Paranormal Discovery

Paranormal activity has been reported by both guests and staff at the inn and appears to be ongoing.  The activity centres around the guest rooms upstairs and part of the function room which is part of the original building.  The staff do not feel at all threatened by this and are just curious as to what is happening and why.  The inn still retains a homely and welcoming atmosphere.

The activity reported includes:

• Cold spots and feelings as if walking through cobwebs in the function room
• The sensation of someone rushing past in the back cellar
• The figure of a woman seen from outside standing at the window of room 6
• The window in room 6 opening and the bedclothes being disturbed as if somebody has sat on the end of the bed plus other objects being moved around.  This happens frequently and has been reported by domestic staff
• The sound of a man coughing/choking in the bar but nobody there to account for it
• A guest reported speaking to a little girl on the stairs one morning, only to find out later that no children had been staying at or visiting the inn
• Several reports from guests of the door handle moving during the night as if somebody was trying to get into the room - but later informed that no other guests were staying at the inn
• Reports of a baby crying all night and disturbing guests.  One family who were staying in room 2 thought that the baby was in room 3.  However, again no baby or other children were residing at the inn.  This has been reported on more than one occassion.
• The lights under the bar in the function room suddenly turning on and off in response to a comment from staff.  The lights had never worked for several years and an electrician had been unable to fix them.  

Of interest to the team is the fact that, Tori, our team sensitive had felt the presence of  both a female and a male spirit in the inn during an earlier social visit to St Michael's.  She had heard a woman crying and had also seen a male spirit in the bar area.  A sketch of the male spirit was immediately drawn by Tori . To date no-one has come forward to say that they recognise this man and so his identity remains a mystery.

Thursday, 26th April 2007

Investigators in attendance:  Katrina, Natalie, Eric, Mike, Tori, Laura, Bozzie.

Outside conditions

Weather: mild, dry

Moon: waxing gibbous

Equipment used

Camcorders: nightvision Sony Hi8 analogue, Sony DCR-HC35E digital

Digital cameras: Sony cybershot 3.2mp, Lumicron LDC4013 4.1mp, Epson Photopc 2100Z

Digital voice recorder: Olympus VN96OPC set at high quality recording

Thermometers: Thermomark in/out digital thermometer, min/max mercury industrial thermometer

EMF meters : Electrosensor with detection range 50-60Hz & display range of 1.334-30 milliGauss, Cellsensor meter with detection range of 50-60 Hz and display range of 0-50 milliGaus

Prior to carrying out vigils in each of the areas, the team took baseline recordings of the rooms and set up equipment.  In room 2 trigger objects of a brooch and keys were left as well as a camcorder filming the doorway.  A minimum/maximum thermometer was also left in this room to detect any significant changes in temperature.  In room 6 a doll and a baby's hat were placed on the middle bed as trigger objects with a camcorder covering them and the window area.  A digital voice recorder was also left running in this room.  All the investigators then moved on to the function room for the first vigil of the night.

Function room

Room temperature: 16.4-17.5C

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3	4

1. Newer area of the function suite showing the numerous windows and reflections from the camera flash 2. Opposite end of the extension where clicking sounds are heard by the team 3. The doors through to the cellar and kitchen 4. Mike and Bozzie in front of the bar and entrance doorway in the original part of the function suite

This part of the Inn was felt worthy of investigation due to the reports by some staff of feelings of unease in the bar area.  The function room consists of the original building where the bar is situated plus a glass-roofed extension which houses the dancefloor and dining tables.  One camcorder was set up to film the bar and adjacent entrance to the room from the hallway.  Another camcorder was set up on the actual bar and covering the opposite corner near the doorway to the men's toilets.  A further camcorder was operated by Mike who picked up several orbs of light on film in the newer part of the function room. 

Some notable occurences from this vigil:

* Katrina, Natalie and Tori all felt uncomfortable pressure in their heads while sitting near the bar - this lessened when they moved onto the dancefloor.  Tori felt that there was high energy in these areas which was not so evident in the newer addition to the function room.

* Various noises were heard from outside including cars from the busy main road, trains going past a short distance from the inn and a dog barking for much of the night.  It was also noted that car headlights were responsible for a lot of the lights seen (see photo 1). 

* A shadow was seen moving behind the bottom of the ladies' toilet door (the light was still on in the toilet area)  by Mike (nobody was in there) and a similar shadow was seen moving across the bottom of the entrance doorway by Tori (see photo 4).  Again, nobody was outside - this was evident because the top half of the doors contained glass panels. 

* A loud creak was heard by most of the investigators coming from the vicinity of the bar - a few seconds later Natalie thought she saw a moving mist in front of the doors leading to the kitchen (see photo 3). 

* Several clicking sounds were heard coming from the large windows at the front of the extension (see photo 2).

* Tori witnessed a figure moving behind the double  doors through to the kitchen/cellars - it was only just visible in the panes of glass on the upper half of the door so was quite short in stature (more of a child's height).  It moved directly from left to right.  Immediate investigation of the doorway and nearby cellar and kitchen showed that nobody was there (see photo 3).   In fact the door to the right behind these double doors was actually locked.  Another door immediately in front was so noisy when opened that nobody could have entered the area without the team being aware.

*  All the female members of the group heard a child's voice, but it was unclear what it said and where it originated from.  This was quite loud and so distinct that the team thought this had to be someone outside and decided to listen to the audio recording later to see what had been recorded.

* A brief session of glass divination seemed to allow contact with the spirit of a lady who had worked at the inn and who was a friend of someone called 'Mary'.  Interestingly, nothing happened until we had decided to pack up downstairs for the night when the glass suddenly decided to move, just as Natalie was about to put the tablecloth back onto the table (only 2 people had their fingers on the glass at this time).

At this point our time in the function room came to an end as the manager had to lock this part of the inn up for the night.

Room 2

Investigators present: Laura, Tori, Natalie, Bozzie

Temperature: 22C

Several light anomalies were picked up on both camcorders being used, but otherwise nothing else was caught on film.  A moaning sound was heard by all present possibly coming from room 3, followed by sounds of banging doors.  This was attributed to the doors of the inn being locked up downstairs.  Tori experienced a feeling of her hair being touched, dizziness and also of some presence trying to push itself into her.  Tori then attempted automatic writing (a process of relaxing the body and clearing the mind in order to see if the hand 'writes' anything).  After a few moments, Tori reported that her hand was moving (this was done in total darkness) and upon examination of the paper what appears to be a name was written in old fashioned script.

Room 6

First session

Investigators present: Katrina, Eric, Mike

Temperature: 20.3C

Very little happened during this time - Mike saw several orbs above the bed in front of the window. Eric heard a knock on the wall and several bangs were heard but this was attributed to staff locking up downstairs.

The window of room 6 from outside

Second session

Investigators present: Katrina, Natalie, Eric, Tori

Temperature: 20C

All of those present heard a whine or voice - it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where this came from but the team had been informed that there was only one guest staying at the inn that night, across the landing in room 8.

The team then decided to try glass divination again, with significant results:

*  the first 'spirit' to communicate seemed to be the same lady who had done so before downstairs in the function room.  From the responses to the questions, it appeared that she had worked at the inn and had a friend who also worked there called 'Mary'.  This spirit also indicated that she herself had died during the Great War.

*  a second 'spirit' then seemed to take over the glass, and much to Katrina and Natalie's surprise, claimed to be a dead relative.  Although this interaction was quite lengthy, the details obviously cannot be documented in this report.

*  finally, a third 'spirit' came through - this time it was supposedly 'Mary Gibbard'.  She said she had lived and worked at the inn during the late 19th century and that she had liked staying there.  She also said that it was her who had been heard crying by visitors and staff and who had been seen looking out of the room's window and also admitted to sitting on the bed and opening the window to get attention.  She had apparently commited suicide by self-poisoning and had died in front of the same window.  She had done this because her very young baby girl had died a short time before.  She had not been able to leave the inn since her death because she was still searching for her husband - after her death she said he had remarried.  She was in her early 20s when she died.

During the glass divination shadows were seen by Eric behind Tori beside the bed, Tori felt her thumb being touched and Katrina felt a light stroke on the underside of her arm.  Tori then saw a human arm next to her left side and later a figure of a lady in the corner of the room by the window in exactly the same area as Mike had observed orb activity earlier in the evening.  This figure was opaque and no detail could be made out.  While the team were tidying up the room to leave, a noise like a whine or child was heard from the wall beside the television by Katrina and Eric (the television had been switched off at the wall and the room next door was vacant).

This session brought the team to the end of a very eventful night! 

Trigger Objects: none of the trigger objects had moved while they were locked in rooms 2 and 6.

Audio Recording: no strange, unexplainable noises were recorded during the investigation.  More strange is the fact that the microphone is very sensitive and was able to pick up people speaking and a dog barking outside but not the voice that the team had clearly heard in the function room which several of us had thought to be a child.  It was so clearly heard that we thought it must be someone in the car park only to realise that the inn was closed, no cars were parked there and that there were no houses in the immediate vicinity to account for us hearing a child.  It was late at night, 11.20pm, so no children would probably be out and about in the area.  The inn is in a small village with only a few neighbouring cottages.

Temperature: no significant drops/rises in temperature were noted.

EMF Readings: no unexplained readings were taken.

Automatic Writing: Most agree that the name written is Mary Gibbard.  Research shows that Gibbard is not a very common name in the area especially before the 20th century but there are records of Gibbards living in Fife during the 1800s.  A Mary Gibbard is also on record and died in 1900.  Jibbard is also a possibility and this turns out to be a French surname.

Glass Divination: Attempts have been made to find out who Mary was.  However, Mary was an extremely common name and without further details it is difficult to know who she was.  There are records of 2 Marys having been resident at the inn during the time period mentioned.  No evidence to date has been found regarding a suicide at the inn following the death of a baby.  Statutory registration of births, marriages and deaths did not commence until the 1st January 1855 and so it is possible theoretically for a birth/death to go undocumented before this time.  Both the Parish Records and Register of Births and Deaths have not provided the answer as to who this Mary was but the search continues.

Photos:

This photo initially caused some excitement.  The white mist appears exactly where Natalie had seen a mist with the naked eye.  However, this appears on some photos and not others and is probably due to a long exposure time and perhaps some movement of the camera during this time.

Several photos of orbs were taken but this is the most fascinating.  It is a clip from picture 1 in the function room.  Could this be an orb which is reflected in the window? 

The inn has a very pleasant atmosphere but does appear to be 'home' to at least 2 benign spirits: Mary who resides upstairs, an unnamed gentleman downstairs and perhaps a child.

 Thorough research has not yet helped the team to identify Mary who appears to be in a state of anguish, having not left the inn after her death and who is desperately seeking her husband.

We are hopeful of being allowed to return to the inn at a later date to carry out further investigation and to perhaps communicate again with Mary.