Pevensey Courthouse 22.09.07

Duration: 22.00 - 05.00

Weather: Mild and misty

Members 9

The opportunity for this establishment came up rather quickly, so without haste the SPRG team headed off on a gorgeous autumnal evening for Pevensey and the towns courthouse. A charming little ancient town which must have its fair share of ghosts one would imagine. The Courthouse itself, now a museum and once the town hall, is probably the smallest location we have investigated thus far. The steps up the the building consist of the court room set out as it once would have been, the Robing room which was just adjacent to the main room, then outside there is a gate which leads to the cells and exercise yard. We were met by curator Jeff Dent who seemed only to happy to show us around and give us a brief insight into the building itself and the cells below, click here for video

Jeff soon went on his way and left us to our own devices, a few members found the local fish and chip shop and made use! After that it was time to set up, a few odd feelings had already been noted in one of the cells and a particularly dense atmosphere had been noted by Angie and Ben in the Robing room. Clint S and Garry began to do some EMF checks, which provided interesting results. In the Robing room there were a number of artefacts some dating back hundreds of years. One in particular was that of some giant scales that were used at markets by local farmers and traders many years ago. Ben noticed that the scales seemed to be moving, sometimes moving in circles or up and down, they would speed up then slow down. Clint S took some EMF readings, first of all around the usual spots, power cables etc.... but when the meter was put near the scales it went crazy, Thus indicating a very strong electro magnetic force present. See for yourselves, click here. (note you may have to adjust you picture settings footage is quite dim).

Other EMF tests around the fireplace in the same room provided us with erratic readings from the device. We then decided to check the cells before we began. We decided that we would just go with our freehand night vision cameras and still cameras on this night as we were severely limited for power sockets. As we approached the first cell the meter read a five (halfway point), then dropped to four, then quickly shot up to 6. Just inside the door was a piece of the original cell door from the 17th century in rather good condition. After Clint S and Garry had assessed where the power cables may be, we were astonished to see the the meter was again off the scale when put near the old door panel, perhaps the meter was picking up the residual energy from these artefacts. Click here for the other video.

Scott told us that whilst we were downstairs he had set up a motion sensor and alarm near the scales, within a minute or so and the room empty, the sensor went off, someone had taken an interest in us it seemed. After the brief excitement, we were ready to go. First up Clint D, Clint S and Garry took the cells, Angie, Scott and Adel took the main courtroom, and April, Ben and Liz took the Robing room. As the cell area was partially outdoors and on a busy road, it seemed quite difficult to pick anything up, Clint began to feel somewhat nauseated and short of breath in cell 2 and seemed to think that the name "Eric" had some significance. The group in the main room didn't seem to pick up on anything of any significance in the first hour, however the group in the Robing room were treated to camera orbs, and some movement with some nasty feelings too.

A shot of the "cosy" main courtroom.

After tea's and snacks we set up for the séance, this wasn't going to be easy or comfortable, the middle of the courthouse was decided to be the best location for this. After relaxing and opening up we decided to try our glass and alphabet technique, which recently has been quite successful. Those members who's knees had got the better of them after an hour or so decided to sit back and observe take notes or film. Clint D, Scott and Ben decided to take up glass duties, nothing seemed to happen at first, but eventually as questions were being asked, we had slow movement. Our first visitor was a lady called "Florence", she kindly spelled this out for us, and then the following answers to our questions, her age, 68 and that she was executed in 1578, for high treason! At this point April and Garry were closest to the Robing room where a very loud shuffling noise occurred followed what sound like a loud footstep, this certainly made April and Garry jump, and a few members too. Could have this been "Florence", or another visitor?

Our next visitor to the table didn't give us a name, but gave us enough information to know the following: He was sentenced to death in 1679 aged 69 but when asked if he received a fair trial he replied with yes. It all seemed to go quite after that.....or so we thought. April again jumped and clung to Garry as a very loud "wood on wood" noise seemed to emanate from the Robing room again. We investigated after the séance and came to the conclusion that the most recent noise could have been made by a washing dolly, after we played with it ourselves, the noise was spot on. After a break some members turned in for the night due to early starts, Clint D and Ben held a small vigil in the Robing room, but all seemed quite at the time. During the vigil Clint D asked Liz if she would turn off the portable electric heater as it was quite noisy she did so, and the rest of the team headed off to bed. Clint D and Ben then decided that the Robing room was quiet and that they would re-visit the cells one last time. April awoke at this point and wished to accompany them, as she stood up and moved off the bench the heater clicked and came on! This made one or two people jump, and wake up! The ONLY way that this can be turned on is if the heater's dial is turned a good inch or so, something was playing.

The Cells were quiet, it was now time to get a couple of hours at least, as Clint D settled down by the desk in the main room, as he did a pencil decided it would fly off and land close by, again someone or something seemed to be at play here, although it was somewhat oddly comforting rather than scary. Not the biggest of places for us, but still interesting to say the least.

Thanks to Jeff Dent for making us so welcome and giving us the run of the place, you were very trusting. Also thank you to "Florence" and our other "playful" friends who decided to join us at Pevensey Courthouse....until next time SPRG.

SPRG 2007