Warwick Castle had been on the cards for a long time for a return investigation. It is hard to think it was 2018 when I last walked through the long passages and halls in the pitch dark. Walking the familiar twisting path through the gates, the spotlights illuminating the prowess of the impenetrable walls and towers, glaring down upon you from the clouds, I remembered every single second of the last investigation like it was yesterday. I hoped the investigation would be as good as the last time. There is so much potential with such a long history.
Before I begin the account of my findings, I will briefly describe the history. Although there is very little to see now, the castle we know today began life as a motte and bailey. It was built by William the Conqueror in 1068, two years after his victory at the Battle of Hastings. But this was not the first settlement to occupy the land. As far back as 914, Alfred the Great’s daughter Aethelflaed built a fortress to command the River Avon. The castle which you see today dates back to the 1100s. Henry de Beaumont, the first earl of Warwick, took the remains of what was left on the sight, rebuilt it, and tripled it in size. It passed from generation to generation of the Beaumont family until 1268, when it became the possession of William de Beauchamp. He passed it along the family to Thomas Beauchamp, the 11th Earl of Warwick. Thomas became one of the first members of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, campaigning for Edward III in France. Then, in the time of Richard de Beauchamp, Grandson of Thomas, 13th Earl of Warwick, Richard fought for Henry V.
Not until the mid-15th century did the castle change hands again. It passes to a more formidable figure, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He was known as the ‘Kingmaker.’ His loyalty in The War of the Roses suits his best interests, and he chooses to side with the beneficial army. After his time, the castle passed to Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick. He was to be the last earl of Warwick as the castle became the property of the crown. There was a brief time when the Earl of Warwick’s title was reinstated, but the crown soon took it back in 1590.
1604 saw one of the castle’s most well-known residents, Sir Fulke Greville, though not as famous then as he is today. When he claimed the castle, it was in tatters. Sir Fulke Greville restored the castle to his designs. Much of the elaborate architecture you see in the halls was the work of Sir Fulke Greville. What makes him so well known is that he was murdered by one of his servants, and to this day, people have seen his spirit about the grounds, in some of the halls, and in the Watergate Tower frequently. This is just one of countless hauntings that happen within the depths of Warwick Castle.
My investigation began with a walk of all accessible areas to get our bearings. Nothing really stood out to me until we climbed the stairs to the corridor to the nursery. As I crossed the threshold to the corridor, the biggest headache hit me in an instant. It definitely wasn’t a natural phenomenon with how quick it came on. Sheree could feel it and found herself feeling rather heavy and having difficulty breathing. I could relate to this as I felt it was hard to breathe in the exact same spot. Could this strong energy be connected to Allister Crowley, the notorious Leamington-born occultist, who in the late 18th century held séances in the castle in the Kenilworth Room? Had Crowley’s experiments opened a porthole, and was this the reason for the heavy energy residing in the area? Every room in this area felt just as heavy as the last. The only other place on the walk around where we felt an oppressive, heavy energy was in the Kingmaker exhibit. The only way I was able to clear the headache was to return to the fresh air outside. I certainly did not recall it feeling like that the first time I investigated the castle.
We pressed on with the investigation, heading back to the Kingmaker for a watch-and-wait vigil. The Kingmaker exhibit, named after Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick, is known for its historical significance and its potential for paranormal activity. All around the room were K2 metres, cat balls, TADS, and EVP recorders. No matter what we tried, the equipment didn’t trigger. The investigation in this room was not without its interest, however. It was very quiet, but a few of us could hear a knocking or moving sound occasionally. We could not pinpoint directly where the sound was resonating from; however, on occasion, we did seem to be drawn through the archway to the second room. A huge blast of icy air was funnelling out of it, and it did seem to drop in temperature quite significantly. I cannot put this down to being paranormal as the Kingmaker exhibit is open to the outside, so it’s very likely to feel a strong draft funnel through the archways. As we continued to wait in silence for any sounds, Sheree happened to be looking at the chandelier when she described seeing a black mist-like shape move in front of it and disappear. Unfortunately, it had not been seen by anyone else, but when I looked up at the chandelier, I was almost certain I had seen it swinging for a moment. One of the Haunted Happenings staff members had also thought she had seen it swinging. I checked to make sure nobody had accidentally brushed against the rope that held the chandelier up. Nobody was near enough to have caught it. Nothing further was experienced in this area.
We made our way over to the castle dungeons and started with a table-tipping session. The feeling in the room was oppressive to begin with. None of the trigger objects we had placed around in the area detected what we were feeling. The table, however, did tip onto two legs and stopped there for quite a while. We searched for further response, asking the spirits to spin the table, walk the table across the room, or tip one way for yes and the opposite for no. We had no other response on the table. As we called out for activity, I was made to feel quite uncomfortable when I felt something move right behind me. It was a strong presence, and I felt my back become numb with pins and needles, and all the hairs on my body became static. I do not exaggerate the feeling of someone standing millimetres behind me. I wasn’t the only one to have this feeling as it moved behind Sheree and made her very uncomfortable to be in the room. I would say that it was a spirit checking to see what we were doing. There was no more activity after this, so we moved to another part of the castle.
Up in the famous Kenilworth Room, we conducted an Ouija board. The movement started quickly on the Ouija board, and an icy wind whipped around the room. We had also placed a K2 on the bed and another on the edge of the table where we had the Ouija board. The movement on the planchette was sporadic, and the answers were inconclusive. The K2s both flashed all the way to red, indicating a very high EMF reading the whole time we had activity on the Ouija board. What made this part of the investigation for me was when we asked the spirit to move the planchette to where they stood. The planchette moved across the table to the side the K2 was on, and as the planchette got close to the K2, the K2 metre lit up fully. That was an incredible piece of evidence, with both pieces of equipment supporting each other to prove a spirit’s presence. It is just a shame we had no name to find out who exactly it was.
For the next part of our investigation of this area, we made our way to the nursery to do a watch-and-wait experiment. From the moment we had set up our cat balls, K2s, REM PODS, REM bears, and other tools, we were experiencing a lot of activity on the cat balls and K2s, as well as hearing knocks. There were also some high-pitched creaks we heard, which did sound like the rocking horse. This was the area where I had an intense headache earlier. It was likely connected to the energy and activity we were witnessing. So far, it had proven to be the most active part of the castle. However, with a few other areas to investigate, we needed to move to the next area.
Up in the Watergate Tower, a Haunted Happenings team member had seen a cumbersome door open by itself earlier and a shadow had been seen behind a door blocking the light. We decided to return to this area to try and contact whoever had been there earlier. With our K2s and cat balls placed around the room and my music box just on the other side of the door where the shadow had been seen under the door, we began with our investigation. It seemed very quiet as we called out until we heard a thump echo. We couldn’t find where the thump came from. We called out to try and get more knocks or thumps to happen, but we had no response. At this time, the music box outside the door started playing music, and it didn’t stop. I had put fresh batteries in it before the investigation so it didn’t malfunction because of low batteries. For it to go off continuously, someone has to stand directly in front of it. I opened the door to see if I could see or feel anyone stood there. It continued to go off even after I had opened the door. For scientific research, I turned the music box off and back on again to see if it would trigger again. Unfortunately, it didn’t go off again. However, there was a loud bang and the sound of a bag shifting in the room. The sound of the bag moving could easily be explained by a bag sliding; as for the knock, we searched for the source and were able to recreate the exact same sound. It was the handle on my equipment case moving. Strangely, my case was flat on the floor, and the handle can only rest in one direction; if the handle had been pointing up, it would have instantly fallen when I placed it on the floor. So, for the handle to have done this means a spirit had moved it. Nobody else was near it to catch it and potentially cause the handle to move. By the time we had investigated all the possibilities of the cause of my case being touched, we had run out of time for any further activity.
For our last investigation of the night, we headed back to the nursery. With such great activity there, we thought it was worthwhile investigating again. Along the full length of the corridor, we had K2s, cat balls, TADS, REM dolls, and bears. Within moments of setting up, the K2s were triggering. They were triggering in synchronization, which was remarkable. As they were fluctuating whilst sitting still on the floor, they ruled out anything electrical being the cause. If it was electrical, it would be a constant source of EMF, and the lights on the K2 metre would be a constant. As we all listened, we could hear the sounds of knocking and shuffling at the far end of the corridor. It sounded like little footsteps at one point. We tried to coax the activity to come towards us down the corridor. It took a little while, but the K2s started to flash one after the other like they were tracking movement, and then the REM bear closest to us lit up green, indicating that it had been fully touched. For example, if one arm was touched, only that arm would light up. So, for the head, arms, and legs to light up simultaneously, you would have to touch all those areas. Focussing on the bear, we asked for the spirits to touch it again. Shortly after asking, it lit up again. We asked again, and right on command, it lit up again. I would say this was absolute proof of spirits and the afterlife. I wonder if the K2s were detecting the overwhelming energy I felt in this corridor, which had given me a headache. With how constant they flashed in synchronization, it was a likely connection. It was a brief investigation of the area, but it definitely delivered and gave us a very high point to finish the night’s research.
Having been back to Warwick Castle, it feels a complete chapter in my journey. I can definitely say that it’s very active still. This is not surprising, with nearly a thousand years of turbulent history. Warwick Castle has such an extensive history that I could easily fill an entire book. It would have been nice to have received some names or dates to back up the stories of those who still reside in the castle and support the known history; however, this time, we were unsuccessful. I always try to take a highlight from every investigation, no matter how small. A moment that proves spirit activity. During this investigation, there were a couple of moments I thought of genuine interest. It was the moment of feeling the presence right behind me whilst doing the table tipping. The feeling of my body becoming almost numb and every hair on my body standing up proved to me that someone was standing right behind me. I could sense someone there as well. It was also confirmed by Sheree as she felt the exact same move behind her moments after I had felt it. It felt like someone was watching us to see what was happening. Perhaps one day, someone will have the answers to exactly who we made contact with on that night.
Phantom Echoes Paranormal 
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