response, but a negative response to more than 1. When asked where in the room the spirit stood the rods pointed to the corner to the right of the stage. We identified the spirit as male and we heard a shuffling noise in the area pointed out by the rods. We established his age as 27 (Wendy got the age of 27 in head whilst we were trying to pinpoint the age with the rods). We established this person was in the military; he was staying there in the place, but did not own the house nor was he related to the person(s) who owned the house. We carried on with the rods and established that he wore a red coat and was a member of the army - initially I had thought he may have been in the navy as I was getting a sea/boat connection, I had not known that at one point the building had been a naval hospital! He spirit was aware he had died and was permanently grounded in the building but he wanted to be here. I suddenly felt a cold tingling sensation on my left and asked the rods to point in the direction of where the spirit was now stood and they drew directly to the my left. I then tasted blood in my mouth as if I had bitten my tongue. I asked if this was being impressed on me by the spirit which I had a positive response to. I asked for him to move to Wendy, and then asked the rods to point where he was and they went to the left of Wendy. Using the alphabet to get the first initial of their first name they crossed on J (again Wendy got this first). We then started calling out names beginning with J and got a hit with John. We did the same process as with the first name for the surname and started got a response for G, Wendy heard a noise in the corner again, we asked if he had moved again and the rods went back to the corner. Wendy had a surname and called that out but no response. We then heard a noise directly outside of the fire exit door, and Veronika and I went to investigate. We felt no one and nothing outside of the door. Veronika went up the steps to garden level and saw nothing so we went and sat back down. The cellar door opened and the security guard appeared. We told him about the noise outside of the door and he went outside to check. He came back shortly after and said he saw nothing but it may have been foxes; he then stayed for a few minutes.
We turned back to the rods and tried other surnames on a variation of the one Wendy had called out; we got no response. Wendy took over the rods at this point as my hands and arms were beginning to ache. We carried on with the surname guesses I got the surname of Gordon in my head and the rods began to cross but not completely, I then called out Gorman and they crossed in response. The security guard then left. As a group we had a quick discussion about whether the sound could have been a fox, but we don't think a fox could have gotten up the steps and disappeared so quickly as there was definitely nothing out there when we checked. We established that the year was 1852 and whilst doing this we heard some chimes like a clock but we were unable to establish where this came from. We turned back to the rod work and confirmed that 1852 was the year of his death and at the age he had previously given. I had the sensation of pain on the left of my stomach and asked if John had been wounded in this area and got a positive response. I asked if it was a stab and got no response. I then asked if it was a bayonet wound but the responses died out from that point. We called out for John but got no responses. We asked if there were any other spirits and got no response. We decided that as we had 10 minutes of the vigil left we would explore the tunnel, which we duly did. Nothing happened to us here though, so we wound the vigil up.
Vigil 4 - Area 3 - The Recital room - Average temperature 22°C degrees, no EMF.
As usual we settled in and took photos. We let the room and areas outside go quiet and then tried calling out. We had some tap sounds but as this was a room with wood panelling it was hard to establish if this was just the wood settling or some form of communication with us. They did not seem to be in response to anything we were asking on calling out. We tried some glass work but got no response. I remarked that I felt really very tired in here, and Veronika said she also felt very tired. So we didn't then fall asleep we decided to move on to the silver smith room. Unfortunately this was locked so we went into Studio 3.
Studio 3 - average temperature 22°C degrees and no EMF.
We settled into the room and called out but the room felt really flat. We got no reactions and everyone concurred that there were no reactions in this room. Also, we could clearly hear the team below us so decided that we would move on.
We decided that we would sit in the area at the top of the stairs (outside of the recital room). Aware that there were other teams nearby we quietly called out - my eyes were constantly drawn to the demi landing as though I expected someone to appear here, unfortunately no one did apart from one of the other teams at the end of the vigil.
Summary - South Hill Park was definitely a fascinating building. I felt we had some definite things going on that had no normal explanation and it was nice to find out that other teams had similar things on their vigils. I would have loved to have investigated the attic area as this was an area that I was drawn to outside. I would like to return again at some point and try and find out more about the energy in the Haversham room, investigate the areas we didn't have time to on our set vigils and maybe get access to the attic rooms.
Laura Munday
Team 2 : Laura, Mark & Amanda
Having the pleasure of investigating this amazing old house, which is known as South Hill Park made the evening a pleasure before it began. On arrival we were taken to our team room and were able to familiarise ourselves with some of the areas and rooms we were going to be able to investigate.
We were separated into teams to set up the equipment, trigger objects and all the other bits and pieces that needed to be done. I was put with Sarah, Wendy, Stuart and Veronika, placing trigger objects around each room. The items had already been chosen by Wendy so all we had to do was decide what items would be best suited to what room. We placed the trigger objects in various rooms around the house. We then went back to the team room for a pre-investigation break, whist anxiously waiting to start.
After the break we all gathered together and got into our teams. We took the technical equipment that had been allocated to us. Our first area to investigate was the basement... Which I was most excited about as this is where I wanted to go the most.
Vigil 1 - Area 2 (Basement)
In the basement you have a stage area, this then leads through to a bar area. To the right of the main entrance there is another door leading through to the cellar corridor. The temperature throughout was consistent. We set up a K2 Meter on a stool in the middle of the room and decided where we would like to sit. We then made our selves comfortable.
We began by calling out but I found that having the door open to the room that lead to the bar area was a distraction as there was light coming through as well as a constant background noise, so we decided as a group to shut it. Now it was quiet and dark we could get back to it. Amanda started off the calling out and we carried on in the main stage area for about five minutes. I personally had no experience here. We then decided to venture into the Cellar Corridor. I recorded this on the Camcorder as we went. We walked all the way around to see what we had to work with / look at. On walking back down the corridor we decided to stay still and try calling out. (We were in the 1st part of the corridor). We all started feeling a bit odd so we carried on, taking it in turns to call out. I suddenly felt like I was being pushed down, feeling really heavy and disorientated. I couldn't really move. Mark also had a very similar experience holding onto the wall. We stayed here for a little longer to see what else we could get. We then decided to head back to the stage part of the basement where we all took our seats again, began calling out and asking questions. We now all had experienced some weird goings on. At this stage I had a light headed feeling and was shaking. Amanda kept feeling the presence of 'An Angry Man' in uniform. Mark said he also felt a presence. I decided to try and provoke it a little by asking if he (the man Amanda was getting) 'Was man enough to do something'. At this time both Mark and Amanda heard in their heads a voice. Mark had the voice in his head of a man answering my question but in a not very nice way. I carried on for a bit asking him to do something else to one of us etc. I heard a very angry voice in my head shout 'William' at me. I believe both Mark and Amanda also had a name come to them. We decided to spend the last ten minutes of the vigil in the cellar corridor as this is where we had all felt the strangest. This time we took along the K2 Meter. We got no spikes on it but we all still had a very strange feeling. Amanda picked up on the feeling of 'busyness'. We continued to call out and heard a bang, like a door shutting. We went to investigate but we had to write this off as the security guard was walking around, banging doors. Getting back to it, Mark all of a sudden jumped and froze. We immediately put our torches on him and asked him what was up and he stated that he had just seen a shadow walk past the door. (The door entry to the basement corridor). At this stage we were all feeling a little uncomfortable and decided to move back to the main stage room, to try to recreate the shadow that Mark had just seen. After a few trials to get it right we managed to recreate what happened. Amanda had to walk across the room whilst Mark was stood back in the same spot. This cast a shadow similar to what Mark had seen. However, there would have been no way that anyone could have been down there at that point apart from the three of us and we were all in the corridor. We have no clue as to what this could have been. Could it of been the spirit of the 'Angry man' that Amanda had picked up on and that we all had experienced? Who knows? After this Amanda checked the time and it was time to move on. In general I thought the experience in this room was amazing. I had some feelings that I had never experienced before.
Vigil 2 - Area 3 (Recital Room & Studio 3)
We made ourselves familiar with the Recital Room, checking the temperature which was normal. As this was a medium sized room we decided to spread ourselves out around the room and sit down. There was a large piano in the room with a trigger object sat on top of it. There was also a second trigger object in this room, set up between two barrier beams. We decided to place the K2 Meter in the middle of the room on a table, near to where Amanda was sitting. I also decided to use my Ear Amplifier Head Set.
Amanda started by calling out asking questions. I had no real feeling in this room at this point. We then sat in silence for five minutes. There was still nothing happening at this stage. We did hear a door shut, but again as the security guard was walking around we had to ignore that. Mark then decided to call out. He asked, 'If anyone was there to make themselves known,' Within two seconds of him asking this question a very subtle and gentle voice said 'Jo—se—ph' I immediately told the others as this actually made me jump as I haven't ever really heard anything on my head set before. I did start talking just before but I am 99% sure that's what the voice said. I even managed to describe the tone and way it was said to the others. Mark carried on and repeated the question, but saying 'If that was you? Do something else.' But nothing happened. Amanda had a vision of a man standing at the window watching down at the grounds. We also heard a whistle but I now know this was another team member. We then decided to move on to the next room.
On entering Studio 3 there were some beheaded mannequins to the right next to a sink. There was a table to the left. We all took a seat and measured the temperature and EMF. The temperature was consistent and the K2 Meter was placed on the table. I personally had no experience here of any kind, in fact it was one of the most relaxed rooms we had been in so far. Both Mark and Amanda, I believe agreed with this. Amanda did a time check and it was time to move on.
Vigil 3 - Area 4 (Atrium Bar & Terrace Room)
We started off in the Terrace Room which was quite a minimalistic room. It had a piano in the corner and it also looked as if there had once been a door on the back wall, however this was now blocked off. Amanda had the K2 and we did a temperature check. The temperature was consistent. As soon as I walked into this room there was a sense of jolliness and for some reason we all started acting silly. (We hadn't done on any vigil or in any other room so far). I was filming the room and we started calling out. We experienced nothing but at this stage were all still laughing and joking. It was quite a comfortable feeling. Amanda said it could be the room affecting the way we were acting. With that in mind we decided to venture to the other room set out for this vigil.
We made our way to the Atrium Bar. To look at this it seemed to be the newest part of the building. I was still videoing and decided to walk around to see what was going on, but nothing happened. We all felt very relaxed down here. No real feeling from anyone.
With time running short we decided to head back to the Terrace Room. On returning to the room it felt slightly different (not too different though) we were still quite bubbly but more relaxed. We had a few laughs but nowhere near what we experienced on our first visit to this room. I measured the temperature but I don't recall it being different to the first time. During the calling out session we heard what I thought sounded like a huge sigh, Mark and Amanda also heard this but they thought it was a growl. It made us all jump and react, we went to investigate it but couldn't pin point what it was. We thought it could have been a noise from the fridges or pipes turning off / cooling down but we hadn't heard this at any other point during the evening. I believe Mark picked this up on his voice recorder. It will be interesting to see if anyone else caught anything like it in this room. With another time check it was now time to head back for a break. In general apart from a few strange things I personally felt quite comfortable on the whole vigil.
Vigil 4 - Area 1 (Studio Theatre & Multi Media Room)
We began this vigil in the Studio Theatre. This was a very small room. We had trigger objects set up in the front seating area. There was also a camera looking down at the stage area. The temperature was checked and the K2 Meter set up. We decided to all sit on the same row of seating (2nd row from back) no real reason for this it was just how it happened. We realised that the seating was very creaky when we moved. With this is mind we decided to start taking turns calling out and asking questions but got nothing. We all felt comfortable and didn't feel as if there was anything in this room so decided to move on.
We went to the Multi Media Room. On entering I saw a flip chart at the back of the room near the windows and a table to the left of the door entrance. After checking and setting up the K2 we settled down. Amanda felt the room was once an 'entertaining room' where dinner parties and social events would happen. She also sensed a lady being present and I believe got a name. Mark had a feeling of sickness. I personally felt nothing here. We stayed in this room for a little longer before doing a time check. The time was now 3.30am, time to call it a night.
Veronica, Stuart and I went around each room collecting the trigger objects, taking photos of their position to compare for the evidence review. As far as I am aware it didn't look like anything had moved.
Overview
South Hill Park was amazing place to investigate, although in quite a few rooms I felt no different and didn't experience anything; other rooms definitely had a presence of some kind. The building itself is huge, so no time to cover everything I would have wanted to. If I had another opportunity the basement is one place I'd definitely go back to. It would be interesting and exciting to see what the rest of the building had to offer. Please can we go back...
Robin Turton
The building looked from the outside just an old house. Inside it is now being used as theatres, a comedy club with restaurants etc. We set up the equipment and then had to wait until the public had cleared the building.
Vigil 1.
We started in the studio theatre. The room was quiet for me, only noises from the strip lights were heard. We moved on to dressing room 1 in the corridor. On the way to the dressing room Julie felt very uncomfortable. The dressing room itself felt comfortable and was quiet except for clicks from the strip lights.
We moved onto dressing room 2. As Julie and Maria entered the room they immediately felt uncomfortable, then Julie started to feel ill so she and Maria left the room. Paul and I stayed in the room with Paul carrying on calling out. I was sitting in the room, Paul was stood in the doorway and Maria and Julie stood in the corridor. Julie, Maria and I heard a loud pssst sound twice but Paul didn't. Then the 2 ladies saw a figure quite clearly on the stairs. I came out of the room and went up the stairs to find 2 locked doors so nowhere for anyone to go. We all moved to the hallway where the 3 other team members heard what they described as a child or cat's cry. I was stood where Paul had been stood in the doorway and heard nothing.
Vigil 2.
We went down to the cellar. The area felt flat and quiet. The only thing of note was that I felt very itchy in the cellar area but nowhere else. In the tunnel Julie took some photos with odd light anomalies which at the time we couldn't find any reason for. We moved to the garden room and for me the room was quiet and comfortable.
Vigil 3.
The recital room vigil started quite slowly for me. Maria seemed to be picking up odd information but nothing seemed to make any sense at the time. I kept thinking the name of the room seemed wrong and the piano seemed out of place I had a feeling the room should have been a library but it didn't look like a library it turned out the room was once a library. I saw a shadow move from the wall across the shutter then disappear. Shortly after, the other team members heard a noise which was described as a stereotypical ghost noise. It could have been a barn owl in the woods that surround the building.
Vigil 4.
The terrace room for me felt fine, but the room was strange; very clinical and a bit out of place compared to the rest the house. More in keeping with its hospital use.
To sum up it was a fantastic place to visit and thanks to the staff for a good night, I would like the opportunity for a return visit as we had so many areas we didn't get to investigate.
Amanda Horley
My first impression on seeing South Hill Park was just how big it was, and how little of it we would be able to cover in our investigation vigils.
Once we had set up all the equipment, and the public had all left, we went down into the cellar bar before the vigils started. Although we were all down there, and the conversation was very jovial, I felt very edgy and uncomfortable. It was just wasn't a pleasant place to be.
Mark, Laura and I started our vigils in the cellar and attaching corridor. There were a number of other rooms to cover, so I made a note to move on after 10 or 15 minutes. Initially I couldn't decide where to place the stool I wanted to sit on. Nowhere felt comfortable. I very quickly felt that there was a man stood in the doorway watching us. He was in military uniform and the Crimean war came to mind. He was an officer. The long corridor leading off the cellar was interesting all three of us and we slowly made our way down it. The military theme continued for me as the corridor felt like it was bustling with nurses and soldiers in uniform. We went through to the other part of the corridor and I immediately lost the sense of people being around us. After some exploration we moved back into the main corridor, and both Mark and Laura felt very odd, although I felt OK. As we decided to move back into the cellar, a fan behind us came on. At the time we put this down to us making the corridor warmer, and decided this must be a temperature control device.
When we were settled back in the cellar I was very aware of an angry man, wearing an apron. I had the name Samuel in my head, but have to say I really didn't like him very much. He was pacing rapidly back and forth across the floor. Laura asked if we could go back down the corridor, and as she said this, the fan at the far end of the corridor stopped. Coincidence? As we positioned ourselves midway down the corridor, Mark saw a shadow pass across the open door. The only lights that were on were in the cellar, and after a few attempts we managed to re-create the shadow by walking across the cellar in front of one of the lights. No-one else could have come into the cellar without us seeing them, and we know we were the only ones down there. We cannot explain this shadow, and on looking at my watch I realised that the whole of the time allotted to the vigil had gone, and we had no time left for anything else.
Our second vigil started in the Recital room. I felt that there was a male presence in here, and I could hear marching outside. Other than this the room was quiet for me. We moved on to Studio 3, but this was a quiet room for me. After a time we went back to the recital room. At about 1.40, a door shut in the direction of Studio 3, but as the security guard was walking around all night, it is not possible to say if it was unusual, or just him.
Our third vigil started in the Terrace room. This was a very empty room, but had a very jovial atmosphere, and it took us a while to settle down. It seemed quiet in here, and after a time we moved to the Atrium Bar and Restaurant. There was a lot of noise in here from the bar, but at one point there was a strange noise. A bit like an owl's screech, but it didn't sound like an owl to me. After a time, we were joined by the security guard on his rounds, so we returned to the Terrace room. It felt different this time, but at 2.35 we heard a big sigh/growl and soon afterwards all the kitchen equipment went silent. The two could have been connected, but it is difficult to prove whether or not this was the case. I also heard footsteps above me whilst we were in here, but again it could have been the security guard, or a member of another team.
Our fourth vigil started in the Studio Theatre which was quiet for me. After a short time we moved into Multimedia 1 which felt like a very feminine room to me. A matron came to mind. It felt like it would have been her office. The name Mary-Anne came to me and she felt like a very down to earth woman. Whilst we were in here, we heard a knock by the window, but it was a one-off and we didn't get anything else.
We also went into Studio 1 and Studio 2 on this vigil, but both were quiet for me.
South Hill Park was an intriguing place, and I would love to go back, if only to go to the rooms that we just did not have time for on this visit. The cellar and attaching corridor are the places that stick most in my mind, and I would love to investigate them further.
Paul Flexman
Team 1: Julie Harwood, Maria Street, Robin Turton and myself
Introduction
My first impression on seeing South Hill Park for the first time was that it is a magnificent structure. On entering the building that impression did not change. It is one of the most beautiful buildings that I have been lucky enough to investigate. After a quick catch up with the group and a quick briefing, Mark and I went off to set up one of the DVR systems. Once this was done we went to join our teams for the night ahead.
Vigil 1 - Theatre:
Various sounds were heard which could be accounted for by the structure of the theatre and the overhead lighting which was cooling down and producing popping sounds in the process. At one point a light anomaly was seen by me on Julie's camcorder but this was quickly debunked by Julie shuffling across the floor.
Dressing Room 1:
The team carried out an EVP experiment in this room with Julie, Maria and myself all using our voice recorders to hopefully catch any responses. My own recorder did not catch anything in this room. After asking several questions we moved on to the next area.
Dressing Room 2 containing dining room chairs and decorating equipment:
The atmosphere in this room was completely different to Dressing Room 1. On entering the room, Julie and Maria both said that they didn't like it and felt that there was an unpleasant presence making them feel that way. I felt very on edge but Robin said that he felt fine. I asked if the team were happy for me to try and provoke the presence into responding and they said that I should. I began verbally confronting whatever was there and Julie began feeling like she needed to vomit. This sensation became so strong that Julie had to leave the room. Maria went to help her. Whilst Robin and myself were trying to make sense of what had just happened I called around the corner to Julie to check that she was ok. After she replied I turned back into the room to talk with Robin and heard Maria and Julie ask if I was at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the offices. I had not been stood there. Maria stated that the figure both she and Julie had seen was wearing grey which could not have been me as I was wearing dark green DPM camo combat trousers and a very dark blue T-shirt. Various other sounds were heard which we could account for until Julie, Maria, Robin and I all heard a sound which made my head snap around. I can only describe the sound as being a scream made by a child in extreme pain. I have 5 very active children who have on quite a few occasions visited our local A & E department so I am, unfortunately, quite familiar with that sound. I am also familiar with the various sounds made by cats and foxes and can categorically state that neither of those animals was responsible for the sound.
Vigil 2 - Stage Cellar, Cellar Bar and Tunnel:
On entering the cellar, containing the small stage, we positioned ourselves so that we could monitor all parts of the room. I positioned myself opposite the doorway so that I had a clear view of the tunnel opposite and positioned Julie's camcorder on a stool looking down the tunnel itself. After a little calling out by the team I noticed a stock of plastic half pint pots on a shelf, built a triangular stack of 6 pots on the floor and invited whatever was there to knock it down as a sign of its presence. Unfortunately there were no takers of this offer during our vigil. The general atmosphere in the cellar was not an uncomfortable one. We moved on to the cellar room containing the bar.
This room again did not feel uncomfortable. Various sounds and temperature drops were noticed but were all accounted for. We moved on to the tunnel.
The tunnel was not as creepy as I had expected. We moved along the tunnel taking pictures with our digital cameras as we went. At one point Julie and I both turned to take a picture. Once these were taken we looked and Julie's had a red light anomaly shown clearly in it which could not be accounted for by any of the lighting or mirrors in the tunnel. Once we had reached the first corner of the tunnel we all took pictures to see if the red light anomaly could be replicated. Julie was still getting the anomaly in her pictures but in different positions, some of which we could not account for. Once we had left the cellars we moved on to the Garden Room.
On entering this particular room I had the uncontrollable urge to stand at the fireplace with my elbow up on the mantelpiece. I don't know why but it just felt right to do that. Prior to this happening I felt a weight on my shoulders similar to that felt when carrying a heavy rucksack. I also had a feeling of immense disgust at the appalling behaviour of an individual in the room. Needless to say, the individual in question was not a member of the team. The words "a disgrace to the uniform" kept popping into my head repeatedly for no logical reason. The other members of the team kept mentioning a grey uniform.
Vigil 3 - The Recital Room:
This room was the one that Mark P and myself had been in earlier whilst setting up the CCTV equipment but the atmosphere this time around felt far more oppressive. I hardly spoke during this vigil and those who know me will vouch that I'm never that quiet. In this room there was a very strong sensation of being watched from the shadows but nothing really happened.
Vigil 4 - The Terrace Room:
On entering the Terrace Room I felt a light blow across my chest as if someone was trying to prevent me entering. This I initially put down to the Funhouse Effect caused by the corridor being on a slight incline and the floor of the Terrace Room declining away at a similar gradient causing a similar sensation to that felt in the chest when you miss a step and feel that you are about to fall. However, when I entered the room I felt a pressure behind my ears which soon spread to my whole head. After a short while the sensation of being pushed down by my shoulders, which I had felt in the Garden Room, returned only much, much stronger this time. It was in fact so strong that I had to sit down on the floor. I cannot come up with a logical reason for this as I am more than capable of carrying heavy loads on my back and do so on a fairly regular basis. Whilst we were in the room we all said that we thought we could hear voices on the very edge of our hearing but none of us could confirm for sure that we could hear them let alone what was being said. The pressure in my head and the sensation of being pushed down did not subside until Julie/Maria announced that we would be leaving soon. It gradually faded off until I was again able to stand and, on leaving the room, the pressure in my head stopped.
Conclusion:
Although I did not catch anything on my voice recorder or with my digital camera, this was an excellent location for my maiden investigation as a core member of SPUK and certainly introduced me to some new experiences as this was the first investigation I have attended where I have been affected in a manner that I cannot logically explain. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to return to this beautiful building and investigate further.
David Baxter
I was in Team 3 along with Steve Boston and Emma Filce.
Our 1st vigil was downstairs in the Recital & Watts Room. Emma and Steve started calling out while I sat down with the Sound Amp on hoping to pick up a reply from both Steve's & Emma's questions. Steve noticed that the IR Camera and Monitor were not working. We soon found out the plug connecting them all was half way out of the socket and no-one on our Team have been near. Paranormal? Maybe, maybe not? After the plug was reconnected we decided to sit down and try our hand at a bit of Glass Divination. All three of us place a finger each on the upturned glass asking if anything around us could use our energy to move the glass - it slowly moved in a way which all of us could feel.
We moved on to Studio 3 where not much happened.
After the break we decided to start in the Studio Theatre. We placed a KII Meter just in front of the stage asking if anyone was there, could they walk in front and light up the lights for us. Unfortunately for us nothing happened. We then moved on to the Dressing Rooms for the theatre where Emma said she had, 'a strange feeling about this room and didn't like it', so we moved on to the corridor just outside where Emma & Steve sat one end and I sat at the other. Emma was saying that she could see lights next to me where no lights were.
Studio 1 also had a visit but again nothing was really picked up.
Our next vigil was in the Bar Area where again questions were asked. At one point Steve thought he saw a 'shadow' the other side of the bar and went over to investigate. Nothing was seen or found. We moved on to the Dance Studio where the only thing that happened was the Security Guard popping his head around the corner for a quick look.
For me the Cellar Bar vigil was by far the best of all as we had heard snippets from the other teams about how active it was. I for one was not to be let down. After a quick walk down the tunnels with Steve & Emma we settled down in our various positions to start. Not long afterwards Steve and I could hear a 'noise' behind us. I went to investigate only to find out that the noise was coming from a trapped frog inside the building. After we let him out I had a feeling that someone was behind me as I could hear 'creaking', but could not see anything. After 15 minutes or so I felt a tug on the left leg of my jeans which startled me a bit, again nothing was near or around me that I could see to do this. After another 10 minutes I felt my left arm near my elbow being stroked and again when looking around, nothing could have naturally caused this.
I wish we had the chance to do more in this wonderful building but size and time won the day, but I would love to go back there one day to do another investigation.
Mark Pettet
Team; Amanda, Laura and Mark.
Vigil 1 cellar bar.
We got into cellar and sat down quietly for a few minutes whilst other teams got to their vigil areas and we conducted temperature and EMF readings. Amanda called out first and
some bangs were heard but we put them down to staff moving around upstairs. More calling out by all of us but we didn't pick anything up. We all decided to go down the tunnel.
Laura led with the camcorder and I was at the back which I felt a little uncomfortable about. The team went right down the end of the tunnel which zigzagged slightly but
thought it best to go back towards the cellar bar. On the way back we decided to stop in the long corridor. I called out some control questions but will have to wait for
results of audio analysis to see if there are any responses. We all stood quiet, then Amanda was picking up on something that could have happened in the corridor and I felt
unstable on my feet and felt like I was being pushed backwards. Just as we started to leave the tunnels there was a fan at the end which started up. We got back into the cellar
and sat down. We all got names in there but all different to each other. Amanda picked up an angry man in the corner and Laura asked a question. I then proceeded to have a
man's gruff voice come through to me and said "what would you know you little b***h". At this point we decided to go back down the tunnel and the fan that was on, turned off.
We stood in there for a few minutes then all of a sudden I saw a shadow cast on the door of the cellar as if someone walked past one of the lights in the room. I got the scary
feeling I had on a previous investigation with my eyes watering and even Laura commented on how scared I looked.
Vigil 2. Recital room
This room is where I had set up my DVR equipment I could see that on the monitor there was a lot of dust particles and somewhat of a breeze. We sat down quietly and heard what sounded like one of the chairs move, closely followed by Laura hearing the name Joseph. Apart from these moments nothing else was felt or picked up. We then decide to go the silversmithing room but unfortunately it was locked so we went into studio 3. This was a nice quiet relaxing room but sadly nothing happened here. Time was flying by so went back to the recital room and this time Amanda came up with a name but I can't recall what it was.
Vigil 3. Terrace room + atrium bar.
Upon walking into the terrace room there was a light-hearted feel and a calm atmosphere. We all took turns to call out. Amanda thought she heard footsteps above her and just as she said that we all heard a 'growl/sigh' and was quite startled by it as audio shows from our reactions. We moved on into the atrium bar which to my mind was very noisy as the fridges were running so didn't spend much time in here and went back to the terrace room for the remainder of the vigil. We heard another sigh but not as loud as previously.
Vigil 4 theatre/media room/studios 1&2
These areas didn't reveal anything much apart from feeling a bit sick in the media room which could have been because it was getting late and my mind and body were flagging.