According to its website: The Ghost Club is the oldest organization in the world involved with psychical research. It was founded in 1862 and has its roots in Cambridge University where, in 1855, Trinity College's fellows started o discuss ghosts and other psychic phenomena.
England's Ghost Club: Notable Members
Over the years, some famous people have been associated with the club’s enquiries: writers Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, poet Siegfried Sassoon, psychic researcher Harry Price, speed record holder Donald Campbell, actor Peter Cushing are just a few of the notable members.
The club has applied observation and scientific methods to try to find explanations for mystifying phenomena. When a ghost sighting is reported to the club it sends out members to do overnight vigils. The organization is entirely voluntary and emphasises that it does not “perform clearances or exorcisms.”
Clerkenwell Prison Haunting Investigated by England's Ghost Club
Given the nature of what went on within their walls old prisons are often believed to have ghostly appearances of former residents who died in grisly circumstances leaving behind souls in a state of distress.
One such site is the House of Detention in Clerkenwell in central London, where the first prison was built in 1616. It was a busy place in Victorian times, but was demolished in 1890 leaving behind a maze of underground tunnels and cells.
Richard Jones, who conducts ghost walks in London, writes that visitors “have caught sight of a shadowy figure moving swiftly through the darkness ahead of them. Others have come back from the cells and grim passages and asked who the old lady is who seems to be searching for something, but does not respond when assistance is offered.”
Some people say they have heard heart-rending sobs coming from a little girl deep in the tunnels.
One night in May 1999, 10 Ghost Club members investigated the site. Although nothing was seen, some members of the group picked up what they call “entities.” Among these was a prison overseer who was described as “cadaverous, skinny, and emaciated with a strong and unhygienic body odour.” Some of the investigators were overcome by feelings of intense sadness and nausea so further probing was called off.
England's Ghost Club Investigates Coalhouse Fort
Military establishments also have more than their fair share of reported hauntings; a favourite is Coalhouse Fort on the northern bank of the Thames Estuary, east of London. Its origins go back to the 16th century and Paranormal Tours lists some of the strange occurrences there: “soldiers playing a wartime poker game; loud footsteps and heavy dragging noises; strange smells and voices; …apparitions.”
The Ghost Club has carried out a couple of studies of Coalhouse Fort, the most recent in October 2007. Several members of the team reported seeing figures, hearing noises, and even feeling something brush past them. One of the investigators said she “saw a male figure come out of the upper floor doorway…He was aged about 30, had dark hair and light grey/light green jacket with the bottom front part folded back…he turned to his left and faded.”
England's Ghost Club Short on Explanations
The Ghost Club’s reports of its vigils tend to be long on describing phenomena by short on explaining them.
In 2003, Dr. Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire tried to unravel the puzzle of things that go bump in the night. BBC News reported his conclusion is that “A chill in the air, low light levels, even magnetic fields may trigger a feeling that ‘a presence’ is in a room – but that is all they are, feelings.”
Wiseman took subjects to well-known haunted locations and found they had unusual experiences that were clustered around places where hauntings had been previously reported. His subjects said they had no prior knowledge of paranormal activity.
Dr. Wiseman and his team concluded there probably are no ghosts and that “People do have consistent experiences in consistent places, but I think that this is driven by visual factors mainly, and perhaps some other environmental cues.”
Sources
- Arran Frood, “Ghosts ‘All in the Mind.’ ” BBC News, May 31, 2003.
- “Coalhouse Fort.” Paranormal Tours, undated.
- The Ghost Society, undated.
- John Fraser, “Investigation into Alleged Haunting at the House of Detention, Clerkenwell, London.”
- Richard Jones,“House of Detention.” London Ghost Tour, undated.Sarah Darnell, “Investigation at Coalhouse Fort.” The Ghost Club, November 2007.
Rupert Taylor - Rupert Taylor is the editor of a magazine that provides background to current events.
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