Paranormal Road Trip

Friday 29th April 2011

On the historical day of the Royal marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton, the team set off in the evening on an impromptu investigation as our original location became un-available at the last minute which can happen unfortunately.

A few days ago armed with a vague idea and a laptop, I managed to pull together some places of interest which happened to work out as being in the same vicinity as each other.

As most of the locations were places of historical interest I decided to use the lovely pub in the centre of Wellow as our meeting point and in the lovely and welcoming atmosphere of the Fox and Badger I revealed our locations to the team.

Location 1. Stoney Littleton Long Barrow.

Stoney Littleton is a fine example of a chambered long barrow built during the Neolithic period (roughly 4000– 2500 BC).

Probably dating from about 3500 BC, it is about 30 metres (100 feet) long, and features multiple side chambers in which human remains were once buried. The approach to the barrow – down a long narrow lane, across a stream and through fields – takes the visitor across a landscape that has probably been farmed continuously since Neolithic times.

The Barrow survived intact right up until 1760. The farmer at this time is said to of broken into the Barrow looking for building material. Since then the contents of the Barrow have long since disappeared or even possibly stolen. The Barrow was excavated in 1816 and records suggest that burnt bones and 2 possibly 3 skeletons were found inside. These again have long been lost.

We discovered the Long Barrow relatively easily. The site was clearly signposted from Wellow and after a short walk over a very beautiful brook and in to field and up a very steep hill we discovered the Long Barrow in the next field. Now normally I am absolutely fine with places like this but on entry to the long barrow I was overcome with the feeling of Claustrophobia and had to get out. Pete and Nettie also came out of the Barrow leaving Dave, Maria and Loretta inside. They sat in the main chamber for a while and said that they could just see past the main chamber through a crack in the wall and got the impression that there was another chamber behind the wall.

Pete said that he felt that this Barrow was used for Royal Burial and that there was still one burial not yet discovered. He said this was a crouch burial. Dave went back into the Barrow to take a picture for me and my camera completely drained. My camera also made a strange noise that it has not made before. It wasn't until we decided to move onto the next investigation that I managed to get my camera to function normally again.

Location 2 Nunney Catch Castle

Our next location was the beautiful but well hidden secret of Nunney Catch. Within this very quiet and picturesque village lies the spectacular vision of Nunney Castle. The castle was built in 1370's by Sir John de la Mere when he gained royal favour during the reign of Edward III. After returning from France during the Hundred Years War he built his castle in the French style of architecture. There are those who believe that the castle may have been based on the Bastille in Paris. The beautiful ashlar masonry with windows that have cusped tops and mullions of early Perpendicular style all add to the picturesque beauty of this small castle. In the late 16th century the castle was modernised, unfortunately the interior was ruined during the Civil Wars (1642-51). The castle was besieged by Cromwell's men who used cannons to blast a huge hole in the north wall. The attack by the Parliamentarian forces virtually destroyed the interior of the small castle; however, the damaged north wall remained standing until Christmas Day 1910 when it collapsed into the moat. The wide, deep moat, which was cleared of debris, together with the walls and towers are still intact and lend a measure of charm to the houses of the village which surround the castle.

I kept quiet as Pete, Nettie, Maria and Loretta had no idea of what lay ahead. We parked up by the very beautiful 12th century All Saints Church (also of historical interest) and after a pleasant but brief exchanged with a local gentleman (with the cutest fluffiest dog i have ever seen) who was concerned we were lost, we made our way through the village towards the castle.

Everyone’s reaction when they say the impressive building loom out of the darkness was the same as ours when Dave and I went to visit this lovely place during the day. It literally stops you in your tracks. We entered the grounds through the gate and walked around the still very full moat around to the damaged wall where the entrance is to the castle. The castle is basically a shell with most of the external wall still standing. There is still the remains of the 4 turrets which form large hollow rooms. There is no ceiling remaining. Along the south external wall you can see a door way from the west tower leading to a corridor that ran along the very top floor to the east tower which I imagine is still intact.

After we got our bearings I noticed that no-one had gone and had a look at the west turret. I didn't like the feeling I was getting from there and said to everyone that I noticed it was being avoided. Pete went to take a few pictures and after a few minutes said he felt that we were being watch by a male spirit, (possibly a figure of authority). I started to ask out to see if we could get any activity going and soon we started to hear little stones being thrown. The atmosphere started to change and I felt that the castle shadows had started to look much darker than when we first of all arrived. We all heard a very strange rustling noise coming from the West tower which made us all jump. This was quickly followed by a pigeon Cooing which made us all laugh. We turned our attention back to the castle and we all agreed that no matter how hard you tried, your eyes were always drawn up to the top floors. It was here that Maria, Loretta and myself heard rustling from the East tower that didn't sound like the rustling made by the pigeon. We heard another stone being thrown and then I heard murmuring which I first of thought was Dave but turned out was not. Pete, Nettie, Dave and I decided to walk around the outer perimeter of the castle whilst Maria and Loretta stayed inside. We didn't get any more activity after this time and as it was getting late we decided to move on to our next location.

Location 3 King Alfreds Tower.

King Alfred's Tower is a folly: it is a building that arguably serves no purpose. Nevertheless its size and beauty make it an imposing addition to the landscape and the views from the top are breath taking. The tower was designed in 1765 by Henry Flitcroft, the notable 18th century Palladian architect, and despite the inspiration from St Mark's Tower in Venice, this tower is rather different. Building began in 1769 or early 1770, and was completed in 1772 at an estimated cost of between £5,000 and £6,000.

We eventually arrived at the car park of King Alfreds Tower after what seemed to be a very long journey through twisty turn single track country roads. We stood for a bit talking but the moment the car lights were turned off the whole atmosphere changed around us. It became very oppressive and just felt totally wrong. I said straight away that I didn't want to continue as there were now only 4 of us and I didn't feel safe. Maria and Loretta also felt the same but Dave managed to persuade us to go and check out a gate just by the entrance of the car park. We went over to the gate but it still didn't feel right. We also noticed that there was another gate just opposite the car park and as none of us have ever been here before and hadn't a clue which direction the tower was we went over to the other gate. Just inside we could see a plaque which informed us there was quite a walk to the tower. As it was pitch black and we are not familiar with the territory, we decided to call it a night and come back hopefully with a few more people after Dave and I have had a chance to check the site out by day light. We hurried back to our cars and said a few hasty goodbyes before we all sped off. Not once did the oppressive feeling leave but we did comment that it was worse in the car park.