Annesley Hall

Most Haunted Investigation (Series 5)

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History of Annesley Hall

Annesley Hall is a grade 2 listed building which is located about 8 miles n/west of Nottingham.  William the Conqueror owned Annesley Hall and he granted the hall to a fellow Norman by the name of Ralph Fitz-Herbert.  When the Fitz-Herberts time ended at Annesley Hall in 1154, a Ralph Britto who had founded Felly Priory in 1156 (a site which was located closeby to Annesley Hall, took the name Annesley over (Ralph Britto de Annesley.  When he died he was buried near the altar of Felly Priory Church.

The Annesley family remained the Lords of Annesley Hall up to the 15th century.  John Annesley and his lady wife Isobell Annesley had a young daughter called Alice, who became the heiress of Annesley Hall at 6 years old when her father passed away.  Alice eventually married a George Chaworth who was son to Sir Thomas Chaworth (Knight of Wiverton). The Chaworth Family lived at the hall until the start of the 19th century.

In the Most Haunted Investigation there is a connection to Lord Byron picked up on and this is because one of the Chaworths, William Chaworth, died after being hurt and wounded in a duel with Lord Byron in 1765.  The Chaworth's connection to the Annesley continued until the 1790s until George Chaworth passed away.  His only daughter Mary-Ann Chaworth was left as an heiress to the lands of Annesley, which were subsequently passed to a John Musters, after she got married to him, (who was actually son to the Squire of Colwick).  They then took the name Chaworth-Musters and lived at the hall until 1973.  At this time they then sold the property and went to live at Felly Priory.  The hall now stands empty and is a bad state of repair.

Most Haunted Investigation

The Bubonic Plague was rife in the 14th century and lots of people died and they were buried at the nearby church.  The 19th century village was demolished and a fire in the main building of Annesley Hall left it a shell of its former self and now it remains derelict although the roof has been rebuilt.

Ghostly Happenings

In the dining room a while lady has been seen and also the sound of music playing has been heard.  There has been lots of poltergeist activity -  objects get thrown across the floor.  In Byron's bedroom people have felt themselves being pushed out of the room by unseen hands.  A young girl was said to have hanged herself in the laundry room and she has been seen walking underneath the spot where she lived.

An eye witness who spoke to Most Haunted  said one night during a party he had seen a figure standing at one of the windows. When he reported this back at the party the mickey was taken out of him but when he spoke to other people he found out that they had also seen the ghost of a maid.  In the Library Room murmurs have been heard and the smell of cigar smoke has been smelt.  In the Cellar knocking and scraping noises have been heard.

Derek Accorah (DA) and David Wells (DW) and the Most Haunted Team

Derek and Yvette started in the ground floor dining room.  DA said he got the feelings of secrecy and blockage.  He picked up a spirit man - William - and a lady who seemed very distraught and lots of tears/crying.  Many residents called William had resided at the hall so a surname was needed to get a connection.  DA said that the man had killed her boy child by blinding him.  The date he came up with was 1685.  He said the womans name was Isobel or Isobella - but there was no trace found of a murder or the names. DA said the man, William reguarly visit the hall.

DA and Yvette then went to the Entrance Hallway and DA mentioned an old man, who was unkempt, in leather (not the William character) who possibly had tended to the horses as his job. DA said he felt he would be most likely to try and unsettle the group during their vigils.  In the Stairwell area DA said there was a reinactment going on where a young boy returns to the stairwell reguarly in memory.  DA said something about the bones of the boy being moved.  In actual fact 17th century bones were found of a pregnant woman in the stairwell in the 1940s.

In the Panelled Room on the first floor DA felt feelings of unhappiness and hurt coming through and a boys energy in the corner area of the room.  DA said he thought the boy would have shown himself to people or that people would have heard his screams.  DA said this boy was murdered and would have been about 8 years old, possibly younger, died around 1685.

DW was then brought in and went back to the dining room where DA had been. DW picked up on a female with very long hair who was covered in blood - said she appeared to be bleeding from her wrists and her throat. DW then went on to the Blue Room and picked up a man, Edward or Edmund.  Both names lived at the hall but again needed surnames for a connection.  DW said he heard a voice of the man saying that he had built this from nothing and therefore that gave him the right to say what goes on under his roof.  In the East bedtoom DW said he wished he could go up a floor (but this wasnt safe due to fire damage).  He said the womans husband had stabbed her as he found out she had been unfaithful to him.  Said her name was Elisabeth. DW also said it wasnt a premeditated murder but happened spontaneously, on Halloween at a full moon.

The team then held a seance in the East bedroom, they sat around a small table.  They asked out for Elisabeth and the spirit of a woman tried enter DW but he didnt let her. Knocking on the table occured and was felt by all. Next DA got overtaken by the woman Elisabeth and kept asking for her husband to be kept away from her.  DA described her as a sweet soul.  Scratching noises were heard and whilst talking to Elisabeth, asking her to move the table, they heard noises directly above them (the 3rd floor was inaccessible to them due to the fire damage) but they still heard the noises above. Yvette started to speak out to Elisabeths husband asking him (William) to move the table.  Then she asked him if he was a coward (!) and at that point Derek got took over apparently by William and told them to "get out" . Carl tried to speak to William (through Derek) to find out how he had died and William said "I live on".

Basement Cellar

Carl went to investigate alone. When he called out to ask if anyone was there there were noises and movement heard and smells.  A footstep was heard too. Carl felt uncomfortable like he wasn't alone.  He heard a "sigh". Carl asked out loud if what he had heard was real or was it just wishful thinking, at that point he then heard footsteps so he then made a hasty exit! He got Stuart and they went to the Great Hall area.   Carl asked out to Lord Byron and asked him to show himself - a sound was heard like something breaking. 

Richard the historian was in the Slaughterhouse (the servants quarters) and he spoke out to try and contact the spirit of the girl who had hanged herself.  Carl said something touched his hand, Richard asked for another sign and an orb was caught on camera. They all then went to the Clock Tower (Carl, Richard & Alex) and this was where the most exciting results ever occured! The clock constantly ticks quite loudly and it sounded quite eerie.  Carl asked Elisabeth if she was there, and if so, to try and do something, to try and stop the clock. I dont think he thought for a second anything would happen, but the CLOCK STOPPED! Then it slowly started again. Carl shouted out to the others to tell them what had just happened so Carl thanked Elisabeth and then asked her to stop the clock again if she could - and again - it stopped ! They asked her to start it up again and it did, it resumed ticking.  Carl then heard footsteps nearby, he asked her what she wanted, did she want to communicate with them and if she did, to tap something or do something to show this.......immediately the clock chimed out and loud knocking was heard - loud enough and out of the blue to scare Carl senseless!! What a result! 

After, on the MP3 player, strange noises were caught but they couldnt determine what they were.

(c) Spirit&SpiritualCircles2006