Bewsey Old Hall ghost hunt

The ghost hunting team
JG - James Griffiths, spiritualist medium
CC - Chris Cook, digital media manager
IR - Ian Ruffles, web technician
DT - Darren Tudor, photographer
JOHN - John Goerner, Bewsey Old Hall Conservation Project
BG - Barbara Goerner, Bewsey Old Hall Conservation Project
TT - Tina Newton, Warrington Paranormal Investigations
TY - Tracey Yarnold, Warrington Paranormal Investigations
PC - Paul Currie, observer
ES - Emma Stewart, web editor

The history of Bewsey Old Hall
Bewsey Old Hall was originally built by William Fitz Almeric le Boteler and was home to the Lords of Warrington from the 13th Century for many generations.

A monastic grange existed in the site prior to the Hall being built. The largely Jacobean building is currently of three storey construction, with distinctive chimneys and stone mullion windows.

This is likely to be the work of Sir Thomas Ireland who was knighted at Bewsey in 1617 by King James 1st.

Only a small portion of the original building remains today, but since the late 1970s much historical, architectural and archeological investigation has taken place to reveal the importance of the site.

In the 1980s, during arcaeological excavations, a number of artefacts were found in the Hall. These included a medieval leather shoe, pottery, coins and a seal die carrying the impression of a rabbit which dates back to the 14th Century.

A statue of Lady Isabella le Boteler, the wife of the 12th Baron, can be found in the yew maze and a mosaic effigy of her son, Sir John, also lies nearby.

Lady Isabella was abducted from the Hall and forced to marry William Pulle in Wales in 1437. She was eventually rescued by Sir Thomas Stanley.

THE GHOST HUNT
7:30pm - The ground floor
JG When I was outside meditating there was someone breathing on me and the image os a decomposed body came to me. It was a very old body. Down in this room, it's full of drafts.

PC Yeah, I can feel jets of air whoosh past me.

JG I'm getting a pain in my stomach, feels like there's something in it. Now, I'm linking into a man. He's wearing a black coat, a long button-through coat, like Dick Turpin's coat. I'm assuming he's someonewell to do. Now I'm seeing a cross. I feel there's a religious connection here. I feel a priest came here to give holy sacrament. There's a lady kneeling down on a cushion receiving something.

PC Didn't some old houses used to have little chapels built inside or next to them?

JOHN There used to be a chapel just outside as it was felt Warrington was too far to travel to for church. It's now a newt pond.

JG I feel there was one religion being practised outside in the community but a separate one inside the house.

JOHN I should imagine the household would have been Catholic as they were supporters of James I.

8:00pm - The second floor - The King's Room
JG It's warm up here, isn't it? I get the feeling there's a lot of excitement in here. It feels that when the building doesn't get used, it's depressed. Did King James have a problem with gout, does anyone know? Back in his time this room used to smell of, there's no other way to put it, of wee. Think it was a common smell in those days.

There's lots of cold spots in the room, but one specific warm patch. I feel this bedroom would have been much smaller in the old days. And I keep hearing bells all the time. This building has a significant link to bells.

It was later discovered that Bewsey New Hall, just north of the Old Hall, does have bells.

8:45pm
Tina and Tracey have been using dowsing rods around the room and Tracey finds that one spot, almost in the centre of the room, provokes a big reaction from the rods. Photos of the room later revealed orbs - believed to be the first manifestation of spirits.

TY I get the impression there's a young girl here with us.

JG Someone touched my bald head just then! (Tracey is stood behind James near the centre of the room and her dowsing rods are moving around a lot.)

JG I feel a male person's here, he was a nice guy but had a temper that he could flick on and anyone in the vicinity would get it.

SECURITY GUARD, JOCK King James had a nasty temper. He didn't like war or spending money.

JG By the large window I can see a chunky wooden table, like furniture found in a priory. And in the corner I feel there would have been a carpet or tapestry on the wall. I feel there's been a lot of children in this room over the years. And there used to be a dark wooden floor, but it had a lot of scratches and dents in it.

James moves back to the spot where Tracey got a good reaction from the dowsing rods.

JG There's an energy coming up from the floor, hitting the underside of my chin. It's coming from the floor upwards.

9:00pm - Top of the stairs
DT This building doesn't feel too imposing or uncomfortable. It's only here where I can feel something. Every time I get to the top of these stairs and move slightly into the room I feel dizzy and breathless, as if I've been drained of energy. My legs feel heavy.

IR I feel the same when I get so far into the room.

JG Feels to me like someone who used to come here had asthma.

PC I feel out of breath in this room too. And all the way through the house I've felt a tickly feeling on my face, like feathers. And there's the sensation of pins and needles in my lips.

8:15pm - The cellar
JG There are orbs right in front of me. There's someone here and they're walking closer to me. I keep getting different things given to me and I'm arguing with them. I feel there's someone walking towards me, from the back of the cellar. It's aman and he's hunched over, as if he'd been carrying something heavy.

A noise like a pebble being thrown is heard in the back right-hand corner of the cellar.

JG Twice now there's been a woman behind me. She's wearing a ring, a gold ring with a cameo on it. Now I can see barrels and something hanging from the ceiling, like meat hanging up. I keep seeing something moving in the back of the cellar, near the far flight of stairs. Oh, there was a flash of red light in the little window by those stairs. Red means its the physical embodiment of a spirit. I get the impression there's definitely someone down here with us.

During the night Tracey and Tina left trigger objects in the cellar. They put a wooden cross and three coins on blank paper and drew around them. At the end of the night they checked the objects and it appeared that the cross had very slightly moved down the paper, moving a little out of its outline.

After the ghost hunt Darren discovered this possible orb on a picture he'd taken in the cellar. This can be seen in the picture at the bottom of the page.

9:45pm - The flat
JG Somebody died in this room didn't they? And a man's been seen in here.

JOHN The reason I brought you in here is because one of the women taking part in a re-enactment saw a woman in here. She was passing the doorway and saw a woman in the corner of the room. But when she got downstairs the person she thought it was, was sat down there.

JG I don't feel there's anything negative in here. I keep seeing shadows and there's something tugging on my trousers.

PC I can feel my ear tingling.

JG Do you feel any aches or pains? It aches if I slouch. I feel like I have to sit up straight, like I'm wearing a corset. Do you keep collection boxes in here?

JOHN We did have one in here but it might not be here now.

JG Have you got an aladdin-style lamp in here too?

JOHN Yes, it would ususally be kept in here with the costumes.

JG I get the feeling that its unusual for people in here to be speaking to the spirits. They're checking me out. Thomas is a name which comes to me. And are there any connections with this place to the gold coach that the Queen uses?

Sir Thomas Ireland lived at Bewsey in the 1600s.

JG I'm getting an impression of the White Lady in here (the White Lady is said to be the ghost of Lady Isabella le Botelor who used to live at the hall). Her back seems very curved and she wasn't a small woman, she was fairly big. There's an agitation about her as well.

PC I just saw a white light above John's head.

JG I just saw one in the corner too.