Staveley Hall, 20th April 2024

We had only just recovered from our last investigation in Hull when it was time for another new venue for us for 2024. Staveley Hall in Chesterfield, built in 1604, with buildings having been on that land since the Domesday Book, but now used as local council offices.

Would any of us witness the spirit of a priest from the attached church – supposedly killed by a bolt of lightning through a stained glass window hundreds of years ago? We would have to wait and see.

After the initial intro talk we gathered for a whole group vigil outside the rear of the building. The following names came to various guests and team leaders: – ‘Lofthouse’ ‘Lionel’ ‘Jonathan’ ‘Gerry’ and ‘Florence’ (although Florence was mentioned in the intro talk as the name of one of Nic’s haunted dolls). Not feeling much other than the cold night air, we divided into two groups for the full vigils of the evening. Our team headed upstairs to the Room 19, the only room upstairs which we were allowed to investigate. Seemingly staff at the building did not like to go into this room alone. For myself and at least one other guest it was more the walk along the short corridor from the stairs to the room which disturbed us more. A very strong residual oppressive energy about it that made us speed up. I even heard myself saying “No no nope!” as we increased our pace to get to the back room. This was an area some of us would investigate later on.

In the back room some guests set up at the large table to do a Victorian séance, while some others had a go on the ouija board. Both with mixed results. There was some K2 activity which we could not debunk, and at some points the music box trigger object which we had left outside, pointing towards that creepy corridor, did go off a few times without explanation. Myself and a couple of other guests went to sit and call out in the corridor, where we documented several drops in temperature from 22 to 18 degrees. One guest picked up on the sense of an ‘angry cantankerous old man’ who was pacing up and down. We agreed it was more of a residual energy though rather than a spirit form or visitation. This feeling lasted about half an hour then seemed to dissipate. It was not a pleasant atmosphere while it lasted though.

The remaining guests left in Room 19 had further K2 activity and even the odd sound of what seemed to be a duck quacking! We agreed that there seemed to be a childlike spirit messing with us, particularly around the fireplace area at the back of the room.

We then chose to go outside for the last half an hour before the break and ventured over to the old church. Some guests attempted a ouija board on the grass but with little results. The music box did go off when pointed towards the old church gate but we could not be sure some insect or small mammal hadn’t set that off. Ever conscious of keeping an eye on the guests, constantly head-counting (once a teacher always a teacher) I saw a person in grey, walking to the smoking shelter across the other side of the bowling green. I jogged over there to double check we didn’t have a guest going rogue, but found nobody there! So make of that what you will. There was nowhere else for this ‘person’ to have gone. Could it have been our priest in his holy robes? Who knows?

When we all got back together for the break and some much needed crisps and confectionery (as long as there was any left!) I heard from the team leaders in the other group that there had been a fair amount of K2 and rem-pod activity on their vigils in the downstairs rooms, so we were looking forward to seeing if we got the same.

There were large meeting rooms to investigate downstairs. One was much colder than the other with a very different energy to it. We had some seemingly intelligent K2 responses to various questions. One brave guest spent 10 minutes in a pitch-black ante-room between the two rooms but said they felt fine and did not experience anything. Still worthy of a certificate at the end of the night though, along with two guests from the other group who did the same.

A human pendulum session and a simultaneous spirit box session triangulated the name ‘Alec’ or ‘Alex’ who was somehow connected to the building. The other group checked in with us to see if anyone had gone outside (nobody had) as they had seen someone sat at one of the tables outside and heard rustling in the bushes. We cannot discount this as perhaps being a random interloper and some wildlife. But interesting nonetheless.

All in all a great night at this new venue for us (there’s a return visit booked for later this year too). So get involved ghost hunters, and join us for a fascinating evening, investigating various venues around the north, with a genuine non-nonsense paranormal team.

See you again soon, I hope.

Kit