Fort Redoubt Report
Submitted by Wendy Starr
Team consisted of
Woody
Wendy
Joan
Mick
Kev
Angela
Steve
After protection had been carried out, the group split into two teams. Team 1's first port of call was the Carbonnier below the base area. Not long after descending there were reports of a chill. Kev felt himself swaying and said there was a dark figure hovering at the top of the stairs as though it were watching and checking.
Mick felt that at some point the room had been used for storage as he could sense barrels and straw on the floor.
Woody calls out.
Within a couple of minutes the temperature dropped from 14c to 9.6c.
A shadow was seen on the second floor parapet which appeared to be crossing a faint light, while Joan saw a light at the corner of the 2nd floor.
Mick picked up a man from WW2 from a Canadian Regiment.
Angela sensed a Revenue man who was tall and wearing a blue top with buttons and braids, light trousers and a tall helmet with a peak. He was also wearing what were described as 'spat' type things. She sensed the name Frederick with this man.
Mick and Woody again saw a shadowy figure on the 2nd floor.
Angela sensed someone in front of her and reported her arm had been touched.
Kev sensed a moustached man in a high hat with a chinstrap and a peak, and gold braid.
Footsteps were heard on the 2nd floor.
Angela feels that the man had sideburns that were heavy to his mouth, and senses something to her left.
There was a noise behind Woody and Mick and Wendy heard a gentle 'beating' sound.
Joan and Kev smelled something like carbolic soap and Kev saw a misty shape in the passage to the left of the stairs.
8.55pm
Joan felt something touch the side of her face, and Woody still hears footsteps.
The temperature has dropped to 7c.
Wendy senses a man on the 2nd floor watching, and Joan sees a dark shadow to the right. Wendy sees a fuzzy white light move across on the left, and then hears whispering.
Wendy and Mick sense the atmosphere thickening and Woody feels a real chill go through him.
The thermometer is now pointed at the wall and registers 9.9 degrees. On request it drops to 2.6. (the drop in total has been 11.4 degrees since entering the carbonnier)
Joan can still see the shadow and feels her arm touched.
Kev is feeling sadness.
9.10pm
Mick feels a tightening in his gut, and Kev can see a dull light in the passageway left of stairs.
Kev feels that the person he is picking up on was 16/17 years old and was homesick. He didn't want to be here away from his parents.
Joan feels someone touching her hair and senses a dark coat with big cuffs.
Wendy senses a male by her and Angela wearing a grey greatcoat. She feels he is hurrying and describes him as having unkempt hair collar length. He says we have to hurry, and Wendy senses that he was attacked in some way. He seems scared, and is aged about 22. She feels his name was Jeremy Marsden and he has brass buttons oon his coat. He tells her he wasn't scared and he didn't run.
Wendy hears a sound in the distance she describes as a bugle.
Joan can smell leather.
9.22pm
Mick is still getting a man from the Canadian regiment.
Everyone hears a whistling sound, and Kev senses something move forward like a dog.
Wendy requests the help of medium Mick to communicate with Jeremy as she is worried about him.
Mick makes a connection, and is told that Jeremy regrets being unable to say goodbye and that he was murdered. He saw something he should not have seen, witnessing something evil. He saw a rape and murder, and was then murdered himself by three men.
Mick sensed he hurt his left hand, and then had his throat slit.
Kev hears what he describes as a volley of gunfire.
BREAK
10.15pm
Guardroom/storeroom/jail
Woody calls out
wendy senses a faint residual of men being very busy, stacking boxes of ammunition and barrels of gunpowder.
A rifleman is sensed. Mick calls out and gets an image of a big welshman. He feels we shouldn't be here. We are out of place, and everything has its place.
Angela senses his name is Dafyd. Mick feels he was a sergeant and that the others were scared of him. They were only boys aged 16/17.
Wendy gets a tightness and a pain in her chest and feels he may have suffered from something like emphysema. Mick senses he also had gout. Both Angela and Joan feel tight chested. The sergeant tells Mick to get out.
Mick sees small moving lights, and Angela gets the song 'All through the night' in her head.
BREAK
11.15
While on break, knocking is heard twice from the carbonnier. It is felt that both Chas and Chris had spirit attachments, and these are dealt with by Mick. Both had previously been in carbonnier.
Michelle and Wendy sensed a large figure with Chas, larger than him and dark.
Wendy and Joan saw a light coming from the carbonnier.
As some of the group went to look, Denise and Bex saw a figure in a white shirt, quite tall standing to the right of Woody. The figure moved toward the stairs.
Woody, Steve and Mick returned down to the carbonnier and reported it as being freezing cold. It was described by both Steve and Woody that it was as if they had followed something down to the carbonnier and walked thru it. The ice cold was felt at exactly the same time by both Steve and Woody and quickly dissipated. Both reported that the caponnier felt quite warm generally as they walked on and investigated further . they returned to the base area shortly after this .As there was activity reported during the break, some of the group decided to remain at base. Woody hears footsteps from below and sets up a motion detector on the stairs.
Joan went to stand at the top of the stairs, and Wendy called her back as she felt Joan was about to get pushed.
As the group cam back uo the stairs, the light motion sensor went off behind them. Steve felt icy cold across his shoulders.
Kev called out.
Faint light coming from carbonnier, and flashes above the stairs. It was checked outside for anyone with torches but there was no one around.
Mick saw a light like a star, and Wendy saw a grey mist near the top of the stairs.
Mick is getting a response from the stair area and can hear someone coming up them.
A sound recorder was placed down on the stairs.
We all felt we could hear talking from downstairs, and Wendy felt it was male.
Kev saw a shadow like a hand run up Woodys arm to his shoulder.
Just before we departed for the night a group consisting of Kev, Mick, Wendy, Denise, Michelle, Gail and Chas (sorry if anyone was missed off that list) went back down to the carbonnier to offer prayer and solace. All distinctly heard voices chanting in unison in the cadence of prayer. Although no words could be made out, this chanting was louder than Kevs speaking voice (who was leading). No one felt afraid of this. All felt calm.
After a brief and uneventful visit to the gunnery the investigation ended.
Team 2 Report
Submitted by Denise Bottali
Team Members
Denise, Michelle, Chas, Bex, Gail, Colin and Chris
Following the circle of protection lead by Michelle our first investigation commenced at 8.30pm
CELLS/GUARDROOM/OFFICERS QUARTERS
We began in what we shall call Cell 1 which was the one furthest away from the Guardroom to the left.
I had not informed any of the team as to the name of the area in which we were. Michelle immediately sensed that we were in a dungeon and that someone was touching her head and hand.
Colin could smell cigarette smoke. We suggested this may be due to members of the team smoking earlier, but he said it was stale smoke. He could also hear movement coming down from the steps that led to this area.
Bex felt she had a very oppressive headache and felt a draught across her face.
Chas was given the name of Jacque and 1816. He was speaking French saying he did not like what 'they' had done to him. When we asked him who 'they' were he went on to say that he was not alone in the cell, another French prisoner had been torturing him. Jacque was imprisoned for treason. Chas felt very cold around his back.
At this stage Denise asked Gail to check the temperature readings. It was 13.9c. Denise asked Jacque to move towards the little box in Gail's hand (temperature gauge) to see if he could make the room go colder. The temp then started to go down, 13.8, 13.6, 13.2, 12.9, 12.4, 12.1, 11.8. We thanked Jacque for his help.
Denise felt her head being touched and her back went cold, as did
Gail who was given the name of Francis. Michelle felt that Jacque was moving around us all.
Colin asked Jacque if the other person with him was his cellmate to which yes was given. He then asked what crime this cellmate had committed. Denise, Michelle and Chas all said 'murder' at the same time.
Both Chas and Denise felt that Jacque was a small, slight man with long blond hair tied back. He was now behind Michelle touching her head.
Colin asked if there had been more than 2 people in the cell to which he was answered by Chas 8. Jacque had died in the cell. Denise asked Jacque if he was stuck in the cell, to which he answered through Chas that he was able to roam along the battlements now to look out at his mother country. Colin asked if he had been taken prisoner in France and brought here. Chas said he was trying to escape from France. Michelle felt he had been hung. Gail checked the temperature to find it had risen to 12.8. We thanked Jacque for talking to us.
The team moved through to the Guard Room.
Michelle could smell cooking and Bex and Chas felt a breeze around their heads.
Standing in the corner to the right of the fireplace (front on), Denise, Chas, Bex and Chris felt the temperature drop. It read 12.9.
Michelle could see a very tall man in a dark blue uniform standing by the fireplace and had her face touched. She was also given what she thought was a name of Deflowers.
Chas could see a different tall man in a brown or khaki uniform with a box cap (later in the evening when we went to the Gunnery we saw a photograph of men wearing this uniform). Chris confirmed this uniform was from the Crimean period, a Militia Unit.
Denise was given the name of Mark and felt this gentleman belonged to ww2 era. She too had her face touched.
Michelle then got a boy of 15 saying "I'm in the book". Chris said that there would have been a 'Punishment Book'.
Denise and Gail went into Cell 2 (next to the Guard Room) to try to get an evp recording but had no result. Gail felt very light headed whilst there.
Back in the Guard Room Chas felt as though he was being crushed and Michelle could see a pair of eyes and a copper cauldron.
The team then moved through to the Officers' Quarters.
Chas felt he was being dragged into the room furthest from the Guard Room by a Bat Man (Officer's servant).
Denise knelt down and felt that a young boy used to kneel down shining Officers shoes, but would not look one Officer in the face. The boy had a trauma to his head.
Chas said this Officer had committed 'Buggery' with this boy, and that the Officer had bludgeoned the boy about the head and killed him. The Officer had been sent away from the Fort in disgrace.
Chris said this 'act' was known as 'deflowering' (Michelle had picked up on this word earlier but had thought it was a name).
Michelle gave the boy's name as Roberto, so we tried to get evp recording with no result. Chas said this was because the boy was mute.
Colin's guide 'Michael' was trying to give a 'Latin' name to him but was unable to.
The team thanked Roberto and promised to come back to help him later. Break 9.30pm.
10PM IST CAPPONIER
Chas straight away felt compelled to go to the area right opposite the bottom of the steps. On arriving there Denise felt very light headed. Everyone could hear a clicking noise. Michelle felt very apprehensive and Gail felt as though something was bearing down on her head. Bex felt pain, like a hot poker digging in her neck to the side of her throat.
Whilst most of the team were in this area, Colin had gone upstairs and was walking around the balcony area, noticing extreme changes in temperature in certain areas. We all joined him, and again, the temperature was fluctuating 9.1, 7.9, 7.8, 9.2, 9.7, 8.9, 10.1, 8.2, 8.0 and 7.7 as we were following him around.
Gail tried to use her temperature gauge, she was standing away from the balcony when the gauge left her hand and landed in the area down below us as if it had been knocked out of her hand. Chris went down alone to retreat it, and was convinced that someone was following him and felt very uneasy. Both Chris and Chas’s backs went cold and they felt that someone was watching us. We all began to smell the strong smell of sulphur and Chas was physically pushed forward in the back. Chris was impressed on that this was because Chas was a big man and that the spirit following us was also of the same stature, with bushy sideburns, wearing a white shirt. He was not a nice man and pushed Chas to prove a point. Suddenly Chris felt as though he wanted to cry and Denise saw a light directly above Chas’s head. At this moment Chas said that this man’s name was Dan. Michelle was told that he used to Box, Chris agreeing that he was a ‘brawler’. We tried EVP and Denise asked Dan to come forward and speak into the little box that she was holding. On playing this back a sharp intake of breath and sigh was heard by all. Chas then sensed that Dan had moved away from us so we followed him to where we sensed he had gone. Chris was given that a flight of steps was significant to Dan, and Chas said that he had fallen down a flight of stairs and this is how he had passed. Denise at this stage was feeling very light headed again and received the impression that yes he had fallen down the stairs during a fight, but it had been accidental, not intentional. Michelle went on to say that the cause of his passing was due to a brain hemorrhage. Chris felt that this spirit roamed the whole fort. Denise, Michelle, Gail and Bex all simultaneously could smell a strong, sweet scent of flowers. Michelle received a very strong impression that there were bodies buried underneath the ground in the lower area. We felt that Dan had began to move around the whole of the balconied area so we followed, calling out to him.
Chris felt that he could sense Dan leaning over the balcony in an aggressive manner and that he now wanted us to leave. So with this we left for the next break at 11pm.
11.30PM THE GUNNERY
As we were descending the steps down into the Gunnery area, both Denise and Chas felt that ‘others’ were running up the stairs and that we should get out of their way.
We made our way into a room that had a display of old photographs hanging on white boards. Denise felt that a lot of men were standing around the room, leaning against the wall looking at us.
We all felt very cold, the temperature reading 6.3 and Chas felt hemmed in. Both Chas and Chris felt drawn towards the same photograph. Chris sensed that there were about a dozen men watching us. They were Gunners wearing the shirt sleeves rolled up, and dark blue trousers with a red stripe down the side.
Colin asked for a Lieutenant Alfred Caulson to come forward and make his presence known to us. He was also given the year 1861-62, a Jack the Lad character and that everyone around him knew of him. Denise felt that the Gunners were saying ‘Why are these women in here’, meaning the girls in our group. So out of respect for them we moved into the next room leaving the boys alone. At this moment Chris heard ‘Why, Why?’
The room into which the girls moved into was felt to be a rest room by Michelle, the temperature fell 6.7, 5.9, 5.5, 5.4.
We returned to join the boys in the next room as Colin received the name of Macmillan, a retired, portly, jolly man who spent time in the mess.
Chas believed his first name to be John from 1920. Both Michelle/Chris felt that John had a secret. At this stage Denise said her legs felt very weak. Colin sensed that there were now 15 men, standing around us. Chas began to ask out to the spirits and was told in a stern manner by Colin that ‘Gunnery Sargeant Bryson was now present so address him correctly’.
Denise spoke to the spirits explaining that our time was 2008 and that women were treated as equals to men. Through Colin, Sargeant Bryson replied ‘Officers and women should know their place and hoares outside the gate’ (charming!). Colin explained that Bryson had now left the room and that the other spirit men began laughing at Bryson.
Colin then went onto say that his guide ‘Michael’ was trying to bring through another man called Banks, Chas believed his first name to be Edward. Chris began to feel cold to his left side and Colin explained that Edward Banks was standing there and wanted to set Denise up with Macmillan. As he said this, another spirit with a Freddy Mercury type moustache pushed forward. He was very stern. Colin described Edward Banks as wearing a single chevron on his arm, he was a Lance Corporal and said that he was asking Denise for a kiss in exchange for his broken watch. To which she declined. He also had a scar on his right hand going upwards on his arm. The injury was his fault, a knife wound, his bayonet had slipped.
Michelle could see that all the men around us appeared to have dirty, black hands.
Through Colin, Edward Banks went on to ask to exchange Denise for his campaign medal, which was on a green and red ribbon. Again, she declined so he said ‘Wait till I de-mob’, she is the finest filly in Kent’ and asked if she was married. When she said yes and for how long, another spirit that Chas had sensed called David Jacks said ‘that is longer than my age. He was18.
With this we thanked the Spirits for speaking to us and then brought an end to this light hearted conversation and made our way out of the Gunnery for our next break at 12.30am
Here is the report from our friends from GHT Essex SpiritQuest Online
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What fantastic location!!!!! Colin and Chris been lucky enough to get inside back in the early 90`s, but afterwards the Fort had been sealed until recent conservation work started in 2006. Its one of those places that you always hope and dare to be able to get inside and do a vigil, but to actually get that chance was simply outstanding. Alot of interesting details have emerged, dates, names and objects to all check up and research on and the spiritual activity, though slow to start - did seem to be getting stronger, possibly feeding of the energy of the large group that was the two teams. Although Colin and Chris had to leave after the above Rifle Gallery vigil, the ISLE OF THE DEAD team stayed on much later and got even better results towards the end of the investigation. You can read about their report details from here and other locations on their website at: http://www.isleofthedead.co.uk