Report on the paranormal investigation of Landguard Fort
Saturday 25th September 2010
On the evening of Saturday 25th September 2010, 17 members of the Ghost Club and three guests, attended Landguard Fort, Felixstowe, to carry out a paranormal investigation into several alleged hauntings at the fortA brief history of the fort
Landguard Fort is situated at Landguard Point at the mouths of the rivers Orwell and Stour, and overlooks the port of Harwich, and hence protects a very strategic area. The rivers stretch far inland and provide access to settlements that would not ordinarily be accessible to large freight.
They also provide opportunities for raiders and, more importantly, invaders, to get far inland and secure a stronghold.
This was realised by King Henry VIII, who in 1543, ordered that Landguard Point be fortified with two block houses to guard the northern navigable channel of the Orwell estuary, while Harwich redoubt guarded the southern channel and the port.
The fort fell into disrepair and the guns were returned to the Tower of London until it was rebuilt of earth and wood in 1628, and the by order of King Charles II, was upgraded by the addition of a brick wall around the fort.
The fort and its soldiers, commanded by Captain Nathaniel Darell, repelled an attempted invasion by the Dutch in 1667.
In 1717, a new fort was built of brick, which then gave way to a new construction in 1744 of red brick in the shape of a pentagon with a bastion at each corner, which remains today. In 1871, the fort was remodelled using yellow London bricks, and the seven gun casemate battery was constructed along with a semi-circular accommodation block.
The casemates were armed with four 12.5 inch Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) guns and three 10 inch RML guns. The South East curtain wall was fitted out with one 12.5” RML and two 10” RML guns, and the landward side of the fort was fitted with two 9” RMLs.
The fort remained in it’s current guise, with that addition of external batteries for World War 2, and was used in many different roles, including a cold war control centre, up until 1956 when the costal artillery was disbanded and the fort was abandoned. It remained in disrepair until English Heritage acquired ownership and entrusted its restoration to the Landguard Fort Trust who have worked hard to make the fort what it is today.Reported phenomena
As with all historical buildings, there are plenty of ghost stories. The volunteers of the Landguard Fort Trust have not shyed away from their unearthly residents, but indeed celebrate them. The most notable reported phenomena are those of the last marine, the plague victim, Maria, the murdered soldier and the hanged soldier.
The last Marine. It is said that only one soldier lost his life when the Dutch invaded, and that it is his ghost that still patrols Kings Bastion, ready to repel the Dutch once more.
The plague victim was a soldier who returned to the fort from service in the far east, but soon showed symptoms of a disease which resembled the plague. For the safety of the fort, the officers confined him to a dark room under Chapel Bastion and he was left to die. His screams are said to be heard to this day.
Maria was the wife of a paymaster sergeant stationed at the fort. She was unpopular with many of the other soldiers’ wives and was accused of stealing a lace handkerchief. Her husband left the fort one day in an attempt to prove her innocence, but when he returned, he was shot for desertion. This sent Maria insane and she threw herself from the top of Chapel bastion into the dry moat below. Her ghost has been heard moaning and muttering in Portuguese.
Previous psychic visitors to the fort reported that they believed a soldier who served during the Great War was murdered in a bath in the bath houses as his cohorts found out he was stealing. It is also believed that one of his murderers felt such guilt days after the murder that he hanged himself from a hook in the ceiling of the magazine tunnel, and that his ghost still roams there.The Investigation
This was the first time the Ghost Club had ever investigated Languard Fort. Several paranormal groups have previously visited the fort, but naturally, their findings aren’t published. What with so many different reports, it was felt it was well worth a look.
Unfortunately, the weather was not kind to us, with a strong easterly wind blowing in the occasional rain shower. This made for a lot of “noise pollution”, and so this was taken into account on every vigil and investigated as the potential cause of any sound that was heard.
Twenty investigators attended the fort, and they were divided into 4 teams.
They were:
Team One – Iain Lister, Elisa Fernandez, Andrew Lister, Vicky Davis and Andy Davis
Team Two – Mark Salmon, Richard Stack, Mike Laycock, Amy Feeley and Shaun Feeley
Team Three – Paul Collins, Andy Hind, Laura Dean, Matt Boseley and James Tacchi
Team Four – Milton Edwards, Lisa Bowell, Vicki Wilson, Frank Holt and Chris Brabazon.
Prior to the investigation, the fort was visited in daylight to determine the best locations for vigils, and the locations that were chosen were the magazine tunnels, Chapel Bastion, Holland and Kings Bastion ramparts, the bath house and the cold war room.
I conducted a brief familiarisation tour of the fort on the night and the locations for the vigils.
Investigators used EMF (electro-magnetic field) detectors, digital cameras, thermometers, digital voice recorders and digital camcorders, as well as dowsing rods.
A planchette was set up in the cold war room, and a table with a glass for divination was set up in Chapel Bastion.
Details of the reported phenomena were not divulged to discount, as far as possible, autosuggestion.Baseline tests showed background EM (electro-magnetic) radiation at no more than 0.1 mg, and inside temperature in all rooms was steady at 11c at the beginning of the investigation, except for Chapel Bastion which remained at around 16c, with an anticipated gradual drop of a few degrees as the night
went on.
The Results
I have constructed the results section of this report from the data recorded by the investigators and from what they told me following each vigil on the night, and from analysis of video and audio recordings after the investigation.Vigil 1
The bath house – Team one
Initial temperature was fluctuating between 11-12c. At 2145, Andrew saw a small blue flash in the corner by the bath and there was a noticeable rise in the temperature to 17c. Elisa recorded a slight fluctuation of 0.1mg on her EMF meter. Andy was using dowsing rods and the rods moved briefly apparently in response to questions.
We moved to the next bathroom with the baths in an L shape. Definite heavy and unwelcome atmosphere in this room. Vicky’s chest felt heavy, as did Elisa’s and mine, as if we were having trouble breathing.
2210 – Everyone heard a cat mewing. There was no cat in the room, nor one that could be seen anywhere outside.
Magazine Tunnels – Team Two
2146 . A footstep squeaking on the floor was heard coming from further down the tunnel.
2222 – Michael hears a “breaking” sound coming from the lighting tunnel near room 17. They were talking about military history at the time.
2226 – Amy feels that there is someone outside room 17 in the corridor.
Holland & Kings Bastion and Ramparts – Team Three
Temperature 13c. Trifield meter set up on the gun carriage. Trigger object (crucifix on paper with outline drawn) placed in centre of the room.
2212 – Tapping heard. Could’ve been the lock on the door rattling in the wind.Chapel Bastion – Team Four
Lisa experienced frequent aches and pains, like the symptoms of flu but stronger, and also indigestion pains. She also felt pain in her collar bone and right leg. She felt that there was someone in the room, but stopped when they saw the group.
She also picks up on a man named Albert, who was 35 years old, and felt that he was from the Victorian era, and was in chains.
2143 – Lisa hears someone speaking what sounds like Spanish very quickly.
No discernable results from the glass.Vigil 2
Magazine tunnels – Team Three
Temperature 12.9c .Trigger object set up.
2311 – A noise like settling is heard.
2315 – When asking questions, everyone heard what sounded like a cat mewing.
Laura used the dowsing rods and they pointed to the corner of the room. She called out again and felt a shiver, and the rods crossed.
Holland & Kings ramparts – Team One
Temperature 11c. Voice recorder running.
Very quiet apart from tapping sound. Elisa discovered it was a lock on a door that was rattling in the wind.
Slight EMF fluctuations near the muzzle of the gun.
2328 – Vicky saw an orange glow by the muzzle of the gun and then a small white flash in the window.Chapel Bastion – Team Two
Nothing of definite interest. Movement from the glass in response to questions, although the team found that some of the “statements” from the glass were often contradictory.
Cold War Room – Team Four
All felt a heavy atmosphere in the teleprinter room, radio room and the message room.
2330 – Lisa had her elbow on the table, and while they were chatting about nothing happening, she felt the table rattle substantially.
Chris and Frank went to investigate the other rooms, and Lisa and Vicki remained in the main control room. They both felt the atmosphere grow heavier and darker and altogether more oppressive.
Chris has also left a voice recorder running in the teleprinter room. Now, considering this room has a wooden floor, you would hear footsteps approaching. There are no footsteps, but the DVR has picked up what sounds like a faint breath, and then a really defined exhalation as if right into the microphone. This voice happened at very close to the same time Lisa and Vicki reported the table rattling.
Vigil 3
Magazine tunnels – Team Four
While in the Caponier, Lisa felt someone touch her on the leg. She then heard a shuffling sound down inside the caponier in the t-shaped area.
They went into the noisy tunnels and all felt very uncomfortable, as though they were not welcome or permitted in that area. Lisa felt that someone was about to come out of one of the rooms and berate them.Bath House – Team Three
Nothing of any note apart from an unexplained cough at 0015.Chapel bastion – Team One
Had quite staggering results with the glass divination in this location. I have to be objective here as there is a school of thought that as I know about the alleged ghosts in this room, that I can subconsciously make the glass move.
Nevertheless, we all called out and I asked to speak with Maria and the soldier who died from the plague. Both produced quite frankly amazing glass movement. We picked up that the soldier is a Private and that his surname is Davis. He appeared to be quite attracted to Vicky, as the glass was moving vigorously with just her finger on it. We were excitedly hopeful that if she took her finger off it would keep moving. Sadly, it did not.
If his apparent answers were anything to go by, he is not a nasty man, and he feels no anger towards people that visit the fort, he is just very angry about the way he was treated by the army.
We also picked up on Maria, who appeared to be comforted when we said that we know she didn’t steal the handkerchief.
There was also another entity that appeared to come forward, and this was a nurse, who tended soldiers at the fort, by the name of Dorothy. She was apparently grounded because she felt the need to look after Private Davis.Cold War Room – Team Two
Nothing was picked up in this location on this occasion except some movement on the planchette
Vigil 4Bath House – Team Two
The team split up for this vigil and covered all three bathrooms.
At 0135 Mark was alone in the bathroom closest to Chapel Bastion, when he heard what sounded like a cough or a shout from the far corner. It may have possibly been someone in Chapel Bastion coughing, although the walls between the two rooms are feet thick.
Amy and Michael both commented on the third bathroom that they felt someone had died in there.
For information, at 0140, Richard did touch James Tacchi’s remote temperature sensor which he had set up, so any anomalous reading at that time which James may have recorded will most likely be due to this.
Chapel Bastion – Team Three
The team recorded a temperature which held more or less steady at 16c except for minor fluctuations of around 0.3 degrees.
There was no result from attempting glass divination.
Holland & King’s ramparts
No activity was recorded here
Cold War Room – Team One
Lots of movement on the planchette.
A blue flash was seen on the ceiling
More planchette movement. Very vigourous this time, and apparently answering questions.
From the apparent answers given, contact was made with a former female Sergeant who was a radar operator stationed at the fort. It was unclear if she served during the 2nd world war or the cold war.
Andrew is a former radar operator, and he believed that “she” was trying to draw the ranging rings as she would see them on her radar screen. Radar was not that advanced during WW2, and ranging rings would have only been present on later versions of radar and so it is more likely that she served during the cold war.
Further questioning revealed that although she was reluctant to reveal her name, a six-digit identification number was obtained, that being 869137. Further research will be carried out with regards to this number.Vigil 5
Magazine Tunnels – Team One
The tunnels were fairly quiet in regard to any electronic or divination data..
Elisa heard a knocking noise in the caponier. This was investigated further and although no definite explanation could be found, the noise could have come from outside in the dry moat.
Further knocking noises were heard when the team were in one of the magazine rooms. This was traced to a shutter on a door.
Definite loud metallic knocks on the pipework in the boiler room were heard by everyone, and no explanation could be found. On exiting the boiler room, Elisa’s EMF detector shot up rapidly. Both Vicky and I felt that someone had come in from the parade ground and wasn’t expecting to find them there and had panicked and tried to hide.
Bath House – Team four
Other than some strange orbs outside the door which Lisa captured on her camera, there was no other remarkable activity in this area during this vigil.
However, Milton had left a camcorder running in the shower block, which is nearest the entrance gate. No-one else went into this room during the vigil, and when it ended, Milton returned alone to the shower block to collect his camera, got it and left.
He replayed the footage upon returning home, and for most of the recording there is nothing. But when he goes to pick the camera up and just before he turns it off there is a definite male voice. At first it sounded like a whisper. Milton ensured those who listened to it that he made no sounds when he collected the camera.
I have since isolated and analysed the sound and it is definitely a male voice, with a gravely tone saying “Please”
Holland & King’s ramparts – Team Two
0255 – Michael sees a shadow pass by the window in the door in the casemate without the gun model.
0305 – Amy sees more movement outside the window.
It must be considered that it was a very windy night. Cloud cover was sparse at times and the moonlight was bright towards the end of the night. There were halyards on the flagpole and other items which could blow in the wind and create shadows in the moonlight.
The wind could have also caused slight movement in doors and windows which may have appeared that the movement was outside the door rather than the door itself.Cold War Room – Team Three
Laura places a trigger object in the telephone room.
0247 – 3 clicks/knocks are heard.
0257 – A low noise, possibly a cough is heard.
0301 – Two small whistles are heard. Other whistling throughout the night had been discounted as our gracious host, Brian, did whistle a few tunes at points. However, his tunes were distinctive whistling as he walked across the yard. These whistles were quieter and happened only twice.
At the end of the vigil, Laura discovered that the trigger object had moved from the outline which was drawn around it.
The object was big heavy wooden cross, which no draft could have moved.
No-one entered the room during the vigil.Conclusion
The night at Landguard provided some interesting results. Due consideration had to be given to the weather which was presenting us with rather more noise pollution than we’d wish for, but then for a fort on a north sea peninsular, such weather has to be expected.The Bath House, although not producing much in the way of recordable data, stirred up differing reactions in the investigators. Some, myself included, felt that the bathroom with bath at the back and the bath along the wall in a cubicle had a very heavy and unpleasant atmosphere. Several investigators had a feeling of a heavy chest or struggling to breathe and at least two felt that someone had died in that room.
More than one investigator heard coughs in the bathroom.
The bath house also produced some of the clearest and fascinating EVP1,EVP2 (Electronic Voice Phenomena) I have heard in eight years of paranormal investigating. Milton managed to capture an unexplained voice on his camcorder which he left running in the shower room.
At first it was considered that Milton may have inadvertently let out a breath which he didn’t recall. However, he was adamant that he didn’t, and further investigation and analysis of the voice has identified it as not just a breath or an indecipherable whisper, but as a definite male gravely voice, described by Lisa as what sounds like “a rough and ready soldier” saying “Please!”In the magazine tunnels, again there was very little recordable data. All findings were of a psychic nature, with some feeling as if someone was about to berate them for being somewhere they shouldn’t be, and sensations of physical touching
Unfortunately, no evidence of the hanged soldier was found.
Any knocks and taps that were heard that were paranormal, if they were down to spirit activity, are most likely due to soldiers going about their duties.The ramparts between Holland and Kings Bastions was chosen as a location due to the reports of the last marine who is said to patrol the ramparts.
Unfortunately, other than a few strange light anomalies near the muzzle of the RML gun, and some unexplained shadows, there was absolutely no remarkable activity in this area.
I, as did other investigators, felt that this area was inert. It had a light and almost welcoming atmosphere, and I for one would quite happily walk around up there by myself. That said, at one point, I did feel an immense sense of pride as I walked onto King’s Bastion by myself. For the time being though, I will put that down to the thought of this last marine still performing his duty and defending the nation even after his death.The room inside chapel bastion produced the best results of glass divination that I have ever seen. Other members also had results with the glass, although some of the answers appeared to be a bit contradictory at times.
I knew about Maria, and the plague victim before the investigation, so I was aware that, as some schools of thought on divination believe, my subconscious may have had some bearing on the activity with the glass. This cannot be said for Vicky, who appeared to be channelling enough energy for the glass to move with just her finger on it, when we were apparently in contact with the plague soldier.
I was expecting Maria to come forward, which, if the glass is to be believed, she did. However, during the vigil, I believe we obtained the name and rank of the soldier who was confined there, that being a Private Davis (although the significance of this name and Vicky’s surname being Davis, has not gone unnoticed).
A nurse by the name of Dorothy also came forward. Further research will be carried out into these names.
The psychic information picked up by Lisa was also very interesting, as she appeared to be “suffering” from symptoms which would have been experienced by someone with the plague, and she also said that he right leg and collar bone hurt along with hearing Spanish being spoken rapidly. Was she also picking up on Maria and some of the injuries she suffered when she fell?The Cold War room yielded surprising results, not only on the night but after analysis of audio recordings. This area was chosen as a location because on my previous visit to the fort with my family, I felt this room had a strange atmosphere, and my sister’s dog acted very excitedly in there, having not done so around the rest of the fort.
A lot of the investigators felt that the control room and adjoining rooms had a strange and heavy atmosphere, with some experiencing unexplained rattling of the table, knocks and clicks, and vigorous movement of the planchette in response to questions, to such an extent that a rank and identification number of a female radar operator was obtained.
A trigger object had been inexplicably moved.
Again, this location provided some notable EVP1. EVP2Chris had set up a voice recorder in the teleprinter room, and upon playback, around the same time that Lisa and Vicki felt that atmosphere get heavier and darker, a definite heavy exhalation can be heard, as if someone was breathing right into the microphone. No-one entered this room. The room has wooden floorboards and any footsteps approaching the voice recorder would have been captured also. There were no footsteps.All in all, Landgaurd Fort was an interesting, and for me, a very atmospheric place to visit. It is steeped in military history and one can only imagine the goings on that the walls of that fort have seen.
This was the first visit to the fort by the Ghost Club, and it proved to be an interesting one which was enjoyed by all present. Although we couldn’t find any definitive evidence of the well documented hauntings, other than possibly Maria and the plague victim in Chapel Bastion, the investigation has provided evidence and experiences of other possible spiritual residents that until now, may be unknown by visitors or indeed the Landguard Fort Trust, although the cat remains a mystery!
The EVP recordings, the psychic experiences, and the pronounced divination results definitely warrant further investigation by the Ghost Club, and I for one am eager to return to the fort to continue the investigation into the findings.I would like to conclude this report by passing the thanks of the investigators, myself and The Ghost Club to Jo Whittle and the Landguard Fort Trust for making this investigation possible, and also to our gracious host Brian who looked after us during the night. I would also like to personally thank all the Ghost Club members and guests that attended and conducted a professional and open minded investigation and for collecting and providing as much data and photographs as you did which has made this initial report on Landgaurd Fort possible.Iain Lister – October 2010
© The Ghost Club 2010
