Thurham Castle - Thurnham, Kent

Present: Kim, Chloe, Dean, Paddy, Ian, Sarah, Rick, Andy & Dave.

Ian’s personal account.

I had only ever been to Thurnham once before and that was in the day when the core team went there on a reckie. We were planning a larger investigation than normal inviting other Ghost Connections members, so this was going to be a part investigation/part social night, either way it was going to be interesting and fun.

During the day the place had a quiet peaceful atmosphere, but there was also an odd apprehension about the area, may be it was too quiet? Being up a long narrow winding lane there was not a lot of passing traffic or general noise, the place was very still. I later found that this was even more so during the night. To our knowledge the place had not been open to the public for more than a few years and no one had investigated it before. Needless to say I was looking forward to this one.

Equipment:

Sony Handycam DCR - H19 + Sony HVL - IRM infrared emitter

Olympus Camdia C-160 digital camera

Binatone MR200 radios X 2

Other team members have choosen to omit their accounts and equipment lists in this instance

Investigation

It was going to be very cold and we wanted to be organised so Paddy and I got there an hour or two earlier (7.00pm) and set up “camp”. This consisted of tying up a tarpaulin and setting out chairs and even bbq’s to be lit for warmth and may be the occasional beef burger? Then we waited for the others to arrive (9.00pm), guarding camp in the dark! That was a good taste of the cold, dark atmosphere of the place, especially when Paddy went back to the car and I was alone for a few minutes.

The others arrived just after 9.00pm, Paddy and I skulked in the shadows watching to make sure it was them, happy that it was we guided them to camp where we had a coffee, warm up and a discussion about the aim of the night ahead.

We started with a walk about, taking pictures and getting a feel for the place, this a surprisingly large site and you have to watch your step night and day, we had marked out some very nasty drops to avoid accidents.

Dave, who is very psychically aware, was picking up on two or three presences that seemed to aware of us and were watching with interest. This helped the anticipation we all had.

We broke for coffee and a warm as by this time of the night it was below freezing, so we sparked up the bbq’s for extra warmth and ended up cooking a few cheeseburgers and sausages. This was a welcome change on an overnight investigation but this was a social meet as well, well that’s what we told ourselves!

After the feast we walked around again concentrating near what remains of the castle walls, there were a few spots that we felt were more active than others but there was no obvious signs of paranormal activity. Dave was still sure that the presences he felt earlier were watching, in fact while we were walking the site we walked to where he sensed them and they appeared to keep backing off from us? At one point both he and Paddy witnessed some movement in the bailey of the castle, just a dark shadow, but they both agreed what they interpreted it as, it was large hound or hunting dog! I even heard with them what I thought was a deep growl from the undergrowth!

We returned to the “base camp” for another warm and decided to try a Ouija board, although this provided some movement of the glass it was by no means conclusive and provided no information about the location. It did, however, begin communicating with Sarah, responding to questions from all of us about her grandfather?

It was so cold (-2) that it was difficult to stay focussed on the investigation. A few of us stayed around the bbq and made a camp fire to keep warm while others still roamed the site. I had a walk around with Dave and Paddy which was very interesting. They were both still very aware of the “hound” they had picked up on and Dave felt that the other presences still watching. Before I joined them by the remains of the gate house they were listening to what they could only describe as people having a conversation in the trees across from them. I did not witness this but they were so convinced of this we were compelled to check the area in case anyone else had arrived, no one had!

It was a long very cold night and it wasn’t long after this that we chose to close the investigation, break camp and go home.

Conclusions

To our knowledge this was the first time Thurnham had been investigated. It had also lain there undiscovered for centuries and was only found and uncovered in recent years. Our group thoughts were that there was most certainly a spirit presence here, all be it a little puzzled? Whoever or whatever they are, they have had peace and the place to themselves for centuries and suddenly others start coming? These presences probably are not used to physical visitors, let alone those that visit of a nightime, so it is no wonder they kept back.

In short, this place feels active and is certainly worth a revisit when hopefully these presences will choose to come forward. But think we’ll be doing it in warmer month

We have been recently contacted via email with an account similar to two of our team members -

Name: James

Email Address: James*********@*********.co.uk

What is your location? Maidstone

How did you hear about us? Search Engine

Please leave your enquiry and one of the team will contact you as soon as possible.

Hi just stumbled across your account on Thurnham castle, just wanted to let you guys know, You are bang on about the presence of a large hound. 5 years ago or more my friends and I spent an evening in the ruins with a small fire. One of us saw a large hound loping along the bottom of the motte, it disappeared within a few moments. But the main event was witnessed by all 8 of us and remains a vivid memory. We all saw a very tall apparition it was taller than I and I'm 6'5 he was incredibly broad and we saw him run from a wall toward the big tall wall at the back, he had bobbed hair, wore a tunic (blue) and green leggings... He was waving his hands infront of him in an agitated fashion. He ran very quickly but we couldn't see the lower half of his legs, they appeared to be in the ground! So he must of been even taller than he appeared. He vanished into the large wall. I hope this helps or is useful to you guys. Feel free to contact me.

James