Somerleyton Hall - Suffolk

Most Haunted Investigation (Series 5)

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The land upon which Somerleyton Hall stands has been inhabited since 1240.  The Hall itself was built between 1844-185 by the builder/entrepreneur, Sir Morton Petro, who not only built the harbour and esplanade at Lowestoft in Suffolk but also The Houses of Parliament and Nelsons Column.  The hall is located 8 miles west of Lowestoft.

Somerleyton Hall took Sir Morton Petro several years to build (at a huge expense) and he referred to it as "his paradise on earth".  If you ever get the chance to visit Somerleyton you can see why.  I visited Somerleyton Hall quite a few years ago and its probably one of finest/grandest halls that I have ever visited, the maze is fantastic and the hall grounds are stunning. Nearby Fritton Lake is lovely too.

The maze was the work of the well-known gardener, William Nesfield and he planted and designed the maze in 1846 using yew hedges.

In 1860 Sir Morton Petro was experiencing financial problems which were so great that he unfortunately went bankrupt and so sold the hall to the Crossley Family who came from Yorkshire.  The head of the Crossley family, Sir Francis Crossley was a carpet manufacturer and he was also the great grandfather of the present Lord Somerleyton.

To this day, Somerleyton Hall is one of suffolks biggest tourist attractions.

Most Haunted Investigation

Background: Apparent full body apparitions have been seen, feelings of oppression and nausea have been experienced by staff and visitors.  Poltergeist activity is prevalent. Footsteps and whispers are heard, as is the sound of the servants bell ringing.  The maze is said to be haunted and people have seen a dark figure in the maze and also children have been heard playing.

At the main staircase the ghost of a woman (said to be Martha, Francis Crossley's mother) is seen wandering down the stairs and then collapsing to the floor in grief for her husband who passed away.

The most haunted room at Somerleyton Hall is Room 7 - a room which has been locked and closed off to the public and staff for 20 years - until Most Haunted came to investigate that is!!

Investigation: Kieran O'Keefe placed trigger objects in the first floor main bedroom and carried out tests.  When he was checking the electrical field on the staircase the reader jumped to 2-5 when a normal reading would be 1-2 which is normal.  There is no electrical supply on the stairs so he cannot explain why the readings suddenly jump when standing at a certain point on the staircase.

First Floor Corridor - Derek Accorah, Yvette and Kieran

Derek said a young girl of about 4 or 5 years old runs up and down the passage-way and sits on the window seat looking out of the window to see who is coming.  He said she died of small pox. Derek said people would hear/have heard little footsteps as she runs up and down. He felt she was the daughter of the lady of the house. Yvette asked him for a year and he said 1678. He said the lady's name was Elizabeth Anguish. Came up with the name Helena for the child but there were no records found of a child or a smallpox related death at Somerleyton.

First Floor Master Bedroom

Derek described it as a hive of physical and spiritual phenomena caused by a spirit person either in visitation or who was grounded there.  He felt it was a male who had a very agitated persona. Felt that one second he was calm and the next extremely agitated. Derek felt he was part of a group which was somehow secret as he got the feelings of secrecy. He said this male had delved into satanic practices. Phenomena that people would experience in this room said Derek, was people waking up in the night, making the bedspread move or the bed shake.  He also said that the sofa would be pulled out from its usual position.

Main Staircase - David Wells - Night Walk

David picked up on a hostess, an older lady, in an elaborate victorian gown, wearing pearls. She told David that she was wearing "jet" which he beleived to be the colour for mourning. Said her name was Elizabeth, she was slightly bossy and fussy and was a previous owner of the hall. David said he could see her walking in front of them.  Kierans electric meter reader went up in the same spot as before for no apparent reason. David suggested that it was the energy Elizabeth was leaving as she walked past them and around the corner, so Kieran followed where David pointed and the meter appeared to move in accordance with the spirits movements. Yvette asked David why she was grounded and still here and David said, Elizabeth communicated to him this "why should there have to be a story - I simply loved the place and I loved my family".

Attic Corridor - David Wells

The first thing David said was that he was picking up a link either with, or in the style of, Jack the Ripper.  Yvette was shocked.  He said an utterly gory murder had taken place whereby a woman had had bits of her body removed and taken out. When pressed further by Kieran, David further said that she had been pregnant and someone had removed her womb. He said although she was not far gone in her pregnancy there was definately a life there that had been taken.  No records of a murder at the hall exist.

Room 7 - The room that has been locked for 20 years due to its strange occurances.

David unlocked the door.  They found some old things in there covered in white sheets and covered in dust. There was an old fashioned pram. There was an old storage room in there too. David picked up the strong energy of a child, of a woman that was murdered (possibly the one that had been mentioned before) and a loss of a child. David then said to Yvette it was kind of the old story that they had heard time and again, of a master of the house having an affair with a maid and the maid getting pregnant etc etc,  but in this case it wasn't the master, but it was the second son. He came up with the names Anna Maria Christiansen or Christenden and said he felt she was either Scandinavian, Norwegian or Danish. No records were found to confirm this name.  David asked who had murdered her and she said "him", the spirit of the lady also said she was buried in the grounds and that her murder had been covered up.  David said it occurred in the late 17th-early 18th century. He further explained that when spirits communicated to him in these circumstances (murder) that the state of grief they were in meant they were verging on the point of madness.

The Team decided to then split into 2 groups:-

Group 1 - David Wells, Kath, Alex & Yvette - Ground Floor Library

The temperature dropped considerably as all sat down freezing cold. David told Yvette that there were 15 to 20 soliders standing around them. Kath got touched on her head a couple of times. 2 small flashing lights were caught on film. Yvette asked for any spirits present to make the temperature even colder if they could. Yvette got what she asked for as the temperature dropped even further and Yvette described it as being bitterly cold.

Group 2 - Derek Accorah, Karl, Richard, and both John's - Attic: Room 10 (the highest part of the hall)

Derek said the energy there didn't want them in there (the team). The camera man thought someone was standing next to him. When they called out they heard a noise. They called out to Anna and said if that was her, for her to knock. They then had a knock. They then asked for her to knock again if she had done it before and again they had a knock in response. They asked if she was happy and there was no response but when they asked if she was unhappy they heard a knock.

Next the team decided to split into 3 groups so they could try and cover one level each.

Derek, Richard, Alex, John - Garden Maze

The team endeavoured to find their way around the maze in the dark.  At one point Alex jumped and thought that someone was standing right by her. They heard a loud noise like 'banging on metal' which came from where they had just been, then they heard a drumming noise a couple of times.  Derek then asked if anyone was there and they then heard the noise a third time.

David, Kath and Yvette - Main Bedroom

They asked out for any spirits to make themselves known. They heard a strange noise coming from the corner of the bedroom, a rustling noise. They all agreed it was very quiet. David said a male figure was with them but that he was finding it hard to connect with him. They then heard a noise.  The team then heard Karl going crazy above them.........

Karl - Room 7

When Karl first entered the room he noticed the eerie quietness and felt a breeze around his neck. He then heard movements which made him uneasy. He then asked out to the spirits that had been the cause of the room being locked for over 20 years and said "i dare you to show yourselves to me by the doorway. It was a very tense moment!! Karl said the atmosphere was oppresive and uncomfortable. He asked out again and this time he heard a kind of dragging noise. Then Karl said is there anyone here with me and at this point there was a loud bang and Karl then panicked and tried to get out of the room. This was what Yvette's team had heard. When they joined Karl in Room 7 he was in a state as he said that when he had tried to get out the door had locked as though someone was pulling it shut and consequently he couldnt open the door which had really freaked him out!!

While they were all discussing this the door slammed shut while they were in there. David Wells said there was a young angry female presence there with them - an angry energy.  They asked whoever it was to make a noise and as they stood silent, a loud banging was heard.  Is your name Anna they asked - there was a knock for yes! Kath then freaked as she felt someone touching her head a number of times. Did you shut the door they asked - there was no answer.  Would you prefer if the door was closed they asked - there was a knock in response. Then a light anomaly was caught on film. They closed the door and there were 2 knocks heard. The team asked if she needed their help and did she want to leave this place and Karl made them all jump as something grabbed the back of his head quite forcefully!  Then the bell ping'd. To explain, the bell looked like a long spoon which hung from a doorway, it wasnt working anymore and was just hanging there, swinging slightly. The only way to get a ping noise is to ping it with a flick of a finger, yet a ping noise was clearly heard and caught on sound.

All in all it was a brilliant investigation which i think - needs a revisit from the team to see what else they can uncover!!

(c) Spirit&SpiritualCircles2006

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º°`°º¤ø,¸ Related Somerleyton Hall Links º°`°º¤ø,¸

http://www.somerleyton.co.uk/

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http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/somerley.htm

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http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/wtw/sources/themes/crossleyfamily.htm

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