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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