Hangleton Manor - Anecdotal Evidence
Public Research
The Legend of the young girl of Saxon origin, who came to work at the Manor as a serving maid and was seduced by the Lord of the Manor and threw the resulting child out the window .Traditional history, makes this impossible since the Manor dates from around 1540, nearly 500 years after the disappearance of Saxon wenches.
A remarkable manifestation reported during the 1970’s was the appearance of phantom clothing, ‘the skirt of brown silk dress’ sweeping through part of the building. As well as being seen , the dress was also heard by witnesses .Claims were made that the dress was worn by the Saxon girl but history renders this impossible as silk was not introduced until the 17th Century . A slightly more plausible candidate for the wear of the phantom dress is Mrs Fitzherbert, the lover of the Prince Regent in the 18th Century. Mrs Fitzherbert was reputed to have visited the Hangleton Manor in her lifetime .
More remarkable stories from the 1970’s from former employees who stated a female phantom in the building caused weird rapping’s from behind wood paneling and ghostly cries from a some what ‘ tortured soul’ were happening at night .
There are two female ghosts. One is shyer she is often sensed rather than seen if she disapproves of someone she will gently push the person out the room. But it is a subtle pressure. Others have felt her sweeping by leaving a faint chill in the air.
Mediums Report
Arrival
Upon arrival at the pub and meeting with the paranormal investigators, we ran through the itinerary for the evening. I then asked to have a look around the place and get a feel for what might be around. We had a walk around upstairs and in the attic, where I became aware of a number of events. I will talk in more detail about each of these in the sections below. Whilst the investigators did their presentation to the staff from the Inn, I sat in the attic so as to not be influenced by the information they were giving the staff. I then was called in to talk about what I could feel since I had arrived. I talked through the feelings of the place previously being a farm, a family home and a hotel, as well as the pub it is now. I also was very aware of strong connections with the church, and felt that there could also have been another building on the site before the current pub.
Psychometrics
The landlady from the pub had kept a money box from when they had cleared out the attic previously and was interested to see if I would pick up anything from it, as she had previously see done on TV. As soon as I held the object I was very much aware that this had belonged to gentleman who had passed at around the age of 64. He was slightly stooped and had drunk in pub on a regular basis. I managed to list a detailed account of what he had looked like and where the had kept this particular box. When talking through this detail and after having linked with the gentleman in question in the attic area, we were able to establish that as far as was known all the information was correct.
Attic
In the attic I had become very aware of a gentleman of around the age of 33 who had been hung on one of the rafters in the pub. There is no documented evidence of this ever occurring. The attic felt very much as if it had been cut into two sections, with one half having been more of a storage area to hand herbs, onions etc, and the other half having been more of a sleeping quarters at some point. I was very aware of the attic having been full to the brim with stuff, just general bits and bobs and that this had more recently been cleared - this was all confirmed as being correct. Whilst I was up in the attic during the talk to the staff I was very aware of lights which seemed to come from an area near the loft hatch, but apart from that there was not much else which was happening. Whilst investigating with the group, I was very aware of the gentleman I had picked up whilst doing the psychometrics earlier on in the investigation. He particularly drew close whilst I was standing with one particular lady. I gave her evidence about him, all of which she could understand as she had known the gentleman in question before he passed to spirit. It had been a lot of his things which had been kept in the attic. He also gave me a detailed description of a chest of drawers with a mirror on top which he had an enveloped taped to the base of one of the drawers. She knew the exact chest, but unfortunately I had been given away to a charity shop about a ear previously so we were unable to look for the envelope. Hopefully one day we may be lead to it - you never know!!
Attic Rooms
In the attic rooms I was made very much aware of it having been previously a sleeping area r children, and not only children who had lived there on a permanent basis. I was also made very aware of a young girl who was active around the area. She had previously tried to push people who had been in the area before. She took me to one of the windows where she was very drawn and talked about being trapped up in these rooms, unable to move away, and watching other young children playing in the garden down below. I was also made aware of a pond in the garden below which the children would play around. It was almost as if she was un-allowed to go anywhere else within the house. I was also aware of a lady connected to the young girl, who used to be around a lot when she was in the physical. The lady was of very slim build with long wavy light coloured hair. She had looked after this young girl, but at the same time had something to do with her passing. I was also made very aware of a young child having had some serious illness in the room nearer the front of the building who had died from the illness.
Cellar
The cellar was a very small intimate space with a small entrance, which automatically gave that eerie feeling about it. Whilst down there I could hear lots of small taps to my right, this made me feel that there was a dripping tap or something in the corner, however, when we turned on the lights it was completely dry. The was definitely the sense of it getting denser in the area when we called out to spirit, but nothing really very conclusive. I did have the feeling that the ground would have been lower at some point, going a long way back, but this was about all.
Glass Moving
We decided to try doing some glass moving in the main restaurant area, which wouldn't work. Following on I suggested that we move to one of the attic rooms. This was much more productive and one of the relatives of a lady around the table came through to give some evidence and a message.
Conclusion
This was an investigation which I thoroughly enjoyed. There was a whole range of layers here giving some wonderful feelings of different eras. The obvious connections of the place to the church and also chapel was very strong throughout, and at the very start I was aware of a couple of priests who at one point had walked near the grounds. I feel that we only just managed to scrap the surface of this interesting location and would very much like to return to see if we could get more factual information about the previous residents, and those still around.
