Wymering Manor, Portsmouth.

Feb 19th-20th (Sat - Sun) - Wymering Manor, Portsmouth. Oldest House in Portsmouth. the land was owned by Edward the Confessor in 1042 before being handed over to King Harald who died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. There has been a lot of recorded paranormal activity including.: Whisperings of children, Orbs captured on video and film, Unexplained shooting lights, some captured on video, Severe temperature drops, Feelings of intimidation. We set off Saturday morning 10.30am from Meadowhall car park in beautiful sunshine. After a gruelling 4 and a half hour trip and only 2 pit stops we arrived in Portsmouth. Still some sunshine left to see some of the sites in old Portsmouth. After looking around and feeling more refreshed we set of to find Wymering Manor which was relately to easy to find. The first sight of the house as we drove up the drive was as Gaz would say “Orsome”, a lot larger than we expected. After introducing ourselves to the resident manager of the house, we were given a tour of the house including all the rooms we were to investigate and all the ghostly happenings that had happened there. Because of the size of the house we spit in to three groups so we could cover all the rooms available to us. By the time we had sorted out all the equipment and decided who was going in which rooms it was 7pm. Group one which consisted myself (Mick), Brenda and Janet were to do the two front bedrooms which included a Priests hiding hole in the floor. We set-up the camera and took temperature readings and Emf readings which at this time was relatively normal. Brenda decided to climb down into priests hiding hole to see what she was could pick up, Emf and temperature readings were taken around her and nothing was found out of the ordinary again. But as she settled down and started tuning into a spirit that was in the hole with her the Emf started registering higher and higher also the temperature started dropping drastically. She couldn’t communicate with the spirit because of the extreme coldness that was surrounding her. After spending some time in the hole and not being able to communicate with these spirits I suggest she tried the other room while I investigated the hole. Jennet and Brenda went to investigate the other room while I investigated the hole myself. While down in the hole with the Emf meter I also witnessed very strange fluctuations in temperature and Emf readings. I found it very foreboding down in the dark and also felt as though someone was down there with me. While in the hole I heard the walkie talkie and had to go and answer it, It was group 2 (Mikey, John and Steve.) asking me if anyone had shouted which we hadn’t. When I went to see what had been happening to Jannet and Brenda I found Brenda going into trance. I asked the entity what its name was and it told me its name was some Latin name I could not understand so I asked it again its name, again I could not understand after it shouting something neither Jannet or myself could not understand, we heard the trap door to the priest hole in the other room slam shut. Brenda came out of the trance dazed and confused and after making sure she was ok I went to see what had happened in the other room, only to find the trapdoor closed, no draughts could have caused it to close and my camera tripod knocked to the floor. We witnessed nothing else in these rooms after that incident.

Our next investigation was to be downstairs in the front bedrooms and back bedrooms. In the front bedroom Group 3 (Dave and Gaz) had witnessed strange noises and also captured an EVP on Dave’s digital recorder. We sat quiet for some time but found nothing out of the ordinary Brenda did not pick up on any entities in this room at this time. I decided to go and take some pictures and set up some trigger objects in the back bedroom. When I entered this room I immediately felt the cold which was like nothing else I had experienced. In all the places I had investigated this particular room seemed more oppressive than anywhere else I have been, and also seemed to be darker than it should be. After taking pictures at random I went to fetch the rest of my team. While in this room Jennet wrapped up like a mummy in a quilt from one of the beds trying to keep warm, Brenda took one of the wicker chairs. I set up the video camera and took readings when Brenda told me she couldn’t move her arms, I went over to where she was and took readings that went of the scale around her arms. I could not move her arms even though I am stronger than her until the Emf meter had settled down. Lots of strange thing occurred in this room including my video turning it self off, Batteries (new) died in my torch and banging on the inside of the windows. While In this room there was a feeling of being watched and followed also Brenda found there to be a very strong playful entity in this room. Group 2 also found this room very oppressive and described similar occurrences in this room.

After midnight we did the last two bedrooms and the balcony above the entrance of the manor. By now the whole place was freezing and Brenda was finding it hard to communicate with any spirits due to the extreme cold. These rooms were unusually quiet for such an old house I took pictures at random in these rooms and the balcony and will check them later. Even though spirits had been reported here we did not witness any at all while doing a vigil in here.

We decided to do the last vigils with all the teams in the dinning room. While all sat around a table Brenda asked if anyone was there at which point my video turned it self off even though it was plugged in to the socket. Again Brenda asked if there was anyone there this time slight knocking noises were heard from various places. This was the only occurrences that happened in the dinning room. We all then went to the common room to do a vigil again nothing happened in this room. Around 4am we all retired to one of the bedrooms which had 4 bunk beds in to get a couple of hours sleep before driving back. Around 5.30am Brenda woke me up because she heard someone bang on the main door as though some one had just come in. I checked the door to find it locked as with all the others and found no one else around the building. 8pm after thanking the manager for letting us do the investigation we set of home.

Wymering Manor is the oldest house in Portsmouth and is claimed to have a staggering amount of recorded ghosts!    The house has been in the hands of the Youth Hostel Association since 1960, however the land where the manor stands has had an establishment placed there for over 2000 years.
King Edward the Confessor owned the land on which the house now stands in 1042 before it passed over to King Harald Godwinson.  King Harald died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 against William I - Duke of Normandy, also known as William the Conqueror.  The Manor is recorded in the Doomsday. There have been many private owners of the Manor, three of which had it for long periods, Le Botiller Family from 1283-1388, the Wayte Family from 1391-1561 and the Bruning Family from 1562-1707.  Fifteen more owners occupied the house until the Y.H.A. in 1960. Over the years there have been various type of paranormal activity recorded from apparition appearances to whispers in the ear.  While given the tour around this building we were told of numerous sightings whisperings and poltergeists. Footnote: this must be one of the coldest places we have ever been to.