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Manor House, East Malling – Kent

29th November 2014
 

To continue our investigations into the possibility of paranormal phenomena at this location and to move on to examine areas of the house not previously investigated.

Background:

The owners have now asked that we withhold the name of this premises in this report although any comparison with the previous reports may yield its location.

A manor house has existed at here since at least 1411. Currently a Queen Anne facade hides its Tudor origins. The house has been owned by some notable local and influential families namely the Manningham’s as well as the Twisden family one of whom was a judge who received his knighthood at the restoration of the monarchy and was on the panel of judges who oversaw the trials of those responsible for the execution of Charles I.

The house is now a respected wedding and conference venue as well as offices. The house retains many original and respectfully restored features.

To our knowledge we are the only paranormal investigation team that has been allowed access to this venue and although witness accounts had been originally passed onto us we have so far been unable to account for these, although other areas of interest have made themselves known to us.

 

 

  The Investigation
  Apparatus:
Camcorders:
Sony DCR HC-62 with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light
Sony DCR-DVD110E with night vision and Sony HVL- IRM IR light

Digital Camera:
Fuji Fine Pix S5500
Fuji Fine Pix S1600
Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ-38

Voice recorder:
Olympus VN-2100PC
HNSAT DVR958

Other:
Tripods, Torches, Video tapes (MiniDV), DVD-RW's


Investigators: Kim, Graham, Ian, Dean and Dave.

There were no other people on site and we secured all doors behind us on entry. There is no way anyone could have got in without us knowing.

Method:
Using visual and scientific methods combined with spiritual theory we were to investigate the alleged paranormal phenomena at this venue. Paddy was unable to join us on this occasion so the team decided that they would remain together as much as possible. The usual equipment as above was to be deployed at each of the locations to be covered.

Investigation:
Session one – Green Room

The Green Room is separated from the great hall by one door and this was left open in order to be able to accurately judge any noises coming from this area. This room as yielded some interesting results previously and was chosen for this reason to be the first location to cover. The team initially opt to conduct a séance in this room.

Session two – Main Entrance Hallway and into Great Hall.

On the walkaround the team considered the atmosphere to be very oppressive in the entrance hall and opted to return to this location for session two. This would then spread to the Great Hall. In these areas the team spread out to cover the largest area in each room.


Session three – Breakfast Room.

Due to events occurring in Session two the team moved from the Great Hall into the Breakfast Room, which adjoins it, and then opted to return to this room after a break. The team opt to conduct a further séance in this room.

Session Four – Rear Passage.

Another previously noteworthy area and chosen as one to finish this investigation. The team spread themselves among the available chairs and on the rear service stairs to the first floor from this passage.

Results
Session one – Green Room

Initially seated around the table in the centre of the room caused several noises to emanate from the table and as this was considered likely, if not entirely, due to the team leaning on it to reach each other for the séance they decided to move chairs to a more open space between the table and the piano and conduct it there.

During the time at the table Kim commented on a pain in her shoulders and neck. Dave also had this experience although at the time it was considered that this may be due to leaning across the table.

Graham also stated his face felt hot and at this point when reviewing the footage a female voice can be heard after Grahams voice. Further study of this clip proved interesting when it can clearly be seen that Kim does not speak nor her mouth move during this audio.

After relocating to chairs in an open area Ian then starts to complain of similar pains to those that Kim and Dave described at the table. He also describes seeing shadows move in the area of the connecting door from this room to the entrance hall.

There then follows a period of perceived inactivity when various prompts were asked although a review of the footage again reveals some audio of what sounds like voices coming from the area of the Great Hall next door. This continues for approximately two minutes and can just be made out on the footage.

There was then a sequence of noises interspersing the session with creaking floorboards and sounds of footfalls in the Great Hall. These are apparent on the footage.
During the 'calling out' we asked “Are you there?” and a tap was heard in response. Another was requested but was not forthcoming.

Dave believed he saw a light anomaly move across a picture frame behind Dean.

Kim further complained about her neck pain and then saw a mist within the room. This is also something Dave saw a little later in the same room.

Dave felt cold all of a sudden. This would spread to the team and Kim describe a breeze like movement of cold air.

There then began a conversation of the sensing of other persons around us.

There was then variously located tapping noises within the room.

We called out to anyone in the Great Hall and footsteps were heard.

Kim describes seeing a flickering light on the door jam to the Great Hall as if the fire were alight in there.

Ian then begins to exhibit some unusual behaviour by engaging in the conversation but not recalling what he said when asked about it immediately afterwards. At one point he leans into Kims face and we believe he told her to 'Shut Up'. This is not clear from the footage but seems to be everyone's recollection.

Kim calls out “Are you under the table?”

Ian then opts to leave the circle and without letting the team know his intentions crawled under the table stating it was cold under there.

There were sounds of walking on floorboards at the doors to the room and Ian suddenly yelled out that something had got hold of his leg.

There was a smell of burning for a short period.

Dean believed he saw some of the objects (our equipment) on the table move.

Ian then sees shadows moving under the door nearest his position under the table.

With no more activity for a few minutes we decided to take a break.

Session two – Rear Hallway and into Great Hall.

As the team collected their equipment for this session Ian walked towards the doorway into the Great Hall and saw a hand clasp the door jam from the hall side. Of course on checking, there was actually no one there.

Based on the initial walk around the team return to the entrance hall for session two but the atmosphere had completely lifted and nothing happened in a few minutes so, given the events of session one they chose to locate in the Great Hall and see what transpired.

A few noises were heard within the Great Hall while we were there although they were very few and far between based upon previous experiences in this location.

At one point it was observed that the main door out of the hall, the one where Ian saw the hand, appeared to open slightly and then move unaided.

Towards the end of this session, and due to noises being heard within the Drawing Room, Dave stood and made his way to the Drawing Room. Upon entering the room and standing for a moment he felt himself rocking forwards and back to the extent that he found he was right on his toes going forward and on his heels going backwards. It felt like he was being moved by something else. Given this feeling he asked anyone to join him and Graham made his way.

As Graham entered the room and reached the same point he found himself suddenly turned and instead of walking ahead into the room was turned to face the edge of the bookcase.

Dave and Graham stood for a while next to each other but facing separate directions. The rocking motion continued although each found themselves going in the same direction at the same time and speed albeit one was going forwards and the other backwards at the same time!

Kim entered the room and found the same experience of motion.

The team took a break.

Session three – Breakfast Room.

Initially there was little to report and the room seemed quieter even than normal.

After some time a number of sounds began to occur within the room but nothing distinct and only on one occasion did a sound follow a request.

With little else occurring this session concluded.

Session four – Rear Passage

Again very little was experienced here other than the odd few noises.

Conclusions
Session one – Green Room

So much happened during this session it is difficult to detail every single event and analyze it here but we shall attempt an overview.

It is interesting that at varying times Dave, Kim and Ian all experienced a similar pain in their neck / shoulders. Who knows why this may be.

The female voice that seems to be present on the footage is of great interest. Normally when this occurs we cannot account for everyone present although being a female voice the only likely person to have caused this is Kim. We were all close enough to have known it was Kim and also she can be seen clearly on the footage to be sat with her mouth closed and does not speak for the duration of this vocalization. We do not know who this was although can account that Kim was the only female present and there were only the five team members within the building for the duration of our investigation.

Similarly the slightly later voices that appear to come from the Great Hall. While it is possible that these were someone within the grounds and therefore just outside it should be born in mind that there is no outside lighting and it was dark. We would have seen torches or other lights from outside and more than likely heard the voices from more than one direction as they moved around. We did not. We cannot explain what seemed to generate these but again they appear, albeit faintly on the recordings made.

Footfalls and floorboard noises from the Great Hall are of great interest. We have encountered this before so often at this location and for this reason alone we do not enter the Great Hall at all until we intend to investigate it. This visit was no different and no one had been across the floor while we were there up until this point. How these were caused and by what remains a mystery.

We have no explanation as to the comments made by Ian that he does not recall. An easy observation would be to say that it was someone else' voice within the team but this is not so.

A further significant event is the grabbing of Ian's leg. It was not one of the team as we were all too far from him at the time and therefore, unless he caught it himself under the table and in surprise believed it to be something else, we cannot make a conclusion about what it was,

The sudden drop in temperature experienced by Kim and Dave initially is difficult to explain although the human body can react suddenly to what has been a gradual change in temperature.

The fact that no-one else saw the mist or any other light anomalies that anyone else sees at various points in this session makes these observations open to conjecture. Was this a trick of the light / imagination or an actual sighting of something that cannot be explained? We will never know. It was not recorded on footage which was recording the area and therefore the former is more likely.

Session two – Rear Hallway and into Great Hall.

Ian's sighting of a hand on the door jam is remarkable for a number of reasons, Firstly the fact that Ian saw it is of note, Ian sees very little on investigations and would not comment that he had if he was less than certain. We know no one was there for it to have been a real hand so this takes up back to either it appeared on the doorway and Ians observation was genuine in which case we cannot explain it, or wrapped in the excitement Ian believed this was what he saw. The latter is unlikely as we had had a break after the first session and we were casually collecting equipment at this time and not under any pressure or suggestion that we should be experiencing anything. We cannot explain what he saw.

The noises within the Great Hall were noticeably less than previous investigations which in itself is interesting. They were very few and far between and seemed to come from the edges of the room or walls. There were not sufficient of them to be able to investigate one location where they seemed to be occurring. We cannot suggest any cause for these but many are possible including lights, pressure on the floorboards caused by us etc.

The door appeared to open on its own and then swing. It was inspected and was freely moving on its hinges and under the right conditions may have moved on its own. The right conditions for this would have to be if there were a draught from wind outside coming in the through an open source like a window or letter box. No such draught was found and we still cannot explain the movement of this door.

The noises from the Drawing Room could be anything. They could have been caused by lighting which is prone to making noises in this room however they seemed heavier and less frequent than the lighting normally produces.

The sensations in the Drawing Room are of interest and why three out of five would experience something similar. We cannot explain this. If this had been solitary then it may have been down to a lack of control of balance and then others caused by the power of suggestion but this is negated in this case as no one explained exactly what they felt prior to the other members entering the room.

Session three – Breakfast Room.

The few sounds that did occur during this session could not be placed and therefore no explanation can be offered.

With little else occurring this session concluded.

Session four – Rear Passage

No noises could be accurately placed and therefore were no investigated and cannot be commented on further.

During our time here there was no information forthcoming to the team of a clairvoyant nature. As Ghost Connections conducts scientifically based investigations we would not publish such observations, however, previous information is held on a separate database, which may prove interesting when compared to other peoples experiences. Should you wish to discuss this information please email us.

Thanks
 
   
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