Bolebrook Castle Investigation
Hartfield, Sussex
19th February 2010

Introduction
Photographs
Team Reports
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Members Views

Introduction

Bolebroke Castle at Hartfield, the village made famous by Pooh bear, was built around 1480 and is the earliest brick built building in Sussex.
Henry VIII used Bolebroke when he went hunting for wild boar and venison in the nearby Ashdown Forest. Anne Boleyn, who lived at Hever Castle 5 miles away, was courted by Henry VIII from there.
Set in a stunningly beautiful location on a 30 acre estate away from main roads and noise where pheasant and deer roam the meadows and woodlands.
Each season provides its own beauty - in springtime the carpets of daffodils and bulbs, the rhododendrons of May/June, the mantles of water lilies on the lakes in July/August and the turning of the Virginia creeper to red on the castle and the autumn tints of September/October.
The castle has been loved and cared for through the centuries and has a wealth of history having been owned by the Earls and Dukes of Dorset.
There are many fine rooms with original beamed ceilings and wood paneling. Everywhere in the castle is 16th century furniture and tapestries depicting scenes of the period.
The Elizabethan staircase carved from solid oak is one of the finest in existence.

MPI would sincerely like to thank our host Peter Hobcraft for inviting us to investigate Bolebrook Castle and for the warm welcome he gave to us all.
We all arrived at Bolebrook Castle at 9.00pm on a very cold frosty night and our first impressions were WOW what an impressive building standing magnificently proud in silence on this huge estate.
We were warmly greeted by our host Peter Hobcraft who showed us the way to our hub for the night.
While waiting for 3 members to arrive Peter showed Ken, Gary and I around the castle with the lights on and all was awe inspiring. Ken and Gary were looking as to where they could place the infra red cameras and Dictaphones as well as trigger objects. K2 meters were being used these have a series of colored lights from yellow (the lowest reading to red very high reading)
Back in the hub Peter said his farewells and wished us good luck for the forthcoming night’s investigation.

While the male members set up all the equipment us females took a tour around this huge castle. We could not believe how cold it was in here so early in the evening could it possibly get even colder?

Investigating Team Members

Val Butler
Ken Taylor
Becky Ephgrave
Pat Rendell
Jacqi Ephgrave
Laura Brown
Louise Williams
Steen Spencer
Gary Hayes
Darren Salmon
Perry Marcham
Becci Brennan
Lorraine Woollands
Colin Angell
Jenna Gallop

The castle is set on three floors with many rooms leading off each floor.

Team 1
Val Butler (Lead Investigator)
Gary Hayes (on cam)
Colin Angell
Jenna Gallop
Perry Marcham

Team 2
Laura Brown (Lead Investigator)
Pat Rendell (on cam)
Louise Williams
Lorraine Woollands

Team 3
Becky Ephgrave (Lead Investigator)
Steen Spencer (on cam)
Darren Salmon
Jacqi Ephgrave
Becci Brennan

Ken monitoring the infra red camera’s and equipped with walkie talkie to stay in touch with both teams stayed in the hub.

Photographs

Coming Soon

Team Reports

Team 1

Vigil 1 Ground Floor
Medieval Room
Temperature Reading 1-.2 degrees
We placed the K2 meter in the middle of this large impressive room Val called out for spirit to come forward and communicate with us but there was no reply. We noticed it had suddenly gone colder and took another temperature reading this time it was registering -2 degrees. All the team felt ok, Colin then called to spirit, and places his torch toward the centre of the room as his batteries had drained when previously in here. Perry asks for spirit to go to the centre of the room, the K2 remained on the first yellow light. All of us were very cold, Val and Jenna take turns in asking spirit to communicate, and Jenna’s back is colder than other parts of her body. Val has a pain in the left side of her forehead, Gary ask for spirit to affect someone in this room, there was no response. Val has the feeling of a lot of men in here. No other occurrences.

The Great Hall
Temperature is 6 degrees but still feels very cold. Gary and Val take turns in trying to communicate with spirit. Val says she feels that there were men in here; men in uniform around the 1930’s-40s possible soldiers, with what she thought were North American. Gary again calls to spirit and all is very quiet. The team decide to try the Ouija and came across the spirit of a male who spelt out REX GUMPZ and the date 1759, Gary asked for him to turn the torch off and immediately it obeyed. Nothing else came through to us in this room.

Vigil 2 Middle Floor Kings Bedroom
Temperature Reading 3.0 degrees
This room was very impressive and had an atmosphere in it. We all stood quietly for a while and then decided to hold a glass divination. It was slow to move the glass and the only letters we had were RW.
Val calls to spirit and Gary and Colin hear floorboards creak out in the corridor they went to look outside and found nothing. Val hears a scratch sound on the side of her coat. Colin hears a sound, Gary and Perry both hear a whistle. The K2 meter lights up 1-2 orange lights and then on to green, all hear a creaky sound near the window and door. Val was touched on her head; Gary has an orb moving on his camera by the window, all of the team feeling apprehensive but ok. Suddenly Gary is grabbed around his waist and Val is given the name of William. Again Val is touched on the back of her head, Jenna suddenly moved as she was touched on the right side of her waist. Again Val’s hair was touched so much so it stood away from her head. No further occurrences in this room.

Room 101
It was very cold in this room, the team were feeling ok. Jenna calls to spirit to come forward to talk to us but had no response. Val in her mind’s eye could see blood, possible throat cut and is feeling short of breath. Val has the name of Victoria Anne Francis and as she gives the team the name 2 taps were audible. The K2 meter is placed on the large 4 poster bed. Val asks Victoria if she can see us and immediately the KT shot through all the lights to red. Val feels as though she cannot feel or move her hands. Colin has a headache. No further occurrences in here.

Room 100
Gary asks for spirit to come and join with us. And several attempts by the team to communicate with spirit proved fruitless.

Vigil 3 Top Floor
In the room at the far top right end of the corridor the team tried to entice spirit to communicate but nothing came through to us. The lights came on as we made our way down the little staircase then automatically went off as they are sensored.

Room 203
The team stood very quiet in here, it was bitterly cold, and Val has a pain in the kidney area. The team attempted the Ouija board but nothing was coming through to us. We moved on into room 202
Again it was very cold in this room, Val invites spirit to join with us and footsteps were heard by us all in the corridor. We all went into the corridor and Gary noticed the light operated by sensor was on so we quickly made our way to the staircase beneath it. Val, Jenna and Perry sat on different stairs. Gary and Colin sat at the bottom of the staircase facing the long corridor. It was very dark then Colin saw little lights white and red at the far end of the corridor, like embers from a bonfire. Of a sudden Gary and Colin saw a blanket of blackness and it seemed to be coming toward them, all of us heard the sound of prominent footsteps approaching, Gary and Colin hear a sound coming from the corridor, Val says there is a Nun then has the name Sister Margaret/Margareta. We sat on the staircase for around 20 minutes, Gary and Colin were feeling uneasy as they looked down the long dark corridor Gary thought there were orbs on his infra red camera as we were leaving but we had no more occurrences.

Team 2

Vigil 1 Middle floor
Kings Room
EMF Reading 0 Temperature Reading 3-4 fluctuating
Louise sat on the small chair in the corner and felt very uneasy; all was very quiet so we decided to try glass divination. When the glass started to move it began spelling out the name ADAM W, we asked a few questions
Q Did you die here?
A Yes
Q Where about are you now
A Between Laura and Louise
Q Are you always here
A Visit often

Another spirit came forward and spelt out the letters BOAOY
Q Are you a child
A Boy

No further communication or activity in this room so team made their way to the corridor.

Along the corridor by the main staircase Louise sees an image of a man aged around 50 years and he was on the stairs, then Louise saw a black shadow of a person running up the stairs. No more occurrences here.

Room 101
EMF Reading 0 Temperature Reading 8 degrees
Laura and Lorraine calls to spirit to join with us then Louise asks spirit to com forward but all was very quiet in this room with no occurrences.

Room 100
EMF Reading 0 Temperature reading 4-5 degrees.
Laura asks for spirit to come and communicate with us and the temperature dropped first to 3.6 degrees and then to 2.9 degrees. A couple of minutes passed and Laura noticed the temperature increase again to 4 degrees. Slight knocking was heard by team, no other occurrences in here.

Vigil 2 Top Floor
Room 202
Temperature Reading 5.1-4.8 degrees
We placed the K2 meter on the bed all was very quiet, Louise went over to the bed and touched it, the K2 shot up to the red light. Laura then called for spirit to come and join with us and we all heard a door open and close from outside the room, upon investigation there was no explanation for what we had heard.

Room 203
Temperature reading 3.3-4.0
Louise feels the cramps in her legs and sits crunched up on a chair, she feels as though she cannot talk or hear, her body is very stiff and she cannot move her legs. Laura and Pat take turns in calling to spirit but there was no response. No further actions on this vigil.

Vigil 3 Ground Floor
Great Hall
Temperature Reading 1.2-2.0 degrees.
Laura felt that this room used to be a kitchen and invites spirit to join us. Louise in her mind sees a young woman who is in a wheelchair, the woman has some sort of head injury, Louise thought the woman could not see or hear and had paralysis from her neck downward.. We all try glass divination and the spirit of a lady came through, her age is 35 years but that was all that came through, séance closed. Pat asks spirit to come forward to communicate and as she did so Louise was touched on her leg. No further action in this room.

Team 3

Vigil 1 Top Floor
R oom204 EMF Reading 0 Temperature Reading 2 deg by cupboard 4-5 degrees rest of room.
While we were in this room the motion sensor light outside at the top of the small staircase went on but there was no one there, Darren calls for spirit to come and join in with the team the K2 meter that was on the lit up, Darren noticed the EMF meter had a slight tick to it. Becci and Darren are feeling very cold. Steen asks spirit to affect Jacqi and she then went very cold to the right side, the temperature dropped from 10 degrees on her right arm to 5 degrees and she feels pressure on her shoulder, Jacqi asks spirit to take the pressure of and the temperature began to rise again the pressure then went of off Jacqi. Becci feels something tugging by her bottom, Jacqi notices the temperature dropping again to
Becci again feels her clothes moving on her bottom and she calls out to spirit, Jacqi then feels her legs being touched. Becci outstretched her hand and could feel the air a lot colder on her hand. Jacqi then jumped and says her leg has just been poked. Darren and Jacqi change places in the room and both can feel a pressure building.
Steen went and sat in the chair where Jacqi had sat and agreed it felt strange but was not sure if it was due to the chair being so low. Everyone felt a cold draught and then Darren shut the small room door and the draught stopped. No other occurrences in this room.

Room 203
Temperature Reading 4-5 degrees
Becci and Jacqi feel less comfortable in this room, Jacqi asks spirit to come forward and Becci has the name of Jane or James come to mind. Becky feels something touch the top of her hair; Becci, Darren and Jacqi all hear a noise to the right of them near a chair. After a short while sitting quietly the uneasy feeling seemed to just go.

Room 200
EMF Reading 0 Temperature Reading 2-4 degrees.
As soon as we entered this room Steen and Becci hear a whine sound followed by Darren hearing a girls humming, then Jacqi heard a girls voice. All the team hear a thud and thought it maybe the team downstairs but it was not them. Becki feels an arm around her waist three times.
Darren then feels something pushing into the back of his leg and made his leg ache for quite a while. Nothing else happened in this room.
Corridor top of staircase.
EMF Reading 0 Temperature Reading 2-4 degrees.
Standing in the corridor the K2 meter suddenly changed from yellow to red, Becky and Darren heard a rumbling sound, Jacqi felt it by her feet. Team were taking turns in asking for spirit to come forward and communicate with them but no further occurrences here.

Vigil 2 Ground Floor
Great Hall
EMF Reading 0 Temperature reading 3-5 degrees.
The air felt warmer by the enormous fireplace but it was the same temperature as everywhere else in the room. We tried table tipping in here, Becki asks for spirit to come and communicate, no response, Darren then feels the need to move to the other side of the room but does not know why. Becki and Becci feel extremely cold, Becki asks for spirit to make the room warmer. Jacqi is feeling depressed and changes her seat, she feels despair like she is waiting for something that will never come. Steen and Becky hear a sigh then all team hear like an old style whisper. We all feel that this room is some sort of hospitality room where everyone would like to gather.
Steen feels there is a Priest dressed in white heavy robes with a hood that is down, he is bald and wears a red cross and has a short white beard and has the name of Father Peter given to him, Becky has the shivers when Steen said the name of Father Peter.
Becki, Steen and Darren all hear a woman’s voice saying “woooo”
Becci then said she could hear a fly or a bee buzzing as though it was trapped in a curtain. No other occurrences in this room

Medieval Room
EMF Reading 0 Temperature Reading 0-2 degrees.
Becky tries to summon the spirits using the singing bowl; attempts were made by us all to communicate with spirit to no avail. Becki Jacqi and Becci feel quite happy and giggly in this room Steen and Darren suggested that the girls sty alone in this room and they would go back to the Great Hall. The girl’s mood changed and they found themselves with their backs to the wall standing closely together feeling very apprehensive. Becki, Jacqi and Becci then decide to go back to The Great Hall leaving Steen and Darren to stay alone. Jacqi made her way back to the hub where Ken was and Becki and Becci went into the Great Hall together and tried automatic writing to no avail.

Vigil 3
Middle Floor
Kings Room EMF Reading 0 Temperature Reading -0.2
Kings Room, all feel a little apprehensive in this room, possibly due to the dominating statue of King Henry. All are silent and listen to noises in room. Becky asks group how they are feeling, Becci, Steen and Jacqi all have a pain in the same area of their back, thought to be in the region of the liver. Becky has a pain in her lower back. A slight tick is heard from the EMF, on checking there is no reading. While writing notes on the table Becky sees a white flash go under the table and says in her mind’s eye it was a white cat.
Darren calls out and asks if King Henry is in this room, no answer, continues and asks if Ann is here, again nothing, asks if Catherine is here, no answer, asks if the priest is in this room, K2 lights up full colours to red. Darren continues calling out but no more response. Darren goes behind curtain (room divide) on his own but does not pick up on anything. All decided to move onto another room.

Room 101
EMF Reading 0 Temperature Reading 4 to 5 degrees
All sit in silence and acclimatise to room. Jacqi is sitting at the dressing table with her back to the mirror when she feels a gentle brush/pull to her hair. Becky is sitting and feels very very cold, the door creeks, Becci feels a cold breeze. Becky feels a vibration/pat on the bed behind her and quickly stands up. Becky calls out for communication but nothing heard. Jacqi turns to Becci and says ‘Shine your torch on this Trace’ pointing out her watch. Jacqi does not know why the name Trace came into her head.
Becky is calling out, Darren says he doesn’t know why but he suddenly feels very emotional like he wants to cry and he doesn’t know why, he was holding on the bed post when he felt like this. He stood away from the bed and the feeling seemed to leave him as quickly as it came on. While in silence all apart from Steen hear a whimper or a cry. No more communication from this room so all decided to go to Hallway, as Darren opens the door from room 101 to exit Becky gets a strong smell of sick. Becky gets a saw throat like when you have been retching from being sick. Jacqi then smells sick too followed by Becci who says it smells like sick that has been disguised with another smell like a medical smell but not one she recognises. Sick smell then leaves. Darren calls out and says ‘Are you ill’ Becci gets a bad feeling like when you have heard bad news she says ‘it’s like when your heart skips a beat’. No more in this corridor. Vigil ended.

Members Views

Val
When I arrived at Bolebrook Castle I thought how eerie it looked in the dark, something out of a horror film and remember thinking I have to spend a night in here!!!
On the walk around I felt uncomfortable why I do not know. Throughout the night I had my hair touched and pulled and at one point part of my hair that was pulled was standing up away from the rest. Each room I ventured into seemed to be spookier than the previous ones. I was given the name of Victoria Anne Francis and when I asked if she could see us the K2 meter shot up to red light. I felt as though there were a lot of men here, all in army uniform of the 1940’s but not a uniform that I recognised, I had the feeling they came from North America but was baffled as to why they would be in this Castle. Although I was so terribly cold all night I really enjoyed this investigation. I would like to thank Peter Hobcraft for allowing MPI the opportunity to investigate this magnificent Castle and hope one day we may return.

Perry
Bolebrook Castle was one of my first major investigations with Middlesex Paranormal Investigations and I can say it was better than I anticipated. When we started out I didn’t think much would happen and it didn’t at first but after an hour or so things started to happen and that’s when the night began for me. All the nights’ scares started in the Kings room. I don’t know if it was mass hysteria or if there was actually some thing in the room with us but everyone was unease and scared. The most paranormal activity I encountered was towards the end of the night when my team were sat at the end of the hall on a set of stairs with Gary and Colin sat looking out into the hall way. We sat there for about ten minutes before things started to happen Gary and Colin said that they could see some light anomalies coming towards us but from where I was sitting I couldn’t see them. About 3-4 minutes later the group including myself could clearly hear footsteps coming down the hall and up until this happened no time in my life have I ever believed in the paranormal more than I do now? But all in all it was a great night for everyone.

Jenna
My memoir's of Bolebrook Castle. I had a great night despite the cold and lots of interesting sights and sounds occurred. Most memorable part of the evening was being poked on the waist in the King’s bedroom! Also the footstep along the corridoor and the motion sensor turning on was very spooky. The whole building was amazing and each bedroom had a different feel to it. This is a place I would love to re-visit again but I think during the warmer months!

Colin
In room 1 I felt lots of static which interfered with my camera , it made funny electric shock noise, my torch drained out of batteries and my temperature gun kept playing up. Room 2 not much apart from name of Rex , Kings room very uneasy saw little lights , heard some noises like scratching and footsteps in hallway, very very cold. nothing in other rooms , last vigil in hallway I heard running in hall , sensor light turned on by its self so sat out in hall, kept seeing lots of lights like embers from a bonfire very sharp strong breeze from other end of hallway a couple of knocks and footsteps, my hair felt like it was lightly stroked a couple of times through night and torch and camera kept playing up all night in the castle.

Jacqi
It was a very cold and frosty evening when we arrived at our destination. The castle was a very imposing building and had the promise of a great evening. We had our walk round and the rooms were freezing but very impressive. I did not get much in the way of emotions on the walk round but did not take very well to the Kings room. (Probably the very tall waxwork of Henry V111 being in the bedroom did not help much!!!)
On our first vigil we went to the top most bedroom and I got a very strong poke in the leg!!! Made me jump across the bedroom meanwhile frightening all other members of the team with my scream! We received minor activity on the K2 meter and the same on the EMF.
On the other vigils we did not get a lot of activity but I was sitting at a dressing table in one room and had the sensation of someone brushing my hair. Very spooky. On the whole a great evening but very very cold!

Becci B
Bolebrook Castle is a beautiful Building and has a lot of the old fittings and furniture still there. We heard a lot of weird unexplained noises which took us out into the hall ways to try and find out what it was. It sounded like a lady or a female child singing or wining.
A few things happened on the night but not as much as I would have hoped to of happened. I would love to go back there some other day and do another investigation All in all, it was a pleasant investigation

Darren
This was my first big investigation and I was very excited and had been looking forward to investigating. When I arrived at Bolebrook Castle my first impression was what a nice place this is, but it did look a bit spooky in the dark. I enjoyed every minute of the night there especially room 200 for it was in this room that I had captured a baby crying, a huge sigh, and best of all a voice saying “Don’t go” on my voice recorder. I would love to go back again but it would have to be when the night was a bit warmer as it was freezing all night long. I was in a great team, thank you guys! It was a thourally enjoyable night and I cannot wait for the next investigation.

Becky E
I had a fairly interesting evening at Bolebrook. My first experience was when I was in on the top floor in room 204 when I felt something brush past my bottom. During the evening I had a few sensations of being touched including feeling someone’s arm around my waist in a gentile way. On the ground floor in the Medieval Hall I felt quite happy and relaxed at first but suddenly became very anxious and did not want to be in the room any more. On the middle floor in the Kings room I saw a white light/shadow woosh under the table I was writing at, in my mind I instantly thought it was a cat. In room 101 as we were leaving I got a really strong smell of sick, then I felt it in the back of my throat like when you have been really retching and it felt really saw.
During the night several times thought I heard a female voice humming or murmuring. We all heard strange noises, thumps, thuds and whispering at different points in the night.
The 2 rooms I felt most uncomfortable and jumpy in were the Medieval Room and The Kings Room.
It was an amazing location and I would like to come here again in the summer to see what else we can get.

Gary
Bolbrooke Castle is a very interested place. The fun house effect stairs, the freezing cold and the creaking floorboards all added to the investigation. A lot of unexplainable things happened to both the group and myself, most notably for me was being "gripped" by invisible hands in the Kings Bedroom. Skeptically, it may have been my imagination or my own clothing, but I can honestly say that I felt two hands on either side of me push inwards. This was probably one of the best investigations I been on, in regards to evidence and personal experience and would love to investigate Bolbrooke Castle again, maybe during the warmer time of the year.

History and Research by our historian Pat
Bolbrook Castle is definitely a place to visit, through the centuries it has been cared for my many family's mainly \Earls and Dukes of Dorset. The Sackville family also lived here for many many years.
The castle lies in the lovely village of Hartfield which was made famous by Pooh bear; this has also been used as a location on the filming of The Other Boleyn Girl.
It is believed to be the earliest brick building built in Sussex around the time of 1480. Inside there are some very large beautiful rooms, were if you close your eyes you can almost go back in time yourself and imagine what it must have been like.
There is also a door to a secret staircase, and at the top of it is a hidey hole, to which the priest use to hide in should any of King Henry soldier's turn up because if caught it would be off with their heads,
There is also a magnificent huge fireplace in the great hall it is believed to be the second largest in England.
King Henry also courted Anne Boleyn here as she only lived 5miles away.
The King used the surrounding Forrest's and woods as his hunting grounds for pheasants and deer.
Apparently during world war two Bolebrook Castle was used by the Canadian military and someone was supposed to have driven a tank into the lake and could still be there.