Wiltshire's Ghostbusters

The farmhouse was built shortly after 1820 in a valley lovingly landscaped in the Victorian era, even the nearby lake was created at this time.

Eventually, however, the buildings fell into disrepair, but a couple of years ago the then dilapidated house and barns were converted into offices with a view to develop them into a visitors' and environmental education centre.

Reports of paranormal activity arose during its years of dereliction, when casual visitors were frightened by hearing loud bangs, feeling cold spots, seeing weird outlines of things that shouldn't have been there, and finding objects moved from place to place.

Needless to say, at least one witness was left deeply shocked.

On the evening of 15th September 2007, six investigators from Swindon-based PSI arrived and split into two teams, each taking turns to hold vigils in the offices, bedroom and barn.

A 'presence'

During the very first hour of their five-and-a-half-hour investigation, one member of the team in the office building felt the presence of what she felt was a typical 'farm wife' in her late forties.

Sensed rather than seen, the woman appeared to be of slim build with a ruddy complexion and long brown hair, and had a grubby face. The perception indicated the ghostly woman was involved in a violent relationship, and bore the name Eliza (a recognised short form of Elizabeth).

Although census records for the farm are difficult to find, in 1881 'Park Farm' was occupied by a shepherd called Charles Clark, his wife Fanny, their son William, and daughters Elizabeth and Mary.

It is a notable coincidence that the only name intuited during the entire vigil has a match in the only record found, but it must be remembered that hers was a particularly common forename. And there is also an apparent discrepancy of age: at the time of the census, Elizabeth was aged 14.

In the barn there was the presence of a youth aged around 17. He was wearing a white shirt and dark trousers, and was kneeling, rocking and sobbing as if there had been some kind of accident.

All three members of the team had, in the preceding minutes, either felt sick, dizzy or strangely cold.

Oppressive atmosphere

The situation in the bedroom was even more distressing for this team. Shortly after 11pm they were beset with an oppressive feeling that made the atmosphere thick, and the room seemed to grow visibly darker.

One investigator watched a shapeless red mass form in front of them, and then came the uncomfortable awareness of a presence pacing behind them. Another team member witnessed a red flash, and when the red mass appeared again, the presence felt distinctly menacing.

It seemed to be associated with feelings of a bad death, or even a murder.

It is notable that although the other team visited the same rooms, they reported much less activity.

Both teams had completed Thalbourne's Paranormal Belief Questionnaire before they began the vigil, and had rated 114 and 185. The higher scoring (e.g. more believing) team was the one that went on to report the most phenomena.

Spirit activity

It is tempting to claim this as supporting one or other of the tenacious paranormal theories that a) believers are more likely to perceive actual 'spirit activity' than non-believers; or b) those with high levels of paranormal belief are more likely to perceive activity where there is none. However, with only three members in each team, it is statistically impossible to draw conclusions with confidence.

When assessing evidence for paranormal activity, PSI prefers to err on the side of caution, and despite conducting a range of experiments, taking 110 photographs and recording over ten hours of video evidence, as well as continually logging environmental data, nothing from this investigation can be claimed as convincing evidence.

However, an absence of evidence is not evidence for the absence of paranormal phenomena, so the search continues.