Southern Paranormal - Investigations
The Viaduct Tavern Investigation
13th January 2007, 11pm-6am
Attending Investigators :Kerry Price, Mandy Bradley , Val Butler , Ken Taylor, Lee Barrows, Jim Lewis, Selina Dean, Alan Hall, Louise Williams, Chris Green, Laura Brown, Leeanne Westwood, Maureen Westwood, Rab Gardner (D&H), Amanda Horley (D&H)
Guests :Mona Banerjee, Seeda (manager) +2 Team 1:, Kerry Price (team leader), Mandy Bradley, Laura Brown, Selina Dean, Mona Banerjee
Team 1:
Kerry Price (team leader)
Mandy Bradley
Selina Dean
Laura Brown
Mona Banerjee (guest)
Team 2:
Alan Hall (team leader)
Jim Lewis
Lee Barrows
Maureen Westwood
Amanda Horley
Ken Taylor
Team 3:
Val Butler
Leeanne Westwood
Rab Gardner
Chris Green
Louise Williams
Team 1:
Vigil 1: Cells
Vigil 2: 3rd Floor
Vigil 3: 2nd Floor
Vigil 4: 1st Floor
Vigil 5: Pub
Team 2:
Vigil 1: 3rd Floor
Vigil 2: 2nd Floor
Vigil 3: Cells
Vigil 4: Pub
Vigil 5: 1st Floor
Team 3:
Vigil 1: 1st Floor
Vigil 2: Pub
Vigil 3: 3rd Floor
Vigil 4: Cells
Vigil 5: 2nd Floor
Locked off and experiments
1st Floor staff room- trigger object
Cells experiment & trigger objects
Table tipping
Ouija
Séance
Introduction
The Viaduct Tavern was built in 1868-69 as a gin palace and was named after the Holborn viaduct built at the same time.
The tavern is opposite the Old Bailey, which was once Newgate Prison. It is situated on the corner of Newgate Street and Giltspur Street both very important thoroughfares in London's history.
The interior of the tavern has been preserved and is London's only surviving example of a gin palace.
There are moulded relief masks towards the ceiling which depict the hanging judges of Newgate and 3 mirrors of maidens, which represent banking, agriculture and the arts. The ceiling is made of beaten copper.
The Tavern was built on the site of the Giltspur Street Compter, which was a debtor's prison run by the local sheriffs and also incorporated a house of correction, which was almost an overflow to Newgate prison.
The song Oranges and Lemons depicts the debtor's prison…. 'When will you pay me', say the bells of Old Bailey (St Sepulchre's Church opposite the tavern).
The remaining five cells are still intact in the cellar.
As for the compter itself. Where best to quote from than the following extracts of writings contemporary with the period.
"The Giltspur-Street Compter is under the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen. Prisoners of every denomination and character are crowded together in the wards, yards, and sleeping cells of this prison without any possibility of classification, and, as we find it stated in the last Report of the Inspectors of Prisons, ' The Giltspur-Street Compter continues a wretched prison, with no efficient means of affording a salutary discipline. The prisoners are left together in large numbers in idleness and unrestrained communication during the whole 24 hours. 'The number of prisoners confined there in the course of the year 1837 was 552 males and 130 females; the greatest number at any one time was 124 males and 48 females. Running past the east end of St. Sepulchre's, from Newgate into West Smithfield, is Giltspur Street, anciently called Knightriders Street. This interesting thoroughfare derives its name from the knights with their gilt spurs having been accustomed to ride this way to the jousts and tournaments which in days of old were held in Smithfield.
In this street were Giltspur Street Compter, a debtors' prison and house of correction appertaining to the sheriffs of London and Middlesex. It stood over against St. Sepulchre's Church, and was removed hither from the east side of Wood Street, Cheapside, in 1791. At the time of its removal it was used as a place of imprisonment for debtors, but the yearly increasing demands upon the contracted space caused that department to be given up, and City debtors were sent to Whitecross Street. The architect was Dance, to whom we are also indebted for the grim pile of Newgate. The Compter was a dirty and appropriately convict looking edifice. It was pulled down in 1855. Mr. Hepworth Dixon gave an interesting account of this City House of Correction, not long before its demolition, in his "London Prisons" (1850). "Entering," he says, "at the door facing St. Sepulchre's, the visitor suddenly finds himself in a low dark passage, leading into the offices of the gaol, and branching off into other passages, darker, closer, more replete with noxious smells, than even those of Newgate. This is the fitting prelude to what follows. The prison, it must be noticed, is divided into two principal divisions, the House of Correction and the Compter. The front in Giltspur Street, and the side nearest to Newgate Street, is called the Compter. In its wards are placed detenues of various kinds-remands, committals from the police-courts, and generally persons waiting for trial, and consequently still unconvicted. The other department, the House of Correction, occupies the back portion of the premises, abutting on Christ's Hospital. Curious it is to consider how thin a wall divides these widely-separate worlds! And sorrowful it is to think what a difference of destiny awaits the children-destiny inexorable, though often unearned in either case-who, on the one side of it or the other, receive an eleemosynary education! The collegian and the criminal! Who shall say how much mere accident- circumstances over which the child has little power -determines to a life of usefulness or mischief? From the yards of Giltspur Street prison almost the only objects visible, outside of the gaol itself, are the towers of Christ's Hospital; the only sounds audible, the shouts of the scholars at their play. The balls of the hospital boys often fall within the yards of the prison. Whether these sights and sounds ever cause the criminal to pause and reflect upon the courses of his life, we will not say, but the stranger visiting the place will be very apt to think for him. …" "
From: 'St. Sepulchre's and its neighbourhood', Old and New London: Volume 2 (1878), pp. 477-91.
Ghosts
There have been reported sightings of ghosts at this site by ghost hunters and visitors alike.
A ghost of a woman prostitute allegedly stalks the pub in the area of the toilets of which there have been sightings and many reports by paranormal investigative group however the names given have varied. The spirit of one of the jailers is also said to frequent the cells area.
There are also reports of poltergeist activity at this site.
In 1996 the manager of the time was tidying the cellar one Saturday morning when the door slammed shut and the lights went out. Try as he might he could not get the door open. Luckily his wife heard him shouting and came down and opened the door very easily!
In 1999 two electricians working in the upper rooms had a bit of a fright in store.
One man felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to find no-one there and his work mate working on the other side of the room. He went back to his work when it happened again. Thinking his work mate was joking with him he confronted him however he denied it. Just then as both of them watched, the carpet which was rolled up leaning against the wall was lifted in the air and dropped to the floor!
Cells Experiment
We were informed on our initial visit of the tavern that each cell was meant to house up to 20 people. The cells are very small and I could not imagine how that many people could fit in there.
The experiment would be to put the bulk of the investigators and guests (17 people) into 1 of the cells. During their stay they would not be allowed to speak.
The next step would be (after 15mins) to take out smaller groups and deposit them in the remainder of the cells. Once again silence would be observed and calling out would be done by Mona, Mandy and Me.
At 12 o'clock a passage was read out (see below) and a bell rung to recreate the execution bell which was rung from St Sepulchre's church, through a tunnel to Newgate prison. The tunnel ran parallel to the cells on the west wall. This ceremony took place on the eve of every execution in Newgate from 1605 when £50 was donated by Robert Dowe for the cause.
All you that in the condemned cell do lie,
Prepare you, for tomorrow you shall die.
Watch all and pray the hour is drawing near
That you before the almighty must appear;
Examine well yourselves, in time repent
That you may not to eternal flames be sent
And when St Sepulchre's bell in the morning tolls,
The Lord have mercy on your souls.
PAST TWELVE O'CLOCK
After the passage was read out the investigators were asked to still be quiet to see what could be picked up. When the experiment was over it was noticed that Alan had a red mark on his back consistent with that obtained by being hit with a stick or similar. Lee had finger nail marks to one of his hands.
| 11:30am- | All investigators and guests are put into cell 4 (excluding Kerry, Mandy and Mona). |
| 11:42am- | 1st group taken out and put into cell 1 |
| 11:44pm- | 2nd group taken out and put into cell 2 |
| 11:45pm- | 3rd group taken out and put into cell 3 and remainder to stay in cell 4 |
| 11:48pm- | Mandy calls out |
| 11:51pm- | Mandy calls out while rattling a set of gaolers keys to try
and provoke the spirit of the gaoler which is said to haunt
the building. Kerry calls out for spirit to affect investigators now that they have been split into smaller groups. |
| 12:00am- | Bell and passage experiment conducted. |
| 12:05am- | Investigators led from cells and experiment ends. |
The Investigation
Team1:
Vigil 1: Cells
00:35am- Orb on camcorder by crates next to cell 4.
- Team gather in cell 4, all take turns in calling out.
- No results
00:42am- All hear a click come from the cell bars which are propped against the wall outside the cell.
- Séance starts.
- No results
00:57am- Kerry feels sick in area of cell 3 (barrel lift).
- Kerry calls out.
- Kerry feels someone touch her arm at the elbow.
- Mandy feels drained.
01:00am- Kerry and Mandy feel someone in left hand corner of cell 3
01:01am- All hear a thud
01:04am- All hear a thud again
- Selina sees a misty shape in the corner by cell 4.
01:05am- Mandy calls out
- Mandy calls out the name that she has been given ‘is there A Toby/Tobias here?’
01:06am- Light seen by Kerry across floor. Could be reflections of car lights coming through the ventilation shafts?
- Orb on camcorder from the right to the left of screen.
- Kerry calls out
-Orb on camcorder in same position as last.
01:07am- Kerry continues to call out.
- ‘do something else’
- Camcorder footage flicks once.
01:08am- Kerry feels apprehensive.
01:09am- Mona leaves group to go to cell 3, however she returns straight away as she heard a noise in there with her.
01:10am- Laura calls out
01:11am- Kerry moves position to opposite cell 3.
- Kerry calls out.
01:12am- 2 orbs on camcorder from the top of screen towards
Kerry.
- Kerry’s camcorder makes whirring noise and vibrates (no cause found).
- multiple orbs on camcorder coming from cell 3.
01:13am- Kerry calls out.
- Selina is given the name Arnold Brown and calls out to him.
01:15am- Mandy and Selina suddenly feel a lot colder.
- 2 orbs on camcorder on front of Mandy towards Selina.
- Orb on camcorder from floor in front of Laura towards
Selina.
- Mandy feels cold down her left hand side.
- Mandy calls out.
01:16am- Temperature of Mandy’s left 24c, right side 17.4c to her
right. However it is Mandy’s left side feels a lot colder
than her right.
01:17am- Kerry gets the impression of someone holding her arm at
the elbow as if being guided.
01:19am- As all pack up equipment to leave a woman’s voice is
heard by all shouting, ‘please help me’. The voice was
loud and sounded like it was in the building. The voice
was an emotionless monotone. Mandy thought that maybe
it was from outside however I had been standing opposite
cell 3’s air vents and did not hear anyone walk past or see
any shadows (could see up to pavement level through the
vents).
When questioned all agreed what they had heard,
however Kerry also heard after the 1st sentence, ’please
somebody help me’.
When the remaining teams were questioned when we had
finished our vigil, no other team heard what we had
heard. If the noise had come from outside then all would
have heard it as the sound from the street carried into all
parts of the building.
01:22am- All move to Cell 2
- All notice smell which is a cross between damp, moth balls
and sweaty bodies.
- Kerry feels something behind her.
- All study barred structure in corner of cell which looks
like slatted beds in storeys with a hole on a pulley which
would be used to access these beds.
1:23am- Kerry has a pain in her back.
1:26am- All hear a tap which seems to emanate from the cell next
door.
- All once again aware of the smell in the cell.
- Mona feels cosy and warm and very tired.
- Selina feels cold.
- Selina and Kerry feel the room to be busy
- Kerry’s face itches.
1:27am- No one feels scared or apprehensive. Laura says that the
cell has feeling of sadness attached to it.
Vigil 2: Top Floor
Store Room
Ouija Experiment
2:00am
Ouija was attempted in this
room however not much happened. There was some small
movement but nothing conclusive and some orbs captured on digital camera.
Wallpaper Room
2:30am- Move to wallpaper room
2:33am- All settle into position
- Orbs on camcorder
2:36am- 2 Orbs on camcorder
- Kerry calls out
- Orb on camcorder
- Kerry calls out
- Orb on camcorder
2:40am- Kerry continues to call out
2:41am- More orb activity all moving towards fire place (probably dust).
2:43am- Mandy calls out
3:00am -
No more activity reported
Vigil 3: Pub & Cell
5
3:25am- Group set up table tipping experiment in cell 5
- Kerry’s camcorder switches itself off and the torch dims.
3:27am- Kerry switches the camcorder back and torch goes back to normal.
3:29am- Kerry calls out trying to goad spirit.
- Torch dims again
- Kerry continues to call out and tries to antagonise spirit as
group have had little activity.
- Mandy feels cold on the back of her legs.
3:35am- Table tipping experiment abandoned due to no activity.
3:37am- All move to bar area, various things done to contact spirit.
But no results.
3:44am- All move to staircase which leads to the toilets.
- Orb on camcorder heading downstairs against the wall.
- Kerry calls out
3:45am- Orb on camcorder moving upstairs
- Flashing orb above Laura’s head
- All take turns in calling out.
3:46am- Mandy calls out for something to happen
3:47am- Set of barrier alarms go off for about 30 seconds then are switched off by another team.
- Barrier alarms go off again, assume that it is set in cellar as sounds quite close.
3:48am- Selina feels a cold blast coming downstairs from the bar area.
- Kerry cannot focus camcorder when pointed towards Selina
3:49am- Selina calls out
3:50am- All moves to gents toilets
3:52am- All take turns in calling out
- Hand drier switches on although Mandy is near it, she hasn’t moved.
- Orb from direction of drier.
3:54am- Selina feels a cold blast of air
- Kerry hears a bang.
- Mandy and Selina feel cold.
- All feel cold breeze coming from corner near urinals (temp 7.6c)
- 2 orbs on camcorder from corner near urinals, close to floor, fast and head towards group.
3:55am-
All hear a bang outside the door. All go to check it is investigators in bar area.
Vigil 4: Staff Room (opium Den)1st floor
4:28am- Glass divination starts
- All take turns in calling out.
- No movement of glass
4:32am- Orb on camcorder over Mona and Kerry’s arms.
4:36am- Glass divination abandoned.
- Mandy uses rods
- Mandy asks ‘ if there is any spirit here, please move the rods’
- Right rod swings out and inwards towards Mandy
4:37am- Mandy continues to use rods while Mona calls out
- ‘Is there a male spirit here?
- Left rod swings out and inwards towards Mandy.
- Mona uses rods, no response.
4:38am- Orb on camcorder, middle of screen to bottom right.
4:40am- Glass divination started again.
4:41am- Mandy and Mona notice breeze coming from the area of the camcorder towards table.
4:43am- Kerry feels a prod to her left hand side.
- Mandy hears a noise towards the camcorder which sounds like a small scrape.
4:44am- Kerry continues to call out.
- All hear a noise in direction of camcorder which Mandy confirms is the same sound as she heard earlier.
(after viewing the footage closely I found that the noise was
due to the lens cap of the camcorder knocking onto the
table due to vibrations from traffic).
Team 3:
Vigil 1:1st Floor
Staff Room:
12:30am - Temp 13.8c, Opium pipe trigger object set up on stool.
- Val calls out, Rab feels someone in the doorway by the 2nd
room,- Temp drops by 2 degrees.
- Glass divination and questioning begin.
Vigil 2:Pub and Cell 5
Pub
Woman called Vivian came through, she was between 25-30 and was strangled in the building by a man named John who was 25. She hasn’t been able to move on as she is scared and John is with her. She wants help to move on but cannot be done within the group however she agreed to stay with group during this investigation.
Also picked up by Val and old lady and the date 1908.
2:00am- Slight EMF reading on the seats to the right of entrance.
TEMP 20 right of bar, 26c left side of bar.18c outside wall.
Right mirror 20.9c, middle mirror 23.8c, left mirror 21.5c
No EMF ,Temp 11.6 floor 11.7 walls
Cell 5 Toilets and Cell:
Leeanne and Val have nuts thrown at them.
Rab feels very cold.
Séance conducted outside the toilet area, Val is given the name Reg and Rab is given the name Angela.
Small click heard.
Val calls out.
Chris and Rab enter cell, no response.
Val and Rab enter cell and Val is given the name Jim and feels as though she is tied at the wrists and elbows and is bent over.
Rab feels someone behind him and is again given the name of Angela.
Val feels a breeze or someone blow on her forehead.
Val and Rab feel that there is more to this cell than meets the eye!
Vigil 3: 3rd & 4th Floor
Temp 11.9 all over, NO EMF
Room 3:Room with fireplace
Rab feels someone behind him and something touches Val’s hair. All feel that this room was used as a brothel.
Temp 9.2 floor, 9.1 walls
All had a feeling about this room.
Rab feels he needs to be here, maybe a link to Vivian’s death up here?
Val catches orb on camera and becomes very cold and describes it as horrid.
Temp drops to 4.4c
Rab and Val don’t like corner to right of fireplace.
All agree that a murder took place in this room.
Vigil 4:Cells
EMF 2mg right side of cell door with bars.
EMF readings fluctuating.
Lou doesn’t like it in the other cells
Leeanne feels fine, Val calls out no response
Nothing heard all move to 2nd floor
Séance held no results
Reports
Kerry Price
I have walked past this pub many times and had never entered it until I went, with some other members, to conduct a preliminary visit of the site.
On entering I was amazed by the decoration, atmosphere and hurly burly of the place.
Val, Ken, Lee and I walked around the building with Saeeda the manager of the pub. We all picked up on places that we thought would make interesting vigil areas. Val felt dizzy in the cell area by the barrel lift and we all agreed that the cells were more than a little creepy. We also all felt that there was definitely sprit activity on the upper levels and one room (the room with the 60’s wallpaper in) felt very odd indeed and we thought that maybe a death had taken place in the area.
On the night of the investigation we were all met by the Saeeda a member of staff Jovita and her friend Peter. With the place brightly lit it was hard to imagine what this place would feel like in the dark.
After the cells experiment which is explained in the notes section we started our 1st vigil in the cells. To be honest not much activity took place in this section however, Selina did pick up on the name of Arnold Brown and Mandy on the name Toby or Tobias. I have researched these names. There are 5 men with the name Arnold brown associated with the compter and newgate prison (in varying ways) however without more information I was unable to look any further. There are also many name matches for a Toby or Tobias however once again without more information I was unable to confirm any details.
The strangest thing to happen in the cells was typically off camera.
While we were getting ready to leave the cells we all heard a woman shouting ‘please help me’, the voice was monotone and without feeling. It sounded like Val calling out information she had been given. When I checked with her it was not her. The voice could have come from outside, however it was so loud that it would have had to be someone directly outside the area we were in. As I was looking in the direction of the air vents that go up to street level and I had not heard or seen anything before or after the noise, I dismissed that it came from outside. I would also like to add at this point that after the initial ‘please help me’, I also heard ‘someone please help me’ in the same voice no-one else heard this and so I put it down to something that was either given to me or I misinterpreted what I was hearing.
For our next vigil we attempted to conduct a Ouija board. This unfortunately did prove fruitless however many orbs were caught in this room. Whatever, if anything was there it did not seem forthcoming.
The next room we had a vigil in was a room I will call the wallpaper room (as previously described). I found this room very interesting, it definitely felt as though someone was around us and many orbs were captured in this room especially around the fire place and directional ( towards and away from people). We all felt (like we did on the preliminary visit) that someone had died on this floor. However, once again with much calling out and different tactics applied, no more activity was noted.
We next went to the pub and cell 5 in which we also covered the toilet area.
Unfortunately nothing was picked up or any activity recorded in the pub area.
While sitting on the stairs that lead down to the toilets, we encountered some orb activity and Selina also felt a breeze which emanated from the pub area. The small cell which is reached from a concealed opening in the toilet area, proved much more interesting. Although we had very little activity in this area it was interesting to note that the camcorder and the torch we were using both had a power drain at the same time which coincided with me calling out to try and provoke the spirit into activity. The torch indicated the drain by switching its self off when I switched it on, coinciding with the torch fading out of brightness; these stopped when I asked for something else to happen in the area.
In the toilets the only activity we reported was in the men’s toilets where we had some orb activity and also the hand drier switched on. It is also interesting to note that this also happened to one of the other teams. I felt uncomfortable in this area, much more than I had any other place on the night.
Our last vigil was in the staff room on the 1st floor. This area used to be an opium den so I thought it might be interesting to attempt glass divination in this area. The use of the chairs did not go amiss either; we were very tired by this point and were all glad of a sit down.
Once again we did not pick up any activity at all bar the slight activity of the dowsing rods. Some noises were caught on camcorder, heard by Mandy however they proved to be the vibration of cars going past making the table move and as a result moving the camcorder too.
I must admit I was very disappointed with this site. My team had hardly any activity happen but the names proved interesting providing a link but not enough of one to pin point any further information.
The other teams had much better luck however they too did not on the whole have much activity happen that wasn’t given through the rods.
The name Vivian came through as the prostitute that was killed in this pub. It is somewhat of a local legend (which is usually built on some fact), that a prostitute was killed in this pub however to this date there is no proof. Many names have been given as a possibility through previous investigations at the site but, Vivian has not been one of them. It is interesting to note that the investigators never want to know any information about a site before hand.
After checking for possible leads on who this woman might be I came across a few interesting facts about possible victims of the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. There was a woman that was killed at this time who has never been identified. She was dismissed with many other women as victims of Jack the Ripper as they either didn’t fit the profile of the other murders or they were just coincidences. The woman’s headless torso was eventually found in Rainham where it had floated with the tide since it had been put in the Thames not far north from the site investigated.
Many murders went unreported or the victims just not found. Finding a body floating in the Thames or dead in the sprawling nearby streets were just logged as unknown, making the task of researching such reports very difficult.
I have also looked for the name Thomas O’Reilly or O’Riley. I can find no links with this name connected to a fire at this site. There are a few occurrences of this name connected to the site and surrounding area but for different reasons than those given. As with many personal experiences unless these are written down it is impossible to gain any more information on who this person was and why their name has come forward.
Someone also mentioned on the night that the name Arthur Lowe had come forward. It is interesting to note that this actor had performed at the Holborn Theatre nearby.
I hope through further investigation at this site that a link will come forward which will solve some of the mysteries of the Viaduct Tavern.
All said I was glad that we investigated the tavern. It was very atmospheric and some information was picked up on that was very interesting indeed.
Thanks to Saeeda for letting us investigate this historic site.
Lee Barrows
Overview
If I were to pick two words to summarize the Viaduct Tavern investigation, it would be 'rods' and 'Thomas'. These are odd words you might think, but all will be explained.
The Viaduct Tavern is in a great location, right in the middle of the city and looks like a great pub in general and the building itself is impressive, five floors and a basement, lots of ground for us to cover and lots of place for us to have hopefully picked up something paranormal.
It was the first investigation that I got to experiment with using Diving rods, very interesting pieces of kit, and although there is a factor of being able to subconsciously move them, in practice I found it difficult to consciously move these ones in the desired manner, so I am not sure how it would be possible to do so subconsciously. Whilst practising with the rods in the main bar area before starting the investigation, I seemed to contact someone called “Thomas O'Reilly”. Where the names came from I do not know, they just seemed to pop into mind, something I do not think has happened to me before.
The Cells (The experiment)
We started the investigation with an experiment run by Kerry in the basement in which we tried to recreate the conditions of being locked in the cells that were once overfilled with debtors and others awaiting punishment at the near by court rooms. It was a an interesting experiment, during which we think we sensed a few cold spots moving about the cell we were in and I'm thought I could see movement against the wall, although in a very dark room, it is hard to tell. More interestingly (to me) was the fact that during this experiment, Alan got scratched down his back by something and it was not until afterwards that I discovered that I had what looked like a thumbnail mark digging into my wrist!
Vigil one (3rd & 4th floors)
3rd floor (old kitchen)
There appeared to be a lot of activity in this room, Amanda was getting light anomalies on her camera and Jim was having a lot of communication using the rods. He picked up on a man called Thomas, who was a married man that used to visit the working girls above the old Gin palace. He apparently used to be a fraudster and pretended to be a doctor. After a while of asking questions we got the information that apparently this Thomas had tried to help one of the girls by performing an abortion, but it had gone wrong and she had died.
During this communication I felt something touch the back of my neck, making me jump. As soon as this happened my video camera lost its night vision lamp and the ability to focus. As this was happening Jim seemed to be picking up something about bad eyesight/vision. As soon as he asked that question, the camera seemed to go back to normal working order!
4th floor (disused flat)
This place immediately struck me as being cold and hollow. Probably due to the fact that it was at the very top of the building and was in a terrible state of repair. We had the sense that there had been a fire in there at some point. Moving to a small side room, Jim sensed that it was a childs room. Again, using the rods we were able to pick up on an apparent spirit, this time called Tommy, an eight year old boy who had apparently died, with his mother, in a fire in the 1970s. It turns out that this Tommy was apparently Thomas O'Reilly, whom I had contacted earlier downstairs.
3rd floor (side room next to Kitchen)
We tried a Ouija board experiment in this room, but to no real conclusion. We had some movement towards the letter T at one point, prompting us to think of Thomas again. However Alan suggested the name Teresa, which for some unknown reason gave me goose bumps.
Vigil Two (2nd floor)
To me, the rooms on the second floor seemed the most serene upon entering them.
We sat down for a glass divination experiment but did not get any activity at all, we then tried a Ouija board, but still nothing. We split into smaller groups, I took the rods and proceeded to position myself in the small kitchen area, where I almost imminently seemed to make contact with a young girl of 18, who used to be a prostitute but had apparently killed herself when she found out she was pregnant. After getting some confusing/conflicting answers out of the rods I asked how many spirits were present and found out there were three, all of them girls. Interestingly they only wanted to communicate with Ken and me. We started trying to find their names out. Alan suggested Teresa and we got a non-committal response, prompting me to ask whether that was her working name rather than her real name. We got the affirmative! Other names than Ken and I got here were Anne-Marie and Florence. Whether these would be real names or aliases, we are left to wonder.
Vigil Three (Cells/Cellar)
This seemed to start quite quietly, Amanda was not having much luck with using the rods, but they seemed to come alive again when passed to me! We picked up on someone in the first cell we were in, called, yes, you guessed it, Thomas O'Reilly – apparently the father to Tommy who we had met earlier upstairs. Thomas apparently worked there in the 1970s, seeming to partially back up the communication with Tommy earlier. During this 'conversation' there was a loud and quite distinct rumbling/thudding noise heard by all.
We moved to another cell and apparently still had Thomas with us. Although soon we picked up on another spirit called Stephen, who only seemed to like responding to questions asked by Amanda. During the conversation with Stephen, the rods started spinning quite uncontrollably when we asked this Stephen to touch one of us.
Moving the last cell, we apparently still had Stephen with us, who might have been a jailer there at some point. We certainly seemed to contact an apparent jailer whilst down there and he admitted to being the one who had scratched Alan earlier and that he enjoyed hurting people!
Vigil Four (Small cellar/toilet area)
Not much was picked up on in this area. The small cellar, although cramped and unpleasant didn't seem to offer very much up to us. We felt a few cold breezes, but nothing substantial.
The toilet area itself, again, seemed very quiet. Apart from when first calling out for a response, someone leaned on the hand dryer, setting it off and almost giving me a heart attack!
Amanda Horley
The first vigil involved the whole group and we split up amongst the cells in the cellar. In the cell that I was in there was a distinct cold area that moved around us, but I did not pick up on anything further.
Once we had split into smaller groups our first vigil was on the upper two floors and using the rods we encountered a male spirit who was a patron of the gin palace. Although we were able to obtain quite a bit of information from him, he would not answer any questions when Maureen was holding the rods, and would only speak through one of the men. This set a tone for the night, as on all our vigils we were unable to make contact when one of the women was using the rods. After talking to this male spirit for a time we moved to the upper floor and encountered a child. A boy who had died with his mother in a fire in the early 1970s.
We then moved on to the second floor where we tried a group glass divination. There was no response from the glass, so we tried with just the men on the glass. I felt that there was a woman present, but she didn’t seem to want to talk. We then tried with the women using the glass but couldn’t make contact. There was the smell of a musty perfume around. During this Jim and Ken were making contact with three female spirits in the next room, but the spirits were not happy having women present. We went further away from that end of the second floor and Ken, Lee, Alan and Jim not only got responses from the female spirits, but had some active table tipping in the room we had been in. This ceased however when we went back to see what was happening.
Next we covered the cells, and again experienced a cold area that was moving around us. We got some knocks in response to calling out, and as we left one of the smells I again smelt the musty perfume smell that I had picked up on the 2nd floor.
Our final vigil was in the main bar and toilet area. Other than Maureen scaring all of us by stepping into the beam of the hand-drier and setting it off, there was very little happening in either the toilets or main bar.
Whilst this was a fascinating building to investigate, it was very frustrating that none of the spirits, male or female wanted to communicate with the women present in our group. For me it was a quiet night with little evidence of the spirits that should be in residence.
Following the investigation, as we had some very definite information from the boy on the top floor, I went into the records office in Winchester to try and track him down. I was unable to locate death records in 1970/1/2 for either a Tommy O’Reilly or Tommy Riley (or other similar spellings).
Rab Gardner
Vigil 1
1st Floor: This area consisted of a large crew room and one store room, of which the store room was inaccessible. We gravitated to the table and chairs and settled in whilst Leeanne filmed. We sat quietly for a while, and then Val called out. With no response we decided to begin glass divination. Initial response was nil then we began combinations of people touching the glass. The glass finally moved in response to all girls touching the glass. We then established a yes/no protocol and began asking questions. The presence was female and seemed reluctant to answer any questions about her life. Val asked for a name and I was given the Vivien, which was confirmed by a yes glass response.
Louise and I felt a cold spot next to us and Vivien confirmed it was her by moving the glass to a point between us. There then followed a series of questions that built up picture of a prostitute who sat in the bar in a particular seat waiting for her regular customers. One of these regulars, name of John, had murdered Vivien by strangulation. She was reluctant to give any more information after that and frequently had to be coaxed back into conversation. We asked if John was there and she said yes moving the glass towards a spot between Val and me to indicate where he was standing.
As we progressed further, we were saddened to hear that John torments her still and that she was standing between Louise and me for protection. Upset at this, we impolitely told John what we thought of him and where to stick himself. Naturally he didn’t leave and we were at a loss what to do. When we asked Vivien if a Medium would be a good idea to move John on the glass shot across the table towards Val – a very definite yes. We told her we would try our best and offered our protection to her whilst we were in the building.
Vigil 2
Bar & Toilets: The bar was a fascinating area to sit in and absorb the features and fixings. However, we all felt that it was a very quiet area. No EMF spikes, light anomalies or temp variances spotted.
1st visit to this area had our efforts concentrated on the ladies toilet and the cubby hole at the bottom of the stairs. Peter and I went into the cubby hole taking note of the spider’s webs hanging down and electrical equipment for a mobile phone mast on the roof. The RF cable ran up the wall of the room generating EMF clutter out to a range of 1m.
The temperature in the room began to drop and a temp difference was recorded on my RH side wherever I moved in the room. Then the feeling of the room began to change to an uncomfortable one. At that point Leeanne gave a shout because she had been hit by 2 peanuts. The only person with that type of nut was me and I had left them on the bar. As far as I could see that was a warning, so Peter and I bundled out of the cubby hole.
We tried the bar again but nothing seemed to be happening so we attempted glass divination downstairs by the toilet. This time we picked up on a girl and I got the name Angela. Can’t remember much after that because I felt I was rocking backwards and forwards and couldn’t work out why.
A little bit later I felt we should try the cubby hole again and this time Chris came with me. Didn’t pick up on anything initially but a cold spot began to develop. I then persuaded Val to come in (outstanding effort Val) and Chris left to make room. Val called out and the recorded temp dropped by 4Oc in an area between us. Val called again and I felt my ear touched followed by Val feeling someone blowing on her face. At that point we had to finish as we had run out of time.
Vigil 3
3rd & 4th Floors: We started on the 4th floor and checked the four rooms. Of immediate interest was the room with a brass ceiling lamp in it. We all had the feeling of being watched in this room and I felt that the RH side of the fireplace was a significant area. We managed to get photos of orbs in this area as well. Both Val & Louise had a feeling of death here and that it was Vivien who had been murdered. Just as we were about to leave, I felt someone rush past behind me towards Val. At the same time Val felt someone touch her.
Moving on, we assembled on the 3rd floor in the kitchen. We called out but received no response. I got the feeling of being watched again but it felt ‘male’ and he was at the doorway. Val also had the same feeling but when I stepped into the hallway he had gone. Val sensed he had moved off up the stairs
Vigil 4
Cells: We moved between the 5 cells – no EMF spikes, light anomalies or temp changes were detected. A very quite area.
2nd Floor: We decided not to waste time in the cells so we moved to this floor to see what we could find. The major difference of this floor to the others was that it had been renovated and decorated. It’s funny how the mind works: the other floors looked creepy so you expect to find something, whereas this floor looked normal and felt more relaxed. I am very interested to learn what the other teams picked up on this floor, because we detected nothing. Glass divination didn’t produce a result either.
Selina Dean
I had a funny feeling all day about this location and when I arrived my first impression of it was, what a fantastic place!
We started the night by trying to recreate the atmosphere of the cramped conditions in the cells.
We all stood in silence in one of the cells while Kerry and Mandy acted the part of the jailers by jangling keys and making us leave the cells one by one. It was a very sad atmosphere and at one point something or someone scratched Alan’s back.
It was my turn to leave and I was put into another cell along with Saeeda, Val, Maureen and Ken. Both Ken and I got an image of a man or men cowering in the corner.
Once the experiment was over we had a quick break and set off in our teams to start the investigations.
Kerry, Mandy, Laura, Mona and I started our investigation in the cells. After much calling out we heard a woman scream; ‘Please help me’. We don not know where the sound came from.
During our time in the cells, Mandy picked up on the name Toby or Tobias and I picked up on the name Arnold Brown.
After another break we moved on to the top two floors. Although we did a lot of calling out and attempted a ouija board we were very unsuccessful in communicating with anyone. We did however catch a few orbs on camera.
Next we moved into the downstairs area and toilets, followed by the 1st floor. Calling out and table tipping proved unsuccessful.
This was a very interesting place to hold an investigation but I feel it is either not very haunted or whoever or whatever was there was just unwilling to talk to us!
Leeanne Westwood
The Viaduct Tavern is an extraordinary building. How many other pubs can claim to be highly decorative inside, with many original period features, but with a number of cells in the basement that are thought to be connected with the old Newgate prison and four floors of derelict rooms above. How many other pubs can claim to have similar features, and I wonder just how many of Viaduct Tavern’s regulars know how special a building they are standing in?
We started off the night with an experiment in cells. All members of the investigation team (except Kerry, Mandy and Mona) were placed in one of the cells together and were prohibited from speaking or moving. Outside of the cell Kerry shook a set of jailer’s keys to try and encourage the spirit of a past jailer. However, nothing was experienced by anyone. We were then split into three groups and shut in some of the other cells. We still were not allowed to speak or move. Kerry, Mona and Mandy banged doors, shook keys and recited the last rights of a condemned man to try and recreate the atmosphere of the past in the hopes of encouraging some spirit activity in the cells. However, nobody in my cell seemed to sense anything. The noise from the streets above was very loud in the cells and was very distracting. It wasn’t until the experiment was over and everyone had left the cells that Alan (who had been in the same cell as me) said the he had felt something sharp on he back, and upon closer investigation he had a long red horizontal scratch across his lower back. Very strange!
For the vigils I was in a group led by Val, along with Rab, Louise, Chris, and two members of staff – Jovita and Peter. Our first vigil took place in the staff room on the first floor. We had very positive results in this room with glass divination. We seemed to contact the spirit of a young woman called Vivian. Through a series of questions we were able to gather that she was aged between 23 and 30, she was a prostitute who originally came from abroad, and had been strangled in the building around 1908 by a man named John. Jovita was able to confirm that an event similar to this did take place. It transpired that even in death the spirit of John (who was also present) wouldn’t leave Vivian alone. She was very scared of him and was hiding between Rab and Louise, who both felt her presence beside them. Throughout the session the glass moved with strong, determined movements and most usually in the direction of where Vivian was thought to be standing.
Our second vigil took place in the bar, toilets and small second basement. Very little activity was experienced here. Glass divination in the bar and at the bottom of the stairs leading to the toilets both failed to provide any response. Nor was anything experienced in the basement. However, when Rab, Peter and Jovita were in the basement, and Chris and Louise had remained in the bar, Val and I were standing outside the small hatch leading to the basement, and the bottom of the stairs when it appeared as if three peanuts had been thrown at us down the stairs, one of which had hit my leg. We weren’t able to explain where these had come from.
We were covering the 3rd and 4th floors for our third vigil. Nothing was experienced on the 3rd floor, however, there was a room on the 4th floor that both Val and Rab were particularly drawn too, especially one corner of the room. They both felt that this had been the room of Vivian, who we had contacted during our first vigil. Val caught an orb on her still camera in the corner. Everyone felt that all of the rooms above the pub would have been rented out to prostitutes in the past. Whilst discussing the quality of life that these women would have had, and the type of impact that a murder like Vivian’s would have had on local society, Rab felt something brush past his shoulder at the same time as Val (who was standing in front of him) felt something brush the top of her head, as if something had rushed past them across the room from the corner that had previously unsettled everyone. As we were making our way downstairs from the top floor, I was bring up the rear and heard a large bang from the rooms that we had just vacated. What this was, I don’t know.
Our final vigil took place in the cells, but there was no energy down there at all. None of the group could pick up on anything, and nothing was captured on either the still cameras or the camcorder. We decided to move up to the second floor, but again, nothing was felt here. Glass divination proved fruitless.
A fantastic location provided a very interesting night! Thank you to the staff for allowing us to investigate.
Val Butler
My first impression of the Viaduct Tavern was how beautiful the interior decoration was with the copper ceiling and 3 large pictures that enhanced the inside of the bar. While waiting for all baseline tests to be completed I sat at a table to the left of the entrance door. Almost immediately I had the feeling of an old lady sitting in the corner leather chair, she was small scruffy, stockings wrinkled on her legs old black boots on, a shawl around her shoulders and a straw tattered hat on. Her grin revealed yellow broken teeth. The name of Bet came to me and she was well known as ‘our Bet’. My team was 3 with Rab, Chris, Louise, Leanne and me. With everyone gathered Kerry arranged for all of us to go down to the cellar and the cells. I didn’t like this area. We were placed into the cells as if we were prisoners and Kerry calling out to the jail keeper that he had prisoners. She had jail keys and a bell sounding like in the times gone by. I never felt threatened or frightened and didn’t experience anything here.
1st vigil. Staff room 1st floor.
My group held a séance in the staff room with a glass placed in the middle of the table. I started to call out but nothing was happening. Rab had the name of Vivien so called out again and very slowly the glass moved. We all asked Vivien questions. She was a very frightened young girl who needed help she was murdered by a man named John who again Rab picked up on. On questioning her she would hide between Rab and Louise every time, she felt protected there. She wanted John to leave her in peace not to keep hounding her as he was doing. We all wanted to help this poor soul. Rab spoke out to John in a harsh voice and begged him to leave this place to leave Vivien alone to go and never return, but I don’t think he had any intention of doing this. We didn’t find anything else on this floor.
2nd vigil Bar and downstairs toilets.
The bar area itself was very quiet the only place I felt uncomfortable was near the booth I didn’t like it at all but cannot explain why. Rab and I both felt as though Vivien was following us. We all went downstairs to the toilet area and at the foot of the stairs held a séance with no consequences. Rab, Louise and Chris entered the cubby whole cupboard while Leanne and I looked on. Suddenly Leeanne and I heard something drop onto the floor Leeanne saying it had hit her leg. On investigation we found 2 peanuts by our feet. Chris and Louise came out from the small room and with a big breath full of fear I went in along side of Rab. He felt something like a cobweb brush his hair. I had pains in my tummy, and then Rab said something was behind him. I felt as though I had to bend over into a crouched position but with hands in front of me felt as though my wrists were tied. Then I was aware of how cold one place by the wall on the left hand side was. The wall that was behind Rab's back. Nothing else was picked up here.
3rd vigil 3rd and 4th floor.
The 4th floor was I felt more active. The room with brown wallpaper and small fireplace was very uncomfortable for me. The right hand corner of the fireplace was a particular feature. It was in this room I believe that Vivien was murdered we all felt that we were being watched in here and Louise standing almost in front of the fire said that this is where it happened. We all felt that this floor is where most of the men had taken the young girls to for their pleasures I could almost hear the groans of the sex mad males. This floor to me was most unpleasant and upsetting.
3rd floor and kitchen
The kitchen I felt was horrible and I felt that someone had died in there we were not alone in there but what was lurking made it known that they were always in the shadows watching us. the rest of the 3rd floor I felt quite comfortable. As I made my way up and down the staircase touching the wooden hand rail I felt as though there had been blood down it.
4th vigil cells and cellar
This is the place that I feared the most. I was quite surprised though as I felt calm and not at all afraid. I didn’t pick up on anything at all although we each called out nothing came through. The only thing I felt was sadness but knowing these were cells it was normal to feel this.
2nd floor. We held a séance in the room with the television on the wall but nothing occurred. this floor held nothing for me. we made our way back to the bar.
My conclusion. I was hoping that I could have picked up a lot more in the viaduct tavern than what I did. I feel that there is a lot more to this place that needs investigating whatever is there was holding back from us. So shall we return we shall wait and see.
Many thanks to Seeda for allowing us into her lovely Gin Palace she had worked long hours through the previous week and managed to help us through a long night. Well Done Seeda. Thank you Kerry, you came up trumps again.
Alan Hall
Whilst doing the group vigil in the end cell, I suddenly felt a sharp pain across my back. When asked to leave I did so promptly. Upon examination of my back a little later a large red mark was across my back. Photographs were taken.
Upstairs on the top floor we all heard someone outside in the corridor. I caught a few orbs on the camera when Ken was talking. On the second floor I distinctly saw and heard someone run past the doorway. No-one else saw it but they were surprised by my jumping reaction.
I was constantly getting the name Thomas and Theresa and that Theresa was a prostitute and that she killed herself.
Other than this it was a fairly quiet night and very little else happened to me. I did feel very apprehensive before hand, but as the night went on I knew they didn’t want to communicate in a more valid way.
It was a great experience and the marks on my back were definitely unexplainable.