Southern Paranormal - Investigations
The Anchor Investigation Report
Saturday 13th June 2009
Attending Investigators – Julie Harwood, Maria Street, Jackie Gilmartin, Gary Catlin, Jai Sepple, Harri Sepple, Maureen Taylor, Rob Butler
Time of Investigation –12.15am - 4.30am
History of the Area & The Anchor
Deriving its name from one of the medieval causeways built to hold back the Thames, Bankside is one of the oldest settlements in Britain and its early history owes much to its riverside location.
When the Romans founded Londinium on the north bank of the Thames, a bridge was built near the present day London Bridge, and the surrounding area has been inhabited ever since. It has provided London with activities not always welcomed in the City itself, and as an Elizabethan ‘red light’ zone, developed into London’s finest theatre district. Some of England’s greatest writers and players, including William Shakespeare, lived and worked here. During the late 18th century Bankside quickly developed into an industrial environment, with docks, warehouses and wharves. Following industrial decline after the Second World War it remained largely undiscovered, until its recent renaissance as one of the capital’s prime visitor destinations.
The Anchor Inn, a centuries-old London “watering hole.” Built in 1775, the present inn replaced an older establishment known as the Castle and Hoop, and built in 15th Century. Apart from it’s time as a London pub, the Anchor has also seen service in past centuries as a ship’s chandlery, a brewery, a chapel and a brothel. No doubt, sometimes, serving multiple consecutive roles.
This historic pub, on the south bank of the Thames, is a favourite with tourists. It has several bars, a restaurant and roof terrace, both of which have wonderful views across the Thames to the City of London. The latest refurbishment has added a chip shop to the first floor and converted the oldest and most atmospheric part of the building, with its low beams, exposed brickwork and open fireplaces, into a tea rooms. Not open to the public, but available for functions, is the beautiful Shakespeare Room, which is clad in mellow 18th century pine panelling.
The Anchor has a late 18th-century front in brown brick. It is of two storeys and an attic and has a tiled roof with a dormer window behind the parapet. The main front has a three-light wood shop and hinged shutters. Above, on the first floor, is a shallow overhanging bay with. On the flank (in Park Street) the windows have double hung sashes with glazing bars; those on the ground floor have wood shutters. There is also a shop window of similar type to that on the main front.
The bar has plain dado panelling and a mantelpiece of late 18th century date. The back parlour has plain match boarding of similar date with some later alterations.
In the first floor front room is an arched recess with panelled wood ornamented with sprays of corn. The panelling is mid-18th century but has been altered and added to in later years. The mantelpiece is plain and encloses an early 19th-century grate.
On the ground at the junction of Bankside and Park Street (formerly known as Bank End) there stood in the 15th and 16th centuries an inn called "the Castell upon the Hope" with a wharf, houses and four cottages. In 1479 they were in the possession of John Eierby, citizen and fishmonger of London, who died in 1500 leaving them to his wife, Elizabeth, with the proviso that after her death they were to be sold and the proceeds devoted to almshouses and works of charity The Castle was one of the Stew houses (Licensed Whorehouse) of Bankside and in 1506 John Sandes, the occupier, was presented by the constables at the Court Leet of the Bishop of Winchester for keeping his house open on feast days and for allowing women to board there contrary to the regulations.
In 1559 Alexander Amcottes sold to Vincent Amcottes, citizen and fishmonger of London, his dwelling called "the Castell on the hoope" with a wharf and houses and four cottages adjoining on the land formerly of William Owghtred, knight.
Vincent Amcottes divided the property. The southern portion he sold in 1580 to Richard Spier. In the 17th century it was the subject of many lawsuits but in 1707 it was in the possession of Spier's great grandson who stated that two dwelling and a dye house had been built thereon.
The northern portion was sold by Vincent Amcottes in 1562 to John Cheyne whose son and heir, Henry, on 30 January, 1582/3, transferred it to John Drew who let some of the buildings to John Smythe carpenter . . . and all those three dwellings . . . with gardens . . . sometime in the tenures of William Clement Tailor, John Roo, Chandeller and Peter Harding, Blacksmith. The last three houses had then been divided into six. John Drew died in 1595. By his will he left 40shillings to his tenants on Bankside to "make merry withall." His son John, who inherited the property, then known as Drew's Rents, got himself heavily in debt (perhaps by too much merry making) and had to sell his inheritance to James James, apothecary, to whom his son, another John, was apprenticed. There were then fourteen tenements in the rents.
An inn called The Castle and the Hoop was originally on the site of The Anchor, and was known to date back to the 15th Century. In 1665, the property changed hands, with the local brewers - Childs - taking over the inn.
It is claimed that during the Great Fire of London in 1666 Samuel Pepys sought refuge from his river crossing in The Anchor after enduring 'fire drops' falling on him in the boat. As the fire grew, Pepys was again forced to move on. Eventually, the inn itself succumbed to the blaze.
After being destroyed by fire, the pub was rebuilt in 1676 and named The Anchor. It is thought that one of the Childs family, Josiah, named the pub, as he had naval connections. He supplied the navy with masts, spars and bowsprits, as well as stores and beer.
James James died in 1689 and the property was sold by his legatee, James Coysh, to Walter Gibbons who in 1725 sold it to Edmund Halsey. It was bought by Ralph Thrale in 1739 and subsequently a watch house was built on part of it and the rest was used to widen Park Street.
In 1764 Henry Thrale, who had obtained a lease of the premises from Halsey's executors, bought the freehold. Among the records of Barclay Perkins and Co., Ltd., is a note made just prior to this purchase stating that Mr. Edward Dodson had lived at the alehouse at the corner called the sign of the Castle for the previous seven or eight years. The premises were in a tumbledown state and in 1770 the ground was let on building lease to William Allen who undertook to spend £1,000 within the next five years in building "good and substantial dwellings or warehouses on the site’’. At some point, parts of The Anchor were again destroyed by fire, and records show it was then rebuilt The Anchor Tavern was therefore erected in 1770–75 by William Allen, though the first mention of it by its present name which has been found is in a list of recognisances for 1822. The Ferryman's Seat.
By 1787 when Robert Barclay and John Perkins bought the Anchor Brewery, Joseph Bickerton was the tenant of the dwelling house, warehouses, stables and wharf erected at Bank End by Allen.
In the 1800s, Mr and Mrs Henry Thrale took over, with the locals sometimes calling the pub 'Thrales of Deadman's Place', a reference to one of its earlier names that obviously stayed in the local vocabulary.
Local records attest to the many and varied historical changes at the site. A Roman grave was discovered; the skeleton found with a bowl of coins between his knees which dated back to the Lower Empire. Records also show that a burial pit was dug in the area to accommodate the city's plague victims of 1603. The pit was given the name 'Meeting of the Gallants at an Ordinary1'. Old maps of the area also show bear and bull baiting pits and a chapel called 'Dead Man's Meeting House'.
Other Famous Patrons of The Anchor
The Thrales were friends of Samuel Johnson. He had a room in their house where he wrote some of his classics, including his famous 'Dictionary'. Johnson and his friend Boswell were known to like their food, so Mrs Thrale must have been a very good cook. Perhaps this was why in May 1773 Sir Joshua Reynolds (artist), Oliver Goldsmith (Irish poet), David Garrick (actor) and Edmund Burke (Irish statesman) gathered to eat at the same table? Also Hollywood’s Tom Cruise who filmed a scene of Mission Impossible at the pub also supped a beer here.
Samuel Pepys (1633 - 1703)
Portrait of Samuel Pepys by John Hayls (A copy of which hangs in the Anchor’s Breakfast Room – see below)
Pepys (pronounced Peeps) is famous for his diaries, which cover the years 1659 - 1669, but also enjoyed a successful career as a naval administrator and MP.
Samuel Pepys was born on 23 February 1633 near Fleet Street in London, the son of a tailor. He was educated at St Paul's School in London and Cambridge University. After graduating, Pepys was employed as secretary to Edward Montagu, a distant relative who was a councillor of state during the Cromwellian protectorate and later served Charles II. In 1655 Pepys married 15-year-old Elizabeth Marchant de Saint-Michel, daughter of a Huguenot exile. In 1658, he underwent a dangerous operation for the removal of a bladder stone. Every year on the anniversary of the operation, he celebrated his recovery.
Pepys began his diary on 1 January 1660. It is written in a form of shorthand, with names in longhand. It ranges from private remarks, including revelations of his infidelity with his wife's companion Deborah Willet - to detailed observations of events in 17th-century England - such as the plague of 1665, the Great Fire of London and Charles II's coronation - and some of the key figures of the era, including Sir Christopher Wren and Sir Isaac Newton. Fear of losing his eyesight prompted Pepys to stop writing the diary in 1669.
In June 1660, Pepys was appointed clerk of the acts to the navy board, a key post in one of the most important of all government departments, the royal dockyards. In 1673, he became secretary to the Admiralty and in the same year a member of parliament for a Norfolk constituency, later representing Harwich. He was responsible for some important naval reforms which helped lay the foundations for a professional naval service. He was also a member of the Royal Society, serving as its president from 1684-1686.
In 1679 Pepys was forced to resign from the Admiralty and was imprisoned on a charge of selling naval secrets to the French, but the charge was subsequently dropped. In 1685, Charles II died and was succeeded by his brother who became James II, who Pepys served as loyally as he had Charles. After the overthrow of James in 1688, Pepys's career effectively came to an end. He was again arrested in 1690, under suspicion of Jacobite sympathies, but was released.
Pepys died in Clapham on the outskirts of London on 26 May 1703.
Samuel Pepys info credit - http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/pepys_samuel.shtml
The Investigation
Vigil Teams
Team 1
Jackie – Team Leader
Maureen
Rob
Team 2
Gary
Jai
Harri
Overseeing investigation / hub – Julie & Maria (joining in vigils as and when)
Itinerary
12am Meet at location & meet hosts
12.15am Quick tour of building & baseline tests (to be carried out by Maria, Jackie & Gary)
12.45am Pre vigil break
1.00am Vigil 1
Team 1 - Ground Floor
Team 2 - 1st Floor
1.45am Vigil 2
Team 1 – 1st Floor
Team 2 – Ground Floor
2.30am Break
2.45am Vigil 3
Team 1 – Ground Floor
Team 2 – 1st Floor
3.30am Vigil 4
Team 1 – 1st Floor
Team 2 – Ground Floor
4.15am Pack up
4.30am Thank hosts & depart
Baseline Tests
Readings taken by:- Gary, Jai, Harri| Room/Area | Temperature | EMF Fluctuations | Other Conditions |
| Shakespeare Room | 23°C | None | Fridge/Coffee machine. Lights on. |
| Restaurant (first half) |
24°C | None | Air Conditioner |
| Shakespeare Room (Full Group) |
23.5°C | None | Lights on Fridge/Coffee machine. |
| Ground Floor Bar | 21.5°C | None | Fridges Coolers Ice Makers |
| Restaurant (Second half) |
20°C | None | Air Conditioner |
Locked off equipment
2 x Camcorders were locked off filming on the top floor (in different areas) – Unfortunately on reviewing the footage, for some reason one of the camcorders (the teams newest Hard drive recorder) failed to record. The camcorder has since been tested numerous times and it works perfectly. The second camcorder recorded but failed to pick up anything unusual in the area it was located (by the doors to the garden balcony) apart from the staff going in and out of the door.
On the same floor as the camcorders Julie & Maria tried an EVP experiment asking random questions. On evaluation of the tape, no noticeable responses were recorded.
A trigger object was placed in the breakfast room however no movement was recorded even though that room proved an interesting vigil location at the end of the night.
Personal Reports from Vigil Team Leaders
Jackie Gilmartin – London Senior Co-ordinator
Firstly I would like to thank Stephen and his staff for allowing us to investigate this wonderful old pub, and Maria and Julie for allowing Gary and myself to be team leaders for the first time, thank you.
The Anchor sits on the south bank of the river Thames it is a very pretty pub steeped in history. It was decided that we would split in to two vigil groups, myself Maureen and Rob plus the two staff from the pub were in my group. We started our vigil in the lower bar areas. Rob took some photos which produced some light anomalies. We sat at a table and began to call out and Rob said he saw a shadow move over by one of the machines. We all felt that we were not alone and several times we had a feeling of sickness. Maureen used the rods to see if we could get a response to our questions and the names of William and John came up. With those names in mind we decided to go to the other lower bar known as the tea rooms and Maureen drew my attention to some writing etched in to the oak panelling it said William! Was this our William ? We don't know but with that Rob said he saw a shadow go in to the ladies toilet so Rob and I went in. It seemed odd, like the room was wrong or should not have been there. While we were in there I was aware of someone saying to me ask Mo about David. I did not know who Mo was or David so I asked Maureen did anyone ever call her Mo bearing in mind this is the first time I had met Maureen. I asked if she knew a David, well she confirmed that she was known by Mo and David was her son in law.
Time for a break and regroup upstairs with group two and Maria and Julie.
We all decided to go in to the Shakespeare room. This room has a very uneasy feel about it and quite a few of us felt this. Unfortunately not all the lights could be turned off and the Shakespeare room was no exception but the Manageress unscrewed all the bulbs and we started to call out and the light came on! Bearing in mind it's unscrewed, Maria ask “if you understand yes and no make the light flash twice for yes once for no” and it flashed twice! Maria felt aware of the name Polly. I felt a young girl in the room who seemed very attached to Harri, was this Polly?
We then decided to spilt once again in to our own group and our group was in the restaurant Rob had said all night that he could smell burning and Maureen then got her pendulum out and we started to ask questions. Rob gave us the name of SAM which then was changed to Samuel. The questions that we asked seemed to confirm it was Samuel but more interestingly the other group were next door using the Ouija board and they were in contact with a girl named Deborah who loved SAM. Sadly it was soon time to go but maybe we can go back one day as I feel sure The Anchor has many more secrets to share with us.
Gary Catlin – Essex Senior Co-ordinator
This historic pub, on the south bank of the Thames, is a favourite with tourists. It has several bars, a restaurant and roof terrace, both of which have wonderful views across the Thames to the City of London. The latest refurbishment has added a chip shop to the first floor and converted the oldest and most atmospheric part of the building, with its low beams, exposed brickwork and open fireplaces, into a tea rooms. Not open to the public, but available for functions, is the beautiful Shakespeare Room, which is clad in mellow 18th century pine panelling.
After waiting for the pub to close, we all had quick discussions to see where my group would be starting on the 1st floor. We choose to start in the Shakespeare room; this room was in the one of the oldest parts of the original pub. We took our readings and began by calling out. One problem with this room was the fact we could not turn any of the lights out, this was very frustrating because the room seem to take on a completely different feel. Jai and Harri Sepple set up an Ouija board to see if they could channel anything through. There was only very slight movement and nothing of any significant. We did say that maybe a whole group vigil could provide us with more information. We decided to move out of the Shakespeare room and in to one part of the restaurant. Even through this room was next to the Shakespeare room it had a completely different feel, the room felt much, much colder however on taking the temperature reading it turns out that the restaurant was 1 degree hotter than were we had just come from. We called out several times with what seem to be to no avail, when Jai notice that the door that leads to the kitchen was moving very slightly. We asked out to see if the movement of the door could be made bigger which it did appear to do. During this we all heard what sounded like a dog whimpering, followed by scratching very faintly. Due to the fact that a lot of lights had to be left on this affected us, in the way that a lot of shadows were being casted and it coursed a lot of corner of eye sightings. As this part of the vigil came to a close we did notice a temperature drop of 3°C.
After a short break we mention to Julie about doing a whole group vigil in the Shakespeare room. Julie agreed to give this a try. Once we had got into the room, the assistant manager managed to turn the lights off for us. We all sat around the table and Jackie started calling out. Not a lot happen to begin with, Jackie was getting a lot of information however due to the fact that my group had not been downstairs she could not tell us for the time being. Opposite myself was Rob, and we both could feel the table very slightly moving, we all then heard what sounded like a whistle. There was several taps, and bangs however we could not pinpoint where these were coming from. It was discussed and it could have been settlement in the room from where we had been moving around. Jai, Harri, and Maureen were conducting an Ouija board at the bottom of the table, very little during the vigil was record from the board. Harri called out a few times, however once she had started on of the light on the ceiling flickered, and Harri asked a simply yes or no understanding. Flash the light once for no, twice for yes, which when they ask if they understand the light flickered twice. The name of Polly was asked and the light flickered but it seemed to stop shortly after that. During the rest of the vigil the light flickered several times, however we could not get any real answers the questions being asked. The only way we could have the lights off in this room was to un-screw them which the assistant manager did for us, the bulbs were not taken out fully, but unless we moved the light fitting itself the lights did stay off. This we tested at the end of the vigil.
After a break Julie said to us, that if we felt that the ground floor was not giving us anything that we may come back up stairs the restaurant in the room next to the other group. Our group began by going to the ground floor, we based ourselves in the larger of the two bar areas. We took it in turns to call out, however the room just felt normal. I did feel like I could hear low voices in the room, but due to the music still being played in the far end rooms, we could not be sure if this is what I was hearing. We split up so that each one of us was in a different part of the room; to see if this would encourage some more activity. Sadly it did not. We agreed to go back up to the first floor restaurant. Once we arrived, Julie and Maria were already in the room. They said they had picked up on several names but did not want to tell us, to see if we could pick up on them. Jai, Harri and I sat down at a table and began our last vigil. During the calling out, me, Harri and Julie heard what sounded like a growl noise from the steps the lead to the other part of the restaurant which is where we were based for our first vigil, and was were the second team was, we asked if they had heard anything to which they replied no. Jai and Harri setup the Ouija board. We then heard someone cough again from the stair area. We ask the other group if they heard it or if someone in that group had coughed. They said that no one had. I joined in with the Ouija board after a short time it began to move, we had a name come through as Elizabeth (Beth) ST. Micael who apparently was from the time period of 1643 and she was from shajsbury, the spelling we think is due to the old English were some letters may look similar to today’s modern alphabet which would be Shaftsbury. We then got a name of Sam, who apparently was her husband we asked for a surname which it the spelt Pepz, we think it that she meant Pepys once again we think this was due to old English this might have been the way it sounded or was pronounced at the time, there was a message about a “promise broke” but we were unable to work this out, then the name or Deborah who we worked out to be another woman who was either was with or knew Sam Pepys, shortly after we got a message which was “died of fever” but we are again not sure who, but due to time running out the messages were not clear. Towards the end of the vigil, we got a message saying “come back” so maybe in the future we might and see if we can make more time.
Overall I am very impressed with this location, if we do manage to return at some point it would be interesting if the pub could be made darker, with more lights turn off, to see if we get even more that what we did.
Since this was my first investigation as a team leader, I would like to thank Julie and Maria for the opportunity and Jai & Harri who worked really well in our team on the night. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of the Anchor for letting us in for the night. I would like specially thank Jackie my counterpart, for securing this great venue. I would also like to pass on my appreciation to all the members of SPUK who came to this investigation and supported us on the night. I hope to work with them even more in the not too distant future.
Maria Street
This was another London investigation, so another drive through Central London for me. This one was a little more hair raising than the last one though as we ended up in Knightsbridge which is as busy at midnight as Bournemouth is on a sunny day. After waving to Harrods, Harvey Nicks and The Dorchester Hotel, we finally found ourselves around the corner from the Anchor Pub. I travelled down with Julie, Rob and Maureen and it was nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs. After checking there were no parking restrictions we made our way to the pub. After squeezing in through a half closed door it was a little disconcerting to find they weren’t expecting us. Luckily Jackie managed to clear this up for us and we made our way to the Bar Terrace. After some introductions, we had a tour of the pub. It was huge and full of history. Overlooking the Thames, it afforded a wonderful view of St Pauls and The old Clink Prison. Julie and I were overseeing the investigation so when the others set off for their first vigils we stayed in the upper room. This was all Victorian opulence with heavy velvet deep red drapes and decorative lamps. It put me in mind of an old whore house and I wondered if it had ever been used in this capacity. Julie felt it would have been more of an up market establishment rather than the spit and sawdust sort of place which would have existed back then. Unfortunately we couldn’t conduct an impartial investigation as our two hosts were having a drink just outside and there were still some outside revellers, so noises had to be discounted. However we did get the feeling of somebody hiding behind the drapes, curious enough to peep out, but too wary to come forward and show themselves. We moved further into the bar and I sat at the table there. I had the name of George in my head and got the nursery rhyme, ‘Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie’. I felt that George was the son of somebody important connected to the place and he would visit with his parent.
For our next vigil we all came together in the Shakespeare Room. This was very brightly lit and although we can investigate in light, it was hurting our eyes, so our host very kindly unscrewed all the bulbs so the light was a lot more comfortable. We all sat round a huge table and Rob felt his chair move a couple of times. He swapped places with Julie and it was ascertained that movement from elsewhere caused the floorboard beneath his chair to move, giving the impression that his chair was moving. Jackie was getting the impression of a young girl and I had the nursery rhyme of Little Polly Cinders in my head. I didn’t know if this related to the name of the girl or if it related to something in the house. Interestingly one of the bulbs started to flicker and seemingly in answer to questions. We could not be sure if this was a loose connection so I asked for the light to flicker twice in quick succession if this really was a spirit. A few seconds later, the light flickered twice. Was this a coincidence? I don’t know but the light only ever flickered once after this. When we asked if anybody else could make the light flicker I heard ‘Let little Crystal Gayle do it’ Did our young girl have very long dark hair like Crystal Gayle or did it mean something else? I have no idea.
For our next vigil, Julie and I went into the room leading onto the Premier Inn. It was a completely different feel in here and I was getting names like Betty. They were all girls names and all related to the 1940’s. Julie had the feeling of a canteen. We couldn’t get any more than that. Finally the others joined us and Jai and Harri set up a ouija experiment on the table opposite to us. It seemed they were talking to the wife of Samuel Pepys and it was then we discovered that we were in the very same pub that he had watched London burn in the Great Fire of 1666. Her name was Elizabeth, better known as Beth and she talked of broken promises and another woman called Deborah. All of this checked out later when we looked it up on Google. This was fascinating as Ouija boards very rarely work for us and our last successful attempt was at Bisham Abbey. This wound up a very interesting night for us and how privileged were we to stand in Samuel Pepys shoes just for the one night? A big thanks to Jackie for securing this for us and the owner for allowing us to investigate this wonderful property. I look forward to the next one in London.
Maureen Taylor
We left Maria’s house at nine o’clock on Saturday evening thinking that it would give us plenty of time to get to The Anchor….and all was fine, apart from some really nasty heavy rain as we headed up the M3, until we hit central London and almost ground to a halt through Knightsbridge. Instead of arriving and having at least half an hour to find the place once we got there and to find the closest parking slot, we had about five minutes. It didn’t really matter though as the staff in the pub weren’t ready for us anyway, and we all had time to sit on the roof terrace and chat for a while.
Vigils didn’t go as planned, as so often happens with smaller investigation groups, and we had just three vigils during the night.
Our first vigil was downstairs...
We headed for the large bar area and sat at the corner table to the far left as you look at the main run of windows. Jackie immediately said that she wasn’t too happy here, and that she felt there was someone sitting at the table immediately behind her, she felt that it was an old man, rather fat and bloated, who was also very drunk.
Rob got up and walked to the other end of the bar, he came back saying he was getting a distinct smell of stables there.
Rob was coming up with some names – John, George and William. Jackie asked if one of them had worked for the Bishop- John I think, but I’m not certain of this now. Rob (I think) also said that he felt the man didn’t like women very much. Rob then felt a vibration against his right leg, but this may have been due to one of us leaning on the table and its moving slightly.
We then moved to the tearoom at the other end of the building. The lights were still on in here and music still playing. I don’t have a problem with that, but Jackie felt the need for silence and darkness, so while she went off with the staff to try and find a way of turning it off (an unsuccessful hunt in the end) Rob and I sat down to wait...
It was very hot in here and felt very oppressive. I felt that there were crowds of people around, both inside and outside. They weren’t happy people, but were sad rather than unpleasant or angry – we realised why that would have been much later in the night.
We then spotted the name William carved into the panelling next to where Rob was sitting – was this the William we had picked up on earlier? Along with this there were various other pictures and symbols drawn/carved on the panelling, but none seemed to stand out as much to us as did the name William. After a few minutes Rob could smell burning, he referred to it as smelling like ‘smoky wood’ – again this was to prove relevant later in the night, as would the crowds of people I was sensing.
We then noticed that the chandelier was moving slightly, but this may well have been a result of members of the other group walking about upstairs, so we dismissed this as being anything out of the ordinary.
Towards the end of the vigil Jackie suddenly asked me if any of my family call me Mo – they don’t, but a number of friends do, she said that she had been told to ‘ask Mo about David’, and then asked ‘who is or was Alfred?’ - I do have a son-in-law called David, but as far as I’m aware he has no connection with London in any way….in fact the only thing I can think of, and it’s devious in the extreme – is that his surname is Hide, Hyde Abbey was in Winchester (where his family comes from), and the lands around the Anchor were once owned by the medieval bishops of Winchester - I feel that this is too distant and too unlikely a connection to be of any relevance. As for Alfred – I had a great uncle Alfred, but again no connection with London as far as I’m aware – so why these questions were apparently directed at me I have no idea.
For the next vigil all of us got together in the Shakespeare Room. We’d been in there briefly earlier on during our tour of the building, and certainly Julie wasn’t happy in there, and from what I recall Maria too was doubtful about it, so a vigil just had to take place in it...
We settled down, me, Harri and Jai at one end of the big table, Julie and Maria at the other end of it, with Rob somewhere near the middle.
Once again the staff were unable to turn the lights off – and in the end one of them got up on the table and unscrewed all the bulbs until each went out – a most unusual way of turning lights off...
The room felt quite oppressive, but the feeling I’d had during the tour of the building (I wanted to sit in the chair at the head of the table, in front of the window) had gone. After a while I was, however, feeling quite dizzy, but after about ten minutes this passed.
We began to hear noises, a whistle from somewhere, and when Harri whistled in reply we got an answering whistle –this may have been a bird outside somewhere, but it did sound as if it was coming from within the room. Then a series of clicks near the door, followed by slight movement on the Ouija board. Several of us could hear what sounded like a clock ticking, I could, but only if I leaned forward over the table, once I leaned back in my chair again I couldn’t hear it.
I sense someone standing behind me, a male I think but am not absolutely certain. Whoever it was seemed to be pacing up and down the side of the room where I was sitting – several times the feeling went away then came back again. Rob and Gary then felt the table move, but after a bit of pushing and shoving we realised that it was probably due to some of us leaning on the table and it’s moving slightly as we moved. Jackie suddenly exclaimed that something small and black had just shot past her face at about eye level, she described it as being like a little black ball. This happened several times over the next few minutes. I heard a thud outside the room just after this, am not sure if the others did too or not. All this time there was occasional movement on the Ouija board but nothing very definite.
One of the lights above Jai, Harri and I started flashing as if in answer to our questioning. To test this we asked it to flash a certain number of times for yes and for no, which it seemed to do, and within a minute of our asking each time we appeared to get a response. As we were winding up the vigil the light started to flash and then stayed on, at which point we decided that maybe air movements caused by our presence had caused the chandelier in question to move slightly and cause the bulb to wind itself back into its socket just enough to connect again – I wanted to take a final photo of the room without any of us in it, so I waited till everyone was out, and as I glanced back in the light that had appeared to be flashing in answer to our questions and then stayed on - turned itself off again and stayed off… I took my photo, and it’s one of few that appears to have a light anomaly on it...
Towards the end of the vigil Jackie came up with the name Daniel and said that his mother was a laundress who came to collect washing. At this time I could feel someone around me and Harri. At about the same time Rob felt a definite push on the back of his chair, and the end of the table where Julie and Maria were sitting was shaking slightly. Rob then heard footsteps behind him, as if someone was pacing to and fro in front of the fireplace – was this the same person as I’d been getting earlier in the vigil? He and Julie swapped places so that she can see if she feels any of what Rob is getting – but we discover that the shaking of the table is due to other members of the group leaning on the table and moving slightly at times.
Maria comes up with the name Polly and a memory of the nursery rhyme ‘Little Polly Flinders’.
For our final vigil we split up again – Rab, Jackie and I and the two members of staff (who sat a little distance away from the three of us) headed for the bar area just above the Shakespeare Room, while the rest went to the room next door.
Jackie commented that her heart was pounding and she felt quite apprehensive. I was feeling some of the same. Rob got a name – at first it was Sam, but he then extended that to Samuel.
For this vigil I decided to get out one of my dowsing pendulums, I often get good results with them. Jackie and Rob hear a dog barking and both say they think it’s something small, like a Chihuahua, but I feel that this is unlikely and am sure that it’s something like a Jack Russell – when I mention this they both agree that it’s a more likely breed. We ask Sam, who by this time is responding well to the pendulum, if he knows anything about the presence of a dog in the inn at any time, but we get no definite response. As we ask questions of the pendulum I can feel someone putting their hands on my arms a little below shoulder level, just as if they’re leaning over me to see what we’re up to – maybe Sam was leaning over me in order to move the pendulum….at least it didn’t feel like anyone unpleasant thank goodness. I then saw a shadow walk past behind me, and within a very few moments had a surname come to me - - were we talking to Samuel Pepys, and could this be the alehouse from where he and some of his friends spent some time watching London burn in 1666? It seems that we were. Jackie came up with the name Helena, but we’re not sure where that fits in, if at all. She felt someone touch the back of her head and push her glasses down – three times in all. Rob asks if Jackie’s camera had suddenly moved, she wasn’t sure, but he was quite certain that he had seen it shift a couple of inches. Our one remaining mystery from this vigil is Helena, Jackie felt that she may have been Sam’s wife or mistress and that she had maybe died of consumption, but this didn’t seem particularly clear.
Our time was just about up here so we headed up the stairs to join the rest of the group, only to find them in the middle of a very active Ouija session. Something about some of the answers they were getting, to my mind, tied in with some of the information that we had got in the room next door, and I was sure there was a connection. Unfortunately I can’t remember all the details now, and my hands were too full of equipment to take any notes, so this is from memory. They were talking to someone called Beth, and she kept giving them a ‘z’ when they asked what her surname was – I began to wonder if this was Samuel Pepys wife... and asked if I could ask a few questions that were in my mind. After a few questions, I can’t remember exactly what now, we established that this was indeed Elizabeth Pepys, wife of Samuel Pepys. We also established that Samuel had broken a promise of some sort, and eventually were led to the fact that he had had some sort of liaison with Deborah – the other name that had come up during questioning.
We had just about run out of time and tried to close the session down, asking Beth if she would do so willingly and say goodbye to us – she was very reluctant and implied that she was enjoying chatting to us all, that she had had very few people to talk to over the centuries that she had been there. We pointed out that Sam would be staying there with her, but at first this didn’t seem to satisfy her – a little research when I got home gave me the reason why. We did, however eventually get a reluctant goodbye from her. By this time it was almost 5am and half an hour past the time we were due to finish, so we packed up as quickly as we could, said our goodbyes and headed homewards once more.
A little research when I got home showed that Samuel Pepys had indeed had an affair with one Deborah Willet, a maid. On one occasion his wife discovered them, he apparently, from what I can make out, with a hand up the maid’s skirts... so no wonder she wasn’t 100% happy that she was going to be left with just Samuel to talk to...
I spite of it’s taking us so long to get to The Anchor it was well worth it in the end. A fairly active night for us, though I think that there is more to be discovered, so maybe one day we might be able to go back there again and see what else we can discover..who knows what we might find out... I was amazed at how accurate so much of what we picked up on turned out to be - the fact that this was the alehouse where Pepys had lodged and from where he and his cronies had watched London burn, and that we not only got the name of his wife, Elizabeth, but also of the maid with whom he had had a liaison...
A great investigation location, and thanks to the staff who stayed the night with us, and it would be great if we could go back and find out some more one day...