Investigation Report Admiral Keppel
By Joan Furman
On the 4th November 2007, Denise, Wendy, Michelle and Joan visited the Admiral Keppel for the first time, and were given a tour of the building. During this tour, a lady wearing a long grey dress, mop cap and long apron was picked up by Michelle and Denise, first in the kitchen area, and later upstairs in the attic, they were given the name of Molly.
The area around the door that leads up to the attic seemed very active; it was almost like receiving a mild electric shock as we drew nearer to it.
Back downstairs a man was sensed in the bar area, and we were given the name of Jack.
Wendy also picked up on a man in the area of the pool table, standing near where the cues are stored, and several clicking noises, were heard although nobody was in that end of the pub.
Another slightly older gentlemen was also picked up, he was wearing a flat cap, had a small moustache and was sitting at a table to the right of the front entrance, next to him was a small black and white jack Russell dog, although he did not give us a name, we were told being told this was his seat.
A male presence was also picked up in the toilet area, possibly Jack, and it was felt that something else had once stood in this area.
Denise picked up on a strong smell of fish in the cellar.
On 12th January 2008, we arrived to carry out an investigation almost immediately there was activity in the bar area, some of our team were actually sitting at the bar, and most of them found themselves prodded, poked in the back, their hair pulled, or even given a gentle nudge in the side.
At one stage Joan felt someone brush past her, but as she turned there was nobody anywhere near.
Joan’s emf meter which was on the table behind her reacted pulsed several times although there was nothing electrical anywhere near it, one of the gauss meters also went off a couple of times for no obvious reason.
Denise had been getting a mental image all week of standing looking out of the upstairs window at the church across the road, and felt as if someone was saying I am over there. So she and Angela went over to the church to have a look around before the investigation started.
Team 1 Team 2 Suzy Kirsty
Team 1 went upstairs, while team 2 covered the bar and cellar areas.
Team 1 made their way to the Attic where almost immediately Brian picked up on a male presence, the man was putting a glove on his hand, Brian said that it was a gauntlet rather than a glove, and he felt that the man was into falconry, and got the name Richard.
Denise sensed a young boy, aged about 7, called Jake, she said that Jake didn’t like this man.
Alex had his hair tickled, and Joan sensed someone standing behind him.,
Joan was aware of movement by the door and picked up on a cat, and also got given the name of Robert. She felt someone was standing between her and Alex; Denise also picked up on this and saw a shadow moving between the two of them
At this point, Woody heard some tapping; the temperature in the attic began to drop going from 8.6 to 7.4 down to 6.5 in a matter of seconds.
There was a lot of activity around the team, Joan felt someone poking her in the back, so strongly it was almost physical, Angela was also aware of someone standing behind her and Joan, and the temperature behind them again dropped rapidly.
Angela felt as if the attic had been used as a punishment area, and that the man with the glove often used the glove to slap the boy. Brian also picked up on this.
Denise felt a little person standing behind her, wrapping their arms around her legs, and Nicole felt someone blowing on her neck.
Brian then got an image of a policeman, and took it to be symbolic of the surname of the man, and that his name was Constable, Richard Constable.
The temperature continued to drop, and Alex began to feel ill and very weak, the team decided that perhaps it might be a good idea to go the floor below.
Main Bedroom
This room had a very negative feel to it, something that most of the team picked up the moment they entered it.
Brian almost immediately sensed there had been matrimonial dispute; which had led to the death of the wife. He felt that the husband had wrongly believed that his wife was having an affaire with his own brother and in a drunken rage had struck her over the head, sadly the blow proved fatal and he had later hung for his crime. Joan felt that he might have taken his own life because he was overcome with remorse for what he had done and perhaps he had hung himself.
The name Priscilla was picked up, and later the name of Secombe,
Joan got the name Seaton and also the name Samuel.
Denise felt that these events took place in the 1700’s and Brian agreed with this.
Denise also sensed that the husband was a large man with sandy blond hair with long sideburns. He was wearing a white shirt with a ruffle to the neck; the sleeves billowed out and came in at the wrist.
She also kept seeing a black horse, and did suggest that perhaps the pub had once been known by that name.
Joan sensed a woman wearing along dark riding habit, with a white lace at the front of the jacket and a hat that resembled a beret in shape worn slightly cocked to one side. She was given the name of
Denise was given the name Edward which she believed was the name of the brother in law, who had been wrong accused of having an affair with Priscilla.
Joan heard a baby cry and at this point there was a tapping on the bedroom door from outside.
Woody opened the door assuming that one of the other team had come upstairs but there was nobody there.
Denise then picked up on the husband standing at the bedroom door, in a drunken rage, hands on the door frame staring into the room. The temp had been 17 but it suddenly dropped to 9.0 in the area of the wardrobe
Denise felt that someone was cowering in this corner, trying to hide.
She then picked up on someone from the 1950’s era, a lady wearing a very full skirt with a lime green scarf tied around her neck; she had blonde hair tied up high.
Both Denise and Joan were aware of someone standing behind Brian, Brian felt it was Edward
Brian said Priscilla was also there standing near Denise and that she was saying she wasn’t happy we were there; she was worried about her husband.
We should go, before he gets home she was telling us. He will be home soon.
(The thought did occur was she talking to us or to her brother in law.)
He then sensed that when she had been hit by her husband she had fallen almost at the spot Denise was sitting, and that he could see her lying on the floor.
Denise felt really cold as did Joan who was standing by the door.
At this point Nicole began to feel sick and had to leave the room.
Denise had the feeling that Priscilla didn’t die immediately that she had been in a semi comatose state and had been aware that after her husband had struck the fatal blow he had broken down and wept overcome with remorse for what he had done, because he had loved her so much.
Denise, Joan, Angela and Brian had seen a dark shadow move on the other side of the door as if someone was lingering just outside but not wanting to come in.
Brian said that he would like to do a private vigil in the room, but it was felt that due to the negative atmosphere in the room it might be better if one person remained with him, Joan offered to stay and the rest of the team went into the lounge area.
Private vigil (Brian and Joan)
After the others had gone all lights were turned off, plunging the room into darkness, it took a while for our eyes to adjust. The room suddenly felt very oppressive, in the centre of the room between there was a dark mass of energy which both Brian and myself could see quite clearly, I felt someone put their hands on my shoulder, although I felt a bit unnerved I didn’t feel threatened, I felt the presence was female, this was later confirmed by Brian who said it was Pricilla. I felt a strange emotion, or rather lack of it, like a kind of resignation, looking on, but unable to alter things, Brian said I was picking up on how she was feeling. I could sense a male entity close to him, which he said was the brother in law the husband he felt was close to the door. It felt very sad, so much unhappiness. Brian said he felt it was almost like a Mexican standoff, each in their own corner of the room, either they were not aware of each other, or they were and just did not choose to come together. Both Brian and I felt that the husband was not aware of the presence of the other two and that they come back to watch over him.
After a while we rejoined the others in the lounge.
Upstairs Lounge
While Brian and Joan remained in the main bedroom, the rest of the team moved into the lounge.
Almost immediately Woody heard clicking on the ceiling and went up to the attic to investigate. As he went upstairs he noticed there was an upright hatch to the right and discovered there was another attic space slightly larger than the one we had been in earlier, but inaccessible as it was not boarded over, the clicking was coming from this area.
At 2.00a.m. Everyone upstairs with the exception of Joan, heard church bells ringing, but nobody downstairs heard this.
At this point it was decided it would be a good time to break for food, so we all went downstairs to where the buffet had been laid out.
Whilst Team 1 had been busy upstairs, Team 2 had been investigating the lower floor.
An attempt at table tilting was made and all felt the table vibrating and rocking.
A man wearing a dark coat, or cape which was reminiscent of the type worn by a highwayman was picked up in the area of the pool table, the name Joshua or Josh was also picked up on, and an emf meter in this area pulsed several times for no apparent reason. Elaine saw a small black shadow move under the TV, and
Wendy was poked quite sharply in her back. A lady was sensed in the area of the fireplace, by Wendy and at this point the emf meter began to pulse again.
Several other spirits were sensed in the bar and surrounding areas, one in particular, a lady who was in the habit of throwing glasses, who the staff and regulars referred to as Christine.
An attempt to contact ‘Christine’ was made using a glass, it suddenly became very cold between Wendy and Ben, and at first they made little progress as the glass did not seem to be responding. It was only when Wendy suddenly sensed that this spirit was not called Christine that they began to get a response and the spirit gave her name as Jenny.
They discovered far from having a dislike of the landlord, as he had bee led to believe, the reason she had taken to throwing glasses was because she was not happy that at being called by the wrong name, she seemed to like Craig the landlord young son and wanted him to ask her questions rather than anyone else.
She said that she died in 1948 and that she was 27 years old when she passed over. As it was getting near to the end of the first vigil Wendy promised Jenny that she would return before the investigation ended to talk to her, a promise sadly she was unable to keep due to circumstances beyond her control.
Second part of investigation
After a welcome break, we resumed our investigation, with team 1 taking the ground floor area and team 2 the upper floor.
An attempt was made at table tilting and although there was a slight movement and vibration felt it was on the whole unsuccessful. We then tried a glass for yes and no answers.
Joan sensed someone standing over in the corner by pool table and got the name of Terry, the glass moved slightly when asked if this was his name
Denise sensed he could have been a sailor, Angela felt fishermen both seemed to agree there was a connection between this man and the sea.
Team 2
Team 2 had now gone upstairs, almost immediately Wendy picked up on a little girl in the attic, blonde hair in pigtails tied with ribbons, who was from the 1950’s and that she might had been trapped in some way.
Elaine felt that this child would have been 7 to 8 years of age when she passed over, and that she likes playing hide and seek, she hides in the airing cupboard.
Two names were picked up, Moira and Ellie-May; there was also some concern about a lost doll.
The team had pretty much the same feeling about the main bedroom that it was very unwelcoming, while she was in there Wendy heard her name whispered, and a sweet flowery scent was picked up on.
Sadly neither team got a chance to pick up on anything else, as due to circumstances beyond our control the investigation had to stop at this point.
We would like to thank Dave and his family for inviting us into their home and making this investigation possible, and of course for the lovely buffet.