Mont Orguell Castle Team Reports
Team Reports
Team 1 Alpha Bravo
Group Leader: Amy Banks
Undercroft
Team Alpha Bravo started the night's investigation in the Undercroft. During the settling in time, several people felt very uncomfortable about certain areas in the room. Most notably was the far end of the room (towards the screen) and the doorway into the smaller room. We tried calling out and thought heard a small stone being dropped, but couldn't be sure. The team were eager to try automatic writing and had some success. The group contacted a spirit that identified himself as Charles, who said he had lived in the castle. He also said that he had known his father, but not his mother. Charles had, as one of the team described, a 'child like' personality' although everyone taking part in the experiment felt that he was an adult. There appeared to be some kind of connection with horses (e.g. stable boy / groom or similar). At one point during the vigil, one of the team members felt the presence of a very tall man stood behind her.
Crypt / Witches Room
Although the team didn't have much success using the audio lights or the ghost box, the Witches Room was fairly active for us. Several group members had very similar experiences and thoughts. There were several reports of people feeling that there were children in the room with us, so much so, that the group felt that they wanted to start singing Ring 'o Roses. Of particular note in this location was that one person picked up on the name Sally, who was wearing a pinafore dress and stood with her mother. She indicated that she hadn't died inside the castle but had fallen either from a wall or a cliff. Somebody else had a vision of a woman with blood down the side of her face. There was also a feeling that people were missing. As if a group of friends or family had started out together but several had got lost or had died and were 'missing'.
Tower
Although the group attempted glass divination and call outs, no real phenomena was noted in this area. There was a temperature change - where the room became very warm, but the team felt this could be because the whole team were together in a smallish room.
Great Hall
We joined Ciaran O'Keeffe in the Great Hall to experiment with the variety of gadgets he'd brought with him. He also talked to the team about the power of suggestion and played a few EVP clips. No other phenomena was discovered in this area - other than the abnormally large centipede that almost ran over my arm! It was enormous!
Chapel
Chris Conway joined us in the Chapel and the team tried dowsing and crystal pendulum experiments. Although most had some success, there wasn't a huge amount of clear information that came through. When Chris did a circle with the team, a few people felt very wobbly and unsteady on their feet.
Overall it was a very enjoyable night. I'd personally like to thank everyone who was on Team Alpha Bravo for being so very open and honest with me - you guys were brilliant to work with. I'd also like to thank Ciaran O'Keeffe and Chris Conway for their enthusiasm and insight. I'm really looking forward to returning to Mont Orgueil.
Team 2 Mike Lima
Group Leader: Matt Laker
Prior to the investigation’s commencement, I had a very bizarre personal experience- during the briefing; I was stood with my back to the doorway. I heard footsteps just outside, so went to investigate. I could not see anyone in the location at all. On my return, Lib and Anna had moved so that I was unable to re-enter the room. I stood just outside the doorway. While we were there, there was a moan, which I thought had come from either Lib or Anna. At the same time, both turned round to me and asked if I had moaned. We all felt that this sound had come from the area in between us. I then started to feel really sick, as though something was churning my stomach, and I went white as a sheet. On Lib’s advice, I took myself out of the building to get some fresh air. While I was outside, Lauren came down to clarify some points regarding the locations. I took her back inside, and went into the back area of the undercroft location. As soon as I entered here, I had the stomach churning sensation, and needed to leave again.
Tower Room
We started out night’s vigils in the tower room, and in here we conducted a glass moving experiment. We had some good results, connecting with a French Sailor, who was attracted to the females in the group. We asked for him to touch one of the people in the room, and we got a feeling that he did not want to do this out of respect for the women present. We also conducted an EVP experiment in here- the results of this are pending analysis. We got some very clear glass movements, and I am sure that there was minimal pressure on this from participants.
Great Hall
In the Great Hall, the team was led by Ciaran, who conducted a brief overview of some of the paranormal kit used on investigations, and then got the participants to experiment with these. He then did an experiment using Ultrasound, which was fascinating. We conducted a ghost box experiment in this location also, and on asking if there were any spirits present, we got a definite, clear YES that was heard by all present.
Chapel
In the Chapel area of the Castle, we had probably the most activity. In this area Chris Conway joined us, and we started by forming a circle, and trying to encourage the spirits to connect with the group. From the moment I entered this location, I was aware of a male energy standing behind me, just behind my left shoulder *. We heard footsteps in the room here, and felt strong breezes moving in all directions around the group. At one point I felt that this was moving around me. A couple of the participants commented that on several occasions, my appearance changed, and appeared a little freaked out by this. Chris informed us that we had 5 or 6 male spirits in the room with us, and were walking around the group. Chris picked up that they were archers. He also said that there were others in the room- personally, I felt drawn to the altar, and felt as though we were being watched from the right hand side of this. Chris agreed, saying that there were another 5 or 6 stood there. We then conducted some dowsing experiments, and we connected with a male spirit named John Castille. Our dowsing experiments indicated that John was not happy here, but for some reason unbeknownst to us he chose to remain here. For the last ten minutes of the vigil, we formed a circle again, and whilst standing there, I got a strong smell of body odour. When I mentioned this to the group, I was poked in the left side of my chest.
* Following the Vigil, I had a chat with Chris, and asked if he felt that they were drawn to me- Chris agreed with this, and said that they saw me as ‘One of the boys’. I explained to Chris that I knew why this was- before I even moved down to Sussex, I used to do a lot of archery as a hobby. Chris agreed that this was why. I am certain that no-one present on the investigation, and in fact, no one else in probably a 100-mile radius knew this. Chris also explained that the poke to the chest that I received was not malicious- more of a jovial ‘Oi!’ in relation to my mention of body odour.
Undercroft
After the Chapel we held a vigil in the undercroft area. We did not experience any significant phenomena in this location at this time.
Crypt
We finished the night in the Crypt area. While here, we heard several taps, although this may well have been the group above us. We decided to move down to the witches’ area. In this location, we carried out another Ghost Box experiment, with no clear results. One of the participants did not feel comfortable in this location, so I escorted her out of the location completely. On returning, I spread the group out, and one of the participants kept seeing a shadowy male figure standing in the room. At one point, she described him as standing right in front of her. We had several draughts around us, although the layout of the floor above was such that it had gaps running around the entirety of the edges. This would have created naturally occurring draughts, and as such cannot be classed as paranormal. What is not explainable so easily, was the sensation of dread that was present throughout the night, and during the equipment take-down. This was one location that I did not feel completely comfortable in.
We all had a fantastic night at Mont Orgueil, and I personally wish to thank the participants for the money that they raised, and for getting involved in everything that happened throughout the night. It was truly a pleasure to work with you all. High Five!
Team 3 Lima Kilo
Group Leader: Lib Kendrick
Great Hall
In this investigation the team was lead by Ciaran and explored different types of paranormal equipment and experiments such as evp’s and ultra sonics.
Undercroft
In this area the team tried the automatic writing experiment with some interesting results. The team tried to establish details of the individual coming through but did not get very clear answers, some of the team commented that the planchette and answers were almost childlike in response. Some of the team believed this to be an elemental which they had encountered on a previous investigation in the area and there was a positive answer in response to this. The team also tried call outs and heard a few noises and one of the team reported feeling as though they had been tickled. During this experiment most of the team experienced uncontrollable giggles for no apparent reason.
Chapel
In this location each member of the team tried their hand with either dowsing rods or crystals and some members of the team had some clear responses with this experiment. The team then tried calling out and we heard a variety of shuffling , tapping and unexplained noises. One member of the team also reported feeling as though she had been poked in the chest.
Crypt / Witches Room
The team was joined in this location by Chris Conway and once the team had settled into the location we tried the ghost box to no avail. We then tried joining hands in a circle and asking for sounds and other effects on the group, most of the group heard very clear footsteps behind where the group was and some reported feeling very hot all of a sudden or a breeze that didn’t appear to be there before. We also had one set of the sound sensitive lights flickering on and off when no-one was moving and there were no other sounds, this stopped when the camera was put on to record and then started again as we left the room and the camera was turned off. In the witches area downstairs we heard a few noises and one member of the team reported seeing a figure on the stairs.
Tower
In this area the team tried the glass moving experiment, at first we had no results but on a second attempt the group got some clear and strong movement. The group had details given to them of one female individual who passed over including date of death, age, first name and initial of surname and details of how she died. These results are being looked into as part of the case file.
Team 4 Lima Sierra
Group Leader: Lauren Setters
Crypt / Witches Room
My team’s first location was the Crypt with the guest medium, Chris Conway. We started off by doing some call outs and we made good use of the ghost box. I felt very uneasy in some parts of the room, like we were being watched from a distance, which Chris also confirmed. The ghost box gave us a very clear response of the name ‘John’ when we asked the name of the presence in the room. On further questioning, we were told that he was a German soldier. One of my team members had the distinct impression that the presence in the room was connected with document signing/legal paperwork. We then went down the chamber below known as the Witches room. This area felt very hot, almost unnaturally so. Many of my team felt a pressure, hot necks/hands and a feeling of foreboding. We tried a circle and some call outs and had some clicks and knocks as answers.
Tower Room
(This location has to be my favourite out of the whole Jersey weekend!)
My team were all poised to try some glass moving, but we got a very slow response. So we thought we would try some call outs instead. During this we were all noticing movement of shadows against the walls and we were pretty convinced that we were not alone in the small circular room… I asked if they could give us a sign and one of my team nearly jumped out of her skin after her, ahem, hind quarters were quite literally ‘cupped‘. We all held hands, turned off our torches and asked the spirit to do it again, which it did. I then joked that maybe it didn’t fancy me enough to grab my bum and as we laughed, I felt what could only be described as a very heavy hand clasp hold of the top of my right arm. However hard it is for me, a seasoned paranormal investigator to admit, It was so sudden and unexpected that I screamed! After we all calmed down and Matt hade come to see what the noise was all about, it was time to leave the location. Once we got back to the base room I was telling Anna from Anthony Nolan about our experience and she told me that the year before she had her bum pinched in the exact same room…and on top of that, the next event at Elizabeth Castle another lady said that it had happened to her on a previous visit to the tower room. There is a DEFINATE randy ghost in this location!
Great Hall
My group had the privilege to work with Dr Ciaran O’Keefe in this location which was extremely exciting for us. My group were shown some parapsychology tools and some great experiments. I watched as my group were taught how to use these devices to detect, not only paranormal activity, but to give scientific answers to things instead of just saying ‘Oh, it’s a ghost’.
I didn’t feel any presence at all here, although I did come across the biggest centipede I have ever seen!
Chapel
In this location my group used pendulums and dowsing rods to contact any spirits that wanted to talk with us. We had some great stuff; including the spirit of a girl who was a servant to the castle and died of a disease before she was 13. Her name began with a B but she left before I could get any more information about her. My group also got responses from others that had passed over. Towards the end of the vigil a stone was thrown from the back of the chapel when I asked if there was anyone there.
Undercroft
Our last vigil of the evening was the Undercroft. I have to admit to feeling extremely uneasy in this room. Whatever was here was pretty nasty and did not want us in here, let alone communicate in any way. We all just had the sense that he wanted us to go away. We tried some automatic writing, with varying degrees of success. A member of my team kept looking towards the doorway to the smaller room, I told her that I had the feeling that there was something stood there and she agreed. I got the image of a tall heavy set man leaning nonchalantly against the doorway watching us. We had one very audible ‘Knock’ from the rafters in answer to the question “Do you want us to leave”.
In conclusion I definitely felt that ‘Gorey’ Castle had a lot to offer in the way of paranormal activity. I would like to thank my fantastic team for their enthusiastic and energetic input throughout the long night- they were a great bunch and our experience in the Tower room will stay with me for a long time to come!
