A fire damaged the top floor of the hotel on July 6th 2001. Now, in its final stages before being opened to the public once again the LPS were called in to do an all night investigation of the reported hauntings.

We arrived around 11pm and had a look round the building to get a general idea of its plan. We then divided into small groups. Team 1: Andy F, Bill, Darren, Nicky. Team 2: Steph, Henry, Alison, Peter. Team 3: Andy E, Lyn, and Sharon. The hotel manager and some staff members also joined us.

The teams spent 1 hour in each room/area of the hotel before moving on to the next.

Team 1 investigated: Edith Bray’s Room, The Gatehouse Chamber, The Red Chamber and The Cellar. They caught two EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) during the night. One in Edith Bray’s Room which sounds like a demonic laugh and the other in The New York Chamber, where they left the Dictaphone recording, a woman can be heard shouting ‘Get Out! Get Out!’ These recordings are given at the bottom of the page. Darren and Nicky also saw a shadow pass the door in The Gatehouse Chamber. The group tried to recreate it without success. A ghostly shadow maybe?

Team 2 investigated: The Red Chamber, The Cellar, The Bar, Room 13 and The Gatehouse Chamber. Orbs and flashing lights were caught on camcorder in The Red Chamber, The Cellar and Room 13. A total of 11 light anomalies. Orbs were also caught on digi-cams with 2 blue orbs being captured. They also caught an EVP in The Red Chamber which sounds like a man saying ‘I’m not there’. The team also heard whistling in The Gatehouse Chamber, some of which was caught on Dictaphone. Murmuring, rustling and the sound of a pebble/small stone moving were also heard in The Cellar.

Team 3 investigated: The Gatehouse Chamber, The Cellar and The Bar. The most active place for the team was in The Bar. When they were conducting a séance, they asked for a sign and they all heard a clicking noise. Sharon caught 3 orbs on camcorder in the spot where cold spots had been felt. Two of the cold spots were stationary and one was moving. Team members also felt uneasy in the small kitchen area at the rear of the bar. Andy and staff member John felt they were being watched from that area.

Trigger objects were placed around the hotel and left. These included wooden crosses and jugs/glasses on a layer of talcum powder. Interestingly enough, both these trigger objects were found to have moved when they were checked on later. Nobody was supposed to be in the areas at the time they were moved. Did the hand of spirit move them?