PEVENSEY COURTHOUSE
20th September 2008
Submitted by Denise Bottali and Beccy Hirst
The Court House, Pevensey was built around 1541 and sits nestled in the picturesque surroundings of the tranquil village of Pevensey, Sussex, a small, historic settlement.
The building itself, remaining mostly unchanged except for repairs and renovations, comprises of the Main Court Room and Robing Room on the Upper Level, with the gaol cells to the lower level.
The courts met here until the dissolution of the Borough in 1866, following this the more important cases were held in Lewes.
The building also served as a Town Hall, indeed it was known as the smallest Town Hall in England, ceasing to be so in 1882. Following this it was used as a meeting place for the Parish Council.
In 1890 Pevensey Town Trust managed the building.
It now houses a museum.
We all arrived in Pevensey a little after 7.00pm and following a detour for a fish and chip supper, made our way to the Court House.
Before the Investigation began, our host Jane kindly took some members of our team on a Ghost Walk around the area adjacent to the castle and grave yard, during which the name of John Goodfellow was picked up upon.
At 9.45pm Michelle led a circle of protection (during which Joan felt someone push her in the back) and we joined our groups to begin our investigation. Woody was to film the Investigation.
GROUP 1
Wendy, Chas, Bex, Jen, Alex, Gail and Barb.
10PM GROUND FLOOR CELLS
The group entered the cell area, and all except Chas entered the cell. The
Temperature read 23c then immediately dropped to 19.9c.
Wendy felt that the prisoners would vie for position to the right of the doorway. Several of the group could smell excrement. Wendy called out, and as she did so the temperature rose to 23.8c.
Chas, standing outside the door smelt a grassy, earthly aroma, where as inside the cell the stench was of urine and bad breath became very apparent.
Wendy felt something touch her face and was compelled to go with Chas into the second cell, where she had the sensation of being pushed through the doorway. At 10.10pm the new batteries in Chas’s camera failed. Bex’s legs felt wobbly and Wendy complained of feeling sick and dizzy.
Barb asked out for the temperature to be dropped. It gradually fell from 19.6c to 13.6c. Wendy had a pain around her wrists, as if she was shackled.
Chas felt the ‘Jailor’ coming through and described him as a ‘Brian Blessed’ type figure, large and bearded. Wendy sensed that the ‘Jailor’ referred to the prisoners as ‘stinking animals’. She also described them as having weals or welts on their bodies, mainly on their arms.
The temperature in the middle of the cell rose to 18.4c, the corner where Bex stood was 12.1c.
Wendy picked up on a lot of fighting in the cell, even some deaths. Residual, fleeting images, dark haired man, long hair tied back, aqualine nose and a thin face. He appeared to be wearing a white shirt and was very sure of himself. He wore a key around his neck.
At 10.25pm Chas entered the cell and Bex went outside with the key.
Wendy felt very hot and felt like someone had pushed 3 fingers into the back of her neck. The name Thomas Watts came through. He was holding a ‘Jesters’ type stick, with a ‘Punch and Judy’ type head on the top. Thomas had stolen a piglet and he said ‘It would have been worth it if I hadn’t been caught’.
At 11pm the group left the cell area and went upstairs into the Courtroom for a break.
GROUP 2
Joan, Michelle, Denise, Katy, Angela and Marie.
10PM UPSTAIRS MAIN COURT ROOM
Denise could see a young urchin type boy, no older than about 12 standing in front of the main door. His hair was short as if shorn due to lice infestation. Michelle felt that he was lost and was looking for his mother.
Katy's leg began to ache and Denise was given the name of Thomas.
Angela had the impression of a face looking through the window near to the main door.
At that moment Joan could sense a man wearing a tricorn hat, with a long coat, white cravat around neck with white hair tied up with a black bow at the back of his head. Michelle received the name of Michael Lord for this man and Joan felt he would have been in his 40's.
Denise heard a whisper to the side of Katy who had not said anything, but Katy had felt her arm being touched.
Just then Joan felt a pressure around her right shoulder, the area feeling cold, and something knocking against her hair. Woody checked the temperature around Joan and it reduced from 18, 16.5, 15.2 to 13 degrees.
Angela felt as though she was being pushed, also like something was pushing between her back and the back of the bench.
Joan was given the name of Elizabeth Pershaw.
Both Michelle and Denise could sense a man standing at the entrance to the Robing Room, he was tall and broad, a travelling magistrate or 'Reeve'. The temperature in this area read at 11 degrees.
Michelle could then see a man holding up a crucifix. (at the end of the night, we read a document on show relating to heracy laws against ecclesiastical offenders who did not attend church during the reign of Elizabeth 1).
Just to the right of the main door Denise felt drawn to a certain area and felt that the floor undeneath her felt different to the rest of the room, as if a trap door should have been here. Both she and Joan felt that prisoners were hung for their crimes from a roof beam above this area. Joan believed the space beneath the floor would have been used to drop the bodies through in to a horse and cart waiting below. (Jane confirmed that there was no evidence of a trap door here though).
Joan then stood in the 'Dock' and felt the wood to be very cold in her hands. She had a feeling of unreality and isolation and was given the words 'they won't believe me, they have already made up their minds'.
Angela could smell oranges, whilst Denise thought the smell could be that of Pomegranites because the smell was also spicy.
Michelle changed places with Joan and stood in the 'Dock'. She felt the presence of a young girl who had a child and was hung. Joan believed the girl to be Elizabeth, a Lady's maid who had stolen something from her mistress.
Michelle could hear a clicking noise from the area of the table with items for sale on.
Angela then moved into the 'Dock' and her legs felt very weak, she heard 'innocent, framed'.
Michelle believed the person giving Angela this information was of the name Bartholomew and was something to do with a farm behind the gaol called Swivens.
He had a heart attack before he was hung due to fear.
Joan could feel an arrogant energy standing to the left (face on) of the 'Dock' box, believing him to be a Guard.
Denise, Joan and Katy moved into the Robing Room.
The man in the tricorn hat was in the room with them and Denise could smell the smoke of a pipe. Joan felt a tickling to her neck and said that the man was standing very close to her. He was the same arrogant man that had been standing next to the 'Dock'. She was given the name of Thomas Danbridge and the year 1679, and felt as though his hands were on her shoulder.
With this Denise noticed that Joan's face had transfigured into that of a stern man with staring eyes and felt very uncomfortable with this, so with her guide's advice, Denise felt that this would be a good time to leave the room.
Michelle asked Thomas to stand back from Joan and Angela who had moved into the Robing room had felt someone brush her hair sideways.
The Team all moved back in into the Main Court Room and Michelle could see a family,of the name of Bethall, a Mother and 4 children sitting to the side of the cabinet with the mannequin inside. She felt very apprehensive and said that someone had gone beserk at some time and had tried to kill a Judge. Angela felt the Judge had received a cudgeon blow to the head, and got the name Edward Witts.
Katy said that the attacker was a Seaman called Jarvis and that he was out for revenge. Joan believed his first name to be Jacob.
Michelle felt he was bald headed, thin and wire, wearing an ear ring.
Denise could see filled sacks in the corner of the room by the Main door, Joan saying they would have been used as weights for hangings.
Michelle could sense that water had run under the building.
Katy could feel a very simple spirit that did not understand what was happening to him, feeling tension and fear.
Denise began to feel very light headed and Joan could sense someone next to herself. Michelle believed him to be a thick set, big man wearing a grey coat. He was keeping records and could have been linked to a local landowner, something also to do with poaching.
Joan was given a strong impression that 40-50 prisoners would have been hung each day.
Just then we all heard a noise come from the Robing Room and we returned there. Denise was given the name of William and then Pitt (nothing to do with the Prime Minister, but on speaking to Jane afterwards we discovered that a young spirit of a boy called William played in the building along with a young girl. They died from the Plague, so could 'Pitt' have been him showing us how he was buried because Plague victims were often buried in mass buriel pits?).
With this we finished our investigation of this area and took a break at 11pm.
GROUP 1
11.30PM UPSTAIRS MAIN COURT ROOM
Chas was aware of a man, seated directly behind him on the benches, and sensed that the man was annoyed because Chas shouldn’t be sitting there. Chas moved seats, to where the man was sitting and immediately felt very cold. The man had very bad teeth & straggly hair. Wendy felt that he was ‘simple’.
The temperature is 16.9c and Jen was aware of a male guarding the main doorway and Bex smelt a strong aroma of flowers. Wendy suddenly got a nasty taste of perfume in our mouth, and had to drink water to get rid of it.
Wendy could see a lady wearing a dress with flowers on it, she said her name was Lucy and she was the Magistrate’s wife. The temperature suddenly dropped to 14.9c and Wendy got thoughts of Vampires & Transylvania.
Jen was still aware of the man guarding the door. She described him as being bald, with a white, curly beard.
Chas changed places with Wendy and picked up the name Julietta, she was in the dock for stealing a chicken and she had a cackling laugh and dirty, unkempt hair.
Chas said there was also a man present, a very well to do gentleman, well tailored, with a high top hat and very harsh features. His name was James Trent and he was a nobleman. With this Gail’s torch turned itself off.
Woody was filming and picked up a light source directly behind Alex, leading to the Robing room. A man was standing in the doorway. He was a big, broad man, wearing a flax shirt, not a pleasant man. Alex went into the Robing room and immediately came back out feeling very sick.
Chas picked up on the name of David as Wendy and Chas entered the Robing room. They were confronted by a foul-mouthed man, who was very enamoured with a female from the previous group (who was later identified as Joan). The man was very uncomplimentary towards two females in Group 1. A nasty man with a very foul mouth.
With this we finished our Investigation and stopped for a break.
GROUP 2
11.30PM GROUND FLOOR CELLS
Temperature ranged from 13.1 to 12.6 degrees. Denise, Katy and Angela sat in the cell, with Joan Michelle and Marie out on the bench in the exercise area.
Katy felt complete despair and Angela could smell urine. Denise smelt something like posies of violets and heard a sigh.
Joan was given the name of Joseph Cobb or Cobham.
Denise could see a man wearing ¾ length trousers, with his hair tied back, his arms crossed standing in the corner of the cell laughing at us. (could this have been the same man picked up by Wendy earlier?), and Angela felt as though a veil had been placed across her face.
Denise was given the name of Jack for this man and Scrummy or Scrumpy, Katy thought it may have been scrumping.
The temperature in the cell started to drop from 12.9, 12.6, 12.4 and Denise felt as if the ground around her feet was flooded.
Marie got a strong smell of mentholyptus and the keys in the entrance door to the cell area started to rattle.
We tried several experiments with the keys, realising that this could have been caused by the breeze caused by passing traffic. This did not happen everytime though and may have depended on which side of the road the traffic was passing. Eventually we decided to place a brick against the inside of the door to stop any movement. Denise felt as though a man was behind her, towering over her and when the temperature was checked it dropped from 11.5 to 7.4 degrees. She asked spirit to move the keys again to which the keys did move. When Joan asked for the keys to stop moving they immediately did so.
Both Denise and Angela moved to the area where farm instruments where on display and both thought that the layout of the cells area was wrong, that cells were missing, hidden. Everything seemed out of proportion to what it would have been. (It was later confirmed by Jane that indeed there were cells that were underground now and inaccessible).
Katy felt that stabling would have been there and Joan felt that the first cells was never a cell but a guard room. She also felt that there would have been a grill dividing the cells away from the entrance.
Joan, Michelle, Katy and Marie went to sit in the cell but Michelle had to leave because she felt very nausea, sickness and pain. As she did so she said ‘Hope and pray they died in their sleep’ on hearing this Katy had heard the same.
With this Katy heard a cry and Denise could smell rotting cabbages.
At 12 am we finished our Investigation of the Cells and returned to the rest of the group for a break.
We spent some time speaking to our hosts Jane and her colleague who were able to confirm some of the information received during our Investigation. We would like to thank them for their help and for allowing us to carry out our Investigation.
We brought the night to end at 1.30pm with a closing down circle of protection led by Denise.