Pevensey Courthouse 07.06.08

Duration: 22.00-04.30

Members: 10

Guests: 3

Barely a year on and we found ourselves returning to the beautiful surroundings of Pevensey in East Sussex on a beautiful summers evening. Being steep in history particularly around the 1066 era, there was an air of excitement this time around as we descending upon this sleepy little village. This time we would be joined on the evening by Brian and Jane, who are members of the brilliant organisation, The UK BPA (British Paranormal Association ). Brian is the founder and has made a large contribution to the paranormal society, please see their webpage to find out more. We arrived around 19.30 to meet with Brian and Jane and have a brief chat about the venue and the paranormal world in general. Once the team were rounded up and everyone was fed and watered, Brian and Jane were kind enough to take us on a ghost walk around Pevensey. We made our way through the beautiful arch in the roman wall which surrounds Pevensey castle. The wall was built in 293 AD which is phenomenal in itself. The Castle looked wonderful as the sun set over the castle grounds. Brian happily shared stories with the group and gave some interesting information relating to the surrounding buildings, and houses. We then stopped by a Norman church built around 1089AD. There were known to be plague pits around the back of the church, which caused Angie to feel very unwell indeed, as she could sense the suffering and then began to get graphic images. Angie had to leave the graveyard and sadly wasn't too well. After a slow stroll back she had calmed down and seemed a little more comfortable. Whatever vision she had seen clearly upset her. Oddly on the walk back, Clint D, Ben and April saw tow figures in the doorway of the church behind the courthouse. They seemed to be in identical black suits and not show much emotion. Not sure what these guys were up to, Clint D, Ben and April walked on a little faster, it was getting dark at this point and hard to make out much detail, when Clint D looked behind him the two figures were now side by side at the church gate about 20 meters away, the guys raced upstairs to tell everyone, Jane raced outside with a torch and no-one was to be seen, very strange! After a quick toilet stop it was time to get back to the courthouse and commence the investigation.

Being such a small location there wasn't a lot of ground to cover, or room to set up any cameras so like last time it would be best to have our handheld cameras on us. Clint D, Ben, April, Craig and Angie took the main courtroom. Liz, Clint S, Emma, Andy & Adele took the cells and courtyard downstairs. Brian accompanied that group whilst Jane took the first group upstairs. Brian had mentioned a few things to look out for, lets see what we could pick up. April and Jane kept picking up shuffling noises emanating form the robeing chamber, a tiny room just off the main courthouse. There were a few odd knocks, but some could be discounted as normal building noises. The group downstairs seemed to get a series of noises, and what was described as two deep sighs heard between the two cells, which really put the wind up one or two people. Brian commented on the fact that this would have been the Jailer who still haunts the courthouse.

After an hour it was time to switch places, each group told the other what to look out for, and we were underway. Within 5-10 minutes a loud banging noise was heard from upstairs, Jane told us that this was the guys upstairs doing table tipping. It seemed to be getting louder. Clint D, April, Ben and Angie asked to be locked in one of the tiny claustrophobic cells, of which we also found out used to serve as a mortuary too. Jane warned us that the cell door is self locking, but reassured us she had the key to get us out in no time at all. Just as the door was closed a massive noise was heard in the courtyard area, that made everyone jump! It could only be described as a bang or clatter noise really close by. Almost straight after, the double sigh that the previous group had experienced was also heard. Angie began to feel quite uncomfortable in the cell, saying she felt her throat was very tight, and kept getting an image of a man sitting on the floor in bad health eating from a wooden bowl. April thought she could see a bloodstain manifesting on the floor, and kept feeling as if the floor was tilting her into the corner of the room, but she couldn't understand why. Throughout the bangs seemed to be getting louder from upstairs, it seemed the guys were getting some good results. Meanwhile downstairs Clint D picked up on a feeling of a man who had been bludgeoned to death and thrown in the corner of the room, and the name Henry. Ben said that he could see cracks of bright light in the cell, at this point the group began to feel a tad uneasy. Angie could feel that the jailor was present and he wasn't very nice. She then began to sense a smell of burning rope. At this point the guys in the cell had had enough and Angie decided she wanted out, however, Jane could not unlock the cell door, the guys were trapped. Jane tried and tried but the door wouldn't unlock, eventually after Ben and Clint D raised their voices, the door flung open. Tense stuff. Jane apologised, and tested the door after, no problems it was fine. Did the jailor come back and think he had new inmates? It certainly was an unpleasant experience of which Jane continuously apologised.

Certainly pretty active stuff, it was decided to have a well deserved long break to re-charge ready for the séance. A different approach was taken to the Séance. Brian conducted it an suggested we stand in a circle rather than sit and see what happens. This was done in the main courtroom. A continuous hit of noises seemed to emanate from the room, a chilling breeze around the circle, outside and inside. April commented that she could see black swirls or shadows above Clint D and Brian, there would be reason for this later. Angie could sense a gathering of spirit energy manifesting itself in the circle and then it faded. After almost an hour of the same phenomena repeating itself, it was starting to get light, time to call it.

An eventful evening was bought to a close with a great feeling in the camp, Brian began to tell us some history about the place. The bludgeoned man image that Clint D picked up on was verified by Brian who told us that an unlucky inmate was once beaten to death and tossed into the cell. He confirmed that the Jailor lived in the existing house behind the courthouse, and was not fond on women. He then told us that the beams above our heads in the courthouse were used for instant hanging after a verdict was reached in a trial, children as young as 6 were hanged from these beams in the room. Eerily the evidence of this is seen on the worn beams today in the courthouse. Ironically directly where Clint D and Brian were standing during the séance when April saw the black swirly shadows above their heads. so a very eventful and enjoyable evening, hopefully a return will be very soon, and hopefully we shall be working with Brian and Jane again, of whom we felt like they had always been members!

A huge thank you to Brian and Jane for making us feel so welcome and for being so great to work with, we are so grateful and really appreciate it, we really do! Brian does a lot of work in the paranormal field and is working towards making it the most enjoyable subject acting in the interest of fairness. Check out the webpage! Finally thank you to our Jailor friend for giving us the jitters and whoever else decided to float by. Until next time.

SPRG 2008