Woodchester
Mansion | Paranormal
Investigation | Dead
Haunted Nights |
On
18th March 2006 Mandy & Paul from 'Tribute
To Most Haunted' & 'Paranormal
United' joined Phil Whyman
( Most Haunted & Scream
Team ) via Dead Haunted
Nights for a paranormal investigation
night in Woodchester Mansion. Dead
Haunted Nights promo line is ...Do you want
to spend a night in one of this country's most haunted
locations? Do you want one of the best known personalities,
Phil Whyman, in the world of Paranormal
Television to be your host
for the event? Our answer was YES.
So
Let The Coverage Begin .....
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Prelude
To Woodchester Mansion Paranormal Investigation :: |
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Having
booked with Dead Haunted Nights back
in November 2006 for Woodchester Mansion
anticipation was high. We booked for three nights at The
Rose & Crown Inn, a 400 year old inn in Nympsfield,
and arrived there at lunchtime on Friday. |
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Eager to get our surroundings we took the five minute
journey to Woodchester Park. Most of
the park is owned by The National Trust,
the park previously being the estate brought by William
Leigh in 1845. Woodchester Mansion,
situated within this park, is now owned by Stroud
District Council and leased to the Woodchester
Mansion Trust. |
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Woodchester
Park includes four large ponds and outbuildings
including dog kennels and a boathouse. During their stay
during the second world war is is rumored the American
and Canadian soldiers abandoned jeeps and equipment in
one of the larger lakes. |
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Unfortunately
timing was bad for us as Woodchester Mansion
is only open to the public from 1st April so we had to
settle for walking around the outside of the Mansion and
the park itself. From the moment we came around the track
leading to the Woodchester Mansion we
were in awe by its beauty and standard of build. It has
only been recently that Woodchester Mansion
has become known for having a haunted reputation, promoted
by the Living TV series Most
Haunted. |
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From
the outside it was difficult to see how much of the work
had been abandoned by the skilled masons after sixteen
years and left uncompleted. All the detail outside was
breathtaking and seemed all but complete with even a weather
vane being mounted on the spire of the bell tower. The
rear of the building showed the signs of restoration,
the Trust’s stonemasonry training programme was
allowing students to work on walling repairs to the North
Range. A light in a window upstairs showed the presence
of the caretaker who has resided in a flat for the last
12 years, a man we were to meet the next night when we
would return at night to Woodchester Mansion. |
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Returning
to the warm hospitality and open fire of the Rose
& Crown Inn Nymsfield we enjoyed a top class
meal and soaked up the atmosphere of this 400 year old
inn to prepare us for the next night. |
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Meeting
the Dead Haunted Nights Team
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We
met up with fellow paranormal followers and the Dead
Haunted Nights team at the Rose &
Crown Inn Nymsfield at 9pm on
Saturday night, where Phil Whyman introduced
his team and himself. He instantly proved himself to be
a sincere guy with a sense of humour that would help to
lift the spirits of even the coldest of us later on in
the night. |
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We
left for Woodchester Mansion approaching
it via the great steel gates and long track that leads
down to the south side of the mansion. As we came round
the last bend of the track Woodchester Mansion
met us lit by the few lights within and the amber glow
of an open fire that had been set up for us in the Drawing
Room, our base camp for the night. This is the
only room that was ever completed in the Mansion for a
visit by Cardinal Vaughan in 1894. |
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We
were met at the rear of the premises by the caretaker,
who as previously mentioned has lived in a furbished flat
within the mansion for some 12 years. Although a skeptic
to the ghosts within the mansion he did admit to having
seen the shape of a large black dog that is renowned to
haunt the outside of the estate and even he did not hang
around to see any more! |
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Once
inside the true extent of how the builders and masons
abandoned Woodchester Mansion came to
light. Beautifully crafted fireplaces float almost in
mid air and you look up to the rafters through the absence
of parts of the first and second floors. Staircases lead
nowhere. A room just off the rear entrance corridor holds
the tools left beyond by the masons when they left the
site. This begs to ask the question why would skilled
tradesman leave behind the very tools they need to make
a living ? |
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We
all entered the Drawing Room and were
briefed on the paranormal investigation
plans for the night. We were split into three teams who
would each visit the clears, ground floor, first and second
floors for 45 minute vigils, always being led by a different
member of the Dead Haunted Nights Teams.
As part of Team 1 we were to start in the cellar led by
Phil Whyman. It is important to mention
now how dusty the mansion is, and the smallest movement
on any of the stone floors or against the walls will release
more dust into the air. The importance of this is clear
when we started to take photos with digital cameras. The
initial response is you have caught an orb on camera,
but with the effects of a flash on this dust in the dark
the results can be seen from the picture to your left.
The only time I will draw your attention to anything on
these pages is when they are questionable. |
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