The Hautboy Investigation
1st February 2004

The investigation took place on the 1st February 2004, it started at 9.30pm, and people present were:

Heidi Graham Chris Carter
Alan Smallwood Warren Ward
Kaz Streeter Stewart Mann
Sharon Essam Member of staff - Dave King
Chris Ireland


Equipment

8 Digital Cameras
3 Thermometers
5 Video cameras
2 Motion sensors
2 35mm Cameras
10 Torches
6 Evp recorders

Experiments

Trigger objects placed around the rooms
Séance
Orb calling
Standard Vigils


Before the Investigation

Heidi - The day before the investigation, I kept getting the name “Mary Pickford”. During the workshop in the cellar bar I had the feeling someone was standing in the corner watching us. Caz said she had felt the same.

Female Toilets

Sharon -
3.20pm - Lights were flickering.
7.20pm - I could hear tapping and scratching noises and the lights flickered again. 7.30pm - I asked Heidi and Caz to help me check on the lights and when we asked questions here the lights flickered in response.

Caz -
7.15pm - I heard scratching noises behind me.
7.30pm - While asking questions with Sharon and Heidi my heart was racing and my arms shaking, but I felt it was a friendly atmosphere.

Lovelace Room

Sharon -
3.48am - Dowsing picks up 1 male spirit “Eric” and 1 female “Elizabeth Bryon” who was Lord Bryon’s sister with whom he had an incestuous relationship. Elizabeth committed suicide. She is a permanent spirit who also gives her name as “Ada”, she died in the village. “Eric”, died in the surrounding area, “Elizabeth” and “Henry”, in the building, murdered him. He is buried nearby in Ockham church, his tombstone dated 1620.

David -
2.25am - I got “ No! No! No!” when a question was asked about “Henry” murdering “Mary” and the children.

Asprey room

Caz -
8.00pm - A choking feeling and felt as though someone walked into the wall.
3.25am - Light flickered and a cold spot under right window.
3.30am - Cold spot again and the name “Mary”, lights flickering.
3.42am - Orb caught travelling around the flickering light.

Cellar Bar

Sharon -
4.45pm - I kept feeling cold spots and the dowsing rods would move very quickly crossways.

Heidi - This room was extremely active during the workshop. I kept wanting to jump up and down waving my arms around.
5.05pm - I felt as if I was being choked.
4.15am - Alan and I heard a sigh come from the corner of the room.
4.30am - Started to get a feeling of someone flicking my head.

Caz -
3.30pm - Saw an orb
6.30pm - Orb behind Heidi, going fast.
7.10pm - My arms keep shaking
7.30pm - Orb appeared in the middle of the table, in front of the lampshade
7.45pm - I have a bad headache and palpitations
12.35am - Two dark shadows pass by my side
12.50am - Someone walking downstairs, footsteps and whispering coming down the stairs
1.00am - “Hmm, Hmm” sounds on the stairs behind me
1.02am - A flash of light goes across the bar area, Stewart and me saw this. The lights keep flickering in the hall by the bar.

Augusta Room

Sharon - Picked up on a father and daughter, a male relative murdered the girl, and she was 19 years old.

Caz -
10.47pm - Two orbs, one past Chris’s camcorder and one up his shirt.
10.49pm - Cold spot on me,
10.55pm - Orbs past curtains
11.00pm - Two orbs going past the curtains again, I feel there is a man in the room, wearing a fitted, high collar suit, he is middle aged and has dark hair.
11.05pm - The name “Edward”
11.08pm - We can all see the outline of a figure between the curtain and bathroom door, looking at us, I feel he is wondering why we are sitting in the dark.
11.12pm - “Edward Tim or Tin” I don’t think he wants us here.

Chapel

Sharon - Heidi picked up “Henry”, while dowsing here we pick up that “Henry” visits “Mary” in her room, Mary’s killer was hung outside the building.

Heidi - I saw a man standing on the minstrels gallery dressed in a black trident hat, red jacket, white trousers and black boots his name is “Henry”, I developed a bad headache.
11.03pm - I heard a female singing and picked up on a “William” who was Henry’s brother.

Caz -
9pm - A chair scraping heard from balcony over chapel
9.35pm - A strong breeze from the door of the chapel near bar across diagonally to the old kitchen.
9.45pm - Chair scraping noise heard again.
9.55pm - I felt sick and shaking, I heard tapping noises after Alan had asked for tapping.
10.00pm - Cold spot on dumb waiter, chair scraped again, loud bang then three loud bangs downstairs
10.05pm - A very uneasy feeling in the chapel
10.20pm - Investigated noises, I checked the rooms under the chapel; the ladies second door bangs and resonates when left to shut.
10.23pm - A clicking noise in the bar.

Stew & Warren -
12.29am - Two lots of hissing came from the far corner of the room near the old kitchen.
12.45am - Alan calls up on radio who is making noises on the stairs, both myself and Warren left the chapel to investigate, on leaving the chapel Alan and Caz are standing at the bottom of the stairs, investigating noises,
1.00am - Both myself and Caz hear a strange noise like a murmur behind her on the stairs, sounded like a faint female voice,
1.02am - A flash of light goes across the restaurant area towards the bar.
4.30am - Myself, Warren and Caz were sitting in the balcony in the chapel and at 4.20am a flash of light came from the far right hand window and across the chapel, this was witnessed by all three of us.

Restaurant

Sharon -
4am - A cold spot by the settee, banging noises heard twice in the background, sounds like a barrel drum being put down on the floor. Dinging noise heard just after from the near the kitchen.

David - I heard a clink noise coming from the kitchen area and the door closed by itself (it was ajar when we entered) while trying automatic writing I got the year 1676, the names “James” and “Elizabeth Beresford” and “Lucy”.

Stewart & Warren -
10.50pm - Strange rumbling noises again coming from the floor above.
10.55pm - Another strange noise this time from behind the bar area like something had been spilt whatever it was it sounded metal in nature like metal hitting the floor, this was witnessed both by myself and warren and could not find any cause or spilt material.
11.00pm - The fire door just behind the bar opened on its own, Warren takes a picture and gets a good orb, this was then followed by a strange moaning sound and then three clicks. What was interesting to me was after completing the vigil in this room, David the host asked me if anything had happened by the door mentioned above, I asked why and he told me he took a picture of one of his friends standing in the doorway and behind them in the photo is somebody else’s face. I felt the restaurant area at times is very active.

Millbank Room

Sharon - David dowsing picked up a 46 year old female, she died new years day 1653, she was murdered, drowned by a man whose name was “Ivan Deakin” who was 56 years old and lived in the Ockham village. Heidi asks if she is sitting in the chair in the corner, she says yes. Her name is “Mary Pickford”. We also picked up a woman called “Ann” who was Mary’s maid and housekeeper. She was 29 years old and pregnant, she died during labour. The house was used as a brothel. Heidi has picked up on a small boy shut in the bathroom, his name is “Edward” and he died by suffocation. At 12.15am something touched my head and was very cold.

Heidi - On the walk around I picked up a maid about 30ish who was heavily pregnant, she wore a grey dress and white apron. I picked up a small boy called “Edward” who was shut in a cupboard (now a bathroom). I picked up on a small girl of 8 or 9 years old called “Lucy”, she was wearing a long white dress and had long blond hair tied with a ribbon, I also picked up “Elizabeth Montgomery” who owned the house when it was a coaching inn in 1835.

Byron Room

Stewart & Warren -
9.35pm - Some odd shape orbs by the door are caught on digital camera.
9.41pm - I felt cold all over in the corner of the room by the bed, got an orb beside me in the picture Warren had taken.
9.43pm - Another orb in the corner of the room.
9.45pm - Flash of light between the bathroom and the wardrobe
9.55pm - Room completely quiet
10.00pm - Loud bangs from the floor above walked to the bottom of the stairs to see who was there as I could hear voices only to find nobody there.
10.03pm - Strange noises still happening at this point. Myself, Chris, Warren, Alan and Caz went to look for reasonable explanation to the noises, which were also heard by the members of Alan’s team.

Table rapping

Sharon’s notes:

Chapel - 2.15am - Can you lift the stool? - Stool goes up on two legs, is your name Henry? - Stool says yes by going up on two legs

Cellar Bar - Anyone there? Stool lifted onto two legs, are you male? Stool lifted on two legs, where you murdered? Stool lifted on to two legs.

Stewart’s notes:

Between 1.30am and 3.00am we tried table rapping with excellent results, in all three rooms the table reacted, these were the cellar bar, the chapel and the restaurant. This is the first time on an investigation that the table/stool has reacted so strongly whilst I have been participating.

We had a great time investigating the Hautboy, and would like to thank David for being such a wonderful host and hope he keeps up with his dowsing, seems to have a flair for it. We hope to revisit the Hautboy again in the near future.

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