Ghost Hunt Reviews

Well August has been an exciting time for the team, and the build up to one of the events has also been one of anticipatation and anxiety for someone very dear to us all!!!!!!!

Sharon Barr the creator of Silent voices after an interview on UKPN radio to promote a charity event at Oxford Castle in aid of the Keith Bennett appeal found herself in an extremely compromising situation....... My very own darling Husband Richard Mott announced on a social networking site that Compass Paranormal events would sponsor Sharon for £100 if she would do a lone vigil in the crypt at Oxford Castle.

The response was totally amazing, people from all over the World started to send in their bids.
Sharon supports so many appeals and charities and works tirelessly to help so many.
For those of you who don't know Sharon very well, she doesn't herself like Ghost Hunting.
Sharon rose to this challenge and knowing she would be placing herself in a extremely
uncomfortable situation The Crypt at Oxford Castle(A situation I can honestly say there isn't
many who would want to be alone in the Dark in the Crypt in reputably one of the
most haunted locations in the uk.)
 
I know in the weeks leading to this event Sharon had a few sleepless nights wondering if she could overcome her fears to do this lone vigil. I feel extremely proud of Sharon along with her close friends Norie Milles, Barrie John and Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe, who all attended the event at Oxford castle in aid of the Keith Bennett appeal.
 
The night was a tremendous success in raising money for this very worthy cause and we all could feel the build up of apprehension, anxiety and fear Sharon was feeling leading up to her lone vigil, whilst the rest of the team and guests were comfortably sitting drinking their cups of coffee in the warmth and safety of the cafe at Oxford Castle.
 
With her hands visibly shaking Barrie John escorted Sharon down into the depths and Darkness of the Crypt, where Barrie was to leave Sharon alone with only a walkie talkie and the shadows and spirits of the Crypt for company for fifteen minutes, a long time when alone in this historic location with its sinister past.
 
Those minutes must have felt like hours, but like the shining star Sharon is, she faced her own fears to spend the full fifteen minutes for the money pledged, and then to be met by everyone with a round of applause she so deserved.
 
A big thank you to everyone who supported and sponsored Sharon, and to all the wonderful guests on the night who purchased raffle tickets and took part in the auction winning prizes such as the opportunity to spend fifteen minutes on a vigil with Barrie John And Ciaran. Thanks to Brain Shepherd for donating two of his fantastic psychic drawings. The gorgeous Norie Miles, Sam and Gary from UKPN, the wonderful Marq English and the lovely Alan Barnett from Spiral Paranormal and all of the Compass team for supporting the event. The total so far raised from the night is £1,353.00.
We will keep you all informed of the final total from the night. Our next Charity event for the Keith Bennett appeal is 11th September at the Old Beneficial School in Portsmouth where the wonderful Marq English has offered to do a naked lone vigil to raise funds.

To book your ticket for this event follow the link below.

http://www.compassparanormalevents.co.uk/#/old-beneficial-school-11th-sep/4541883620

28th of August - Guy's Cliffe House in Warickshire.

Guy’s Cliffe House, is a stunning ruin of an 18th and 19th century house, it is a derelict mansion set on a site just outside the town of Warwick. Its dramatic history includes, most recently, a devastating fire which finally destroyed its once lavish grandeur. It is now owned by The Freemasons.

The site of Guy's Cliffe has been occupied since Saxon times and derives its name from the legendary Guy of Warwick. Guy is supposed to have retired to a hermitage on this site, this legend led to the founding of a chantry. The chantry was established 1423 the Chapel of St Mary Magdelene and the rock carved stables and storehouses still remain. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII the site passed into private hands.

A house and the mill are mentioned in the Doomsday Book, but the mill had reputedly been functioning for two hundred years before this census.

Thus inhabited since Saxon times, the most famous legend of the site is that of Guy of Warwick. This Saxon noble, the legendary founder of Warwick Castle in the 10th Century, and killer of the Dun Cow, returned from his travels and adventures and retired to live out the rest of his days in a cave by the river, which still survives by the Chapel.

His wife, the lady Felice of Warwick, remained ignorant of his unannounced presence so close. Just before Guy died, he revealed his true identity to the poor lady who, overcome by grief, threw herself from the cliff where her husband had lived for so many years. It is said that her ghost, distraught with grief, still haunts the site.

The 16th Century witnessed the hermitage here swept up in the reformation of the monasteries act initiated by King Henry IIIV and it's possible that the rumoured tunnel from this place to Warwick castle was put in place at this time, perhaps so secreted that it still remains hidden?

During the First World War the house was given over to be a recuperation hospital for soldiers injured on the front. Six hundred or so soldiers passed through the gates, not all made it and the preserving aspect of the caves was put to use as a morgue if needed.

The Ghosts and Spirits

First let us enlighten you on the difference between ghosts and spirits. Very simply a ghost is little more than a recording and non-interactive. A spirit is aware and interactive – spirits are the interesting ones!

Without giving too much away, in the winestore there’s a spirit – not the kindest of characters – who may have committed a gross wrong against a girl called Georgina.

In the stables there’s Jacob – perhaps a groom in his time – simple in nature and physical in response if pushed.

In the chapel area, there’s a man nicknamed ‘Clogs’ because if he moves about upstairs it sounds like he’s wearing a pair!

Other Reported Phenomena

Poltergeist activity, including guests belongings being moved and appearing in strange places.

Dark shadows moving quickly around the ruins.

EVP phenomena. Ghostly voices and strange noises in the middle of the night.

The sense of being watched, and occasionally pushed or pulled and loose clothing being tugged.

 Barrie John and I were for the first time spooked whilst doing a vigil in the dark in the chapel of this truly tremendous Gothic location who knows maybe it was the ghostly footsteps of clogs who we and the guests heard on numerous occasions throughout the night making his presence known. A historic mansion steeped in history with a reputation of paranormal activity and this reputation certainly exceeded itself. The Team is returning to this fabulous mansion on the 23rd October, Dare you Join the Team.
 
(c) Denise Mott.