Bolbroke Castle 26.01.08

Duration: 21.00-05.30

Weather: Cold, Calm

Well it just wouldn't be a January without a visit to Bolbroke Castle now would it? We had been in touch with owner Peter Hobcroft in the run up to Christmas and he seemed more than happy to welcome us back. The team arrived between 19.30 and 20.00, after a quick head count we decided to head into the warm. Our uniforms and equipment seemed to catch the interest of the dinner party that were taking their places in the great hall ready for a cosy fire lit meal. We would be told that they would be done by at least 22.30 then it was down to us. This gave us enough time to set up and walk the premises to take EMF readings and see if Angie and Liz could sense anything untoward that may be of interest to us later on. The rooms in the castle differ in size, some of a grand scale some border on the claustrophobic. One in particular caught Angie's attention, a tiny room on the first floor, in case you may be reading this and have previously visited or are planning to visit the castle we will not be giving out the exact room number in respect to the owners and guests. This room seemed to evoke a feeling of sadness and have an uneasy atmosphere according to Angie. The EMF meter then went crazy in this room. We would return there later.

It was decided that we would have a camera set up, shooting down the main hallway on the first floor, and one in The Kings room of where we caught the most orbs we had ever recorded last time out. During the setup Clint D and Angie were out in the hall on the first floor where the camera was set up, it was then that excitement seemed to emanate from the base camp (a large room across the hall). Clint S radioed through to Clint D and Angie and said that a number of orbs moving in very odd directions were spotted on the monitor moving toward and around Angie, the atmosphere became very dense and very cold, even quite frightening. Hopefully we were in for a good night! This was all before we had properly started. We decided to start the first vigil upstairs whilst the guests downstairs finished up their feast. Clint D, Guest Doug and Garry took the small "unpleasant" room on the first floor, Liz, Tina, Lorraine and April took the Kings room and Angie, Clint S and Lorraine S took the supposedly "most haunted" room in the castle on the second floor. Clint D's group captured a lot of orbs on Garry's video camera but that was all, sadly some customers were staying in the next room so we heard them showering and talking quite loud, unfortunately this seemed quite hard for us to focus. Liz's group in the Kings room heard a series of loud clicks and shuffling coming form the en suite bathroom area, a series of cold spots were also noted. Tina even noted flashes of light coming form one particular corner. During this first vigil Clint D radioed to see if anyone wanted to come up to the "most haunted" room on the second floor, as it all seemed to be kicking off! Clint D, Doug and Garry went to join them There seemed to be a very dense feel to air and Lorraine S and Angie even Clint S seemed to be quite shaken, spirit lights were witnessed on a number of occasions, Angie seemed to think that a man was trying to come through and he didn't seem pleasant, practically everyone in the room noticed the flashes of light around the room and across the floor, Lorraine S and Clint D both noticed what seemed to be "black swirls" moving across the floor, the most intersting point was when a temperature read was taken using a laser thermometer, it went from 11 degrees and plummeted before our eyes to 3.5 degrees at this point it was Goosebumps time it was also at this stage you could see you own breath in the room, Clint S then experienced a rush of air go past his face, all six people in the room seemed to be a lot closer together, not for warmth they were genuinely scared. Angie then saw a moving figure shaped shadow manifest in the wardrobe area of the room.

It was at the end of an eventful first vigil that we were informed that a man in 17thC clothing is often seen in the room sitting in a chair causing many an uneasy night....would explain a lot I suppose. After a brief coffee break it was on with vigil two. The next group that visited the "most haunted room" seemed to come out of there unscathed after the hour and said it was real quiet. Interesting. Further noises were heard on the landing and on the stairs were Angie believed that someone may have met an unfortunate end on the stairs at some point. As we caught an interesting EVP last time out in the hall we decided to setup a recording device in the same room.

The beautiful great hall at Bolebroke

We prepped for the séance in the Kings room and got underway around 1am a little later than usual, but we were ready to roll with Angies new Ouija board. The movement seemed very sluggish at first on the board, Angie seemed to think this could have been servants or guests that have passed through in time. The name "Anne" or "Annie" was picked up by Angie, Anne Boleyn maybe? There was a possibility that Henry himself came through at one point although we were getting mixed messages. We only kept this séance to an hour and decided to go for more vigils should people want to openly explore areas. Clint D, Ben and Doug held a vigil in the dining room area, there seemed to be a lot of orbs captured on still cameras then an interesting result from two images (see below) taken by Clint D seconds apart. One seems to have a sort of red mist surrounding an area and then seconds later nothing. Bear in mind both taken seconds apart and with a flash.

A series of EMF readings were taken in the reception area and again the meter shot of the scale for no apparent reason! The night continued with a few odd noises and creepy feelings and then seemed to quieten down as we moved into the wee hours. Sure enough it was time to turn in and get a few hours before heading home. Although its a beautiful area outside and even in the castle in the morning as the sun rises, you cant fail to see how Henry fell in love with it.

Thanks again to Peter Hobcroft for allowing us the run of the place once more we are truly grateful and we wont rule out a return within the next year I'm sure. Thanks to our guests, and to our astral friends who put on the show! Until next time.

SPRG 2008