Prepare for the spookiest and most spectacular live ghost hunt to date as the Most Haunted team bring LIVING viewers an exclusive extravaganza aired for the first time over five nights. In this ambitious event, the crew travel to five of the most haunted locations in the country, each with a history leadened with spirits and curses. The journey the crew takes will map a huge pentagram – a five pointed star associated with sorcery – across the country. As the symbol is completed on the last night, Halloween, all its energy will converge at the final location – the Most Haunted Live: Halloween 2007 studio.
Presented by Yvette Fielding, this five-night epic commences at an imposing priory in northern England. The sinister building was once home to a gentrified family whose maid was accused of killing their young son. Said to be a witch, the maid was burned at the stake and it is now believed that anyone who sees her ghost will suffer a death in their family soon after. Could the ghostly figure seen stalking the grounds of the sprawling house be the witch?
Night two of this paranormal marathon takes place in a largely derelict hotel. The pub on the ground floor is the only part of the building which is still in use, and was once the drinking venue of choice for a witch, and for the men who so feared her powers that they eventually killed her. Before she died, the sorceress put a curse on the building which has since seen numerous vicious murders within its walls, while pub regulars claim there are a whole host of spirits haunting the building. Later in the week, the show investigates a woman who sold her soul to the devil and visits a castle which is built on the bones of plague victims. But the scariest venue is saved for Halloween, when the crew set foot inside one of the most haunted houses in Wales: a scene of murders, executions and suicides. Join them if you dare, only on LIVING.
The Inverted Pentagram
The pentagram may be inverted with one point down. The implication is of spirit subservient to matter, of man subservient to his carnal desires. The inverted pentagram has come to be seen by many pagans as representing the dark side and it is abhored as an evil symbol. Fundamental christians, indeed, see any form of pentagram as such. However, these are recent developments and the inverted pentagram is the symbol of Gardnerian second degree initiation,
representing the need of the witch to learn to face the darkness within so that it may not later rise up to take control. The centre of a pentagram implies a sixth formative element - love/will which controls from within, ruling matter and spirit by Will and the controlled magickal direction of sexual energies. This is another lesson of initiation.
Here are five elements, four of matter (earth, air, fire and water) and THE quintessential - spirit. These may be arrayed around the pentagrams points. The word quintessential derives from this fifth element - the spirit. Tracing a path around the pentagram, the elements are placed in order of density - spirit (or aether). fire, air, water, earth. Earth and fire are basal, fixed; air and water are free, flowing.
Wheler Priory - Night One 27th October 2007
Background To Venue
The first night was from a unknown disclosed location renamed Wheler Priory. The evidence presented suggest the property may well have been Ledston Hall.
Ledston Hall in Castleford, Yorkshire.
Ledston Hall, a 17th Century Elizabethan Mansion set amongst formal gardens, pleasure grounds and landscape parks. The Grade II listed building was originally a grange and chapel built by the Monks of Pontefract Priory. The hall was the one time home of Lady Elizabeth ( Betty ) Hastings born 1682. She succeeded her brother George ( 8th Earl of Huntingdon ) to lands and property. A generous and charitable woman many schools in the local area are named for her. She never married and died in 1739.
The first building on the site of the Hall was originally a Chapel built by the monks from Pontefract Priory, reputed to have been built in the 12th Century. The Hall as we know it today was built over a period of time in the 16th and 17th Century. The then landscaped gardens and terraces were added over a period of time but now these have been changed to make maintenance more viable. Not a lot is known of the actual history of Ledston Hall. It is known though, that in the 16th Century a maid at the Hall called Mary Pannell made a potion for the ill son of the house, she was later accused of witchcraft because the potion mixed to rub on the body was mistakenly given to the young boy to drink, by the boys Mother, this proved fatal to her son and Mary was sent to York on trial for witchcraft, she was found guilty and brought back the area where she was burned to death on a nearby hill still known today as Mary Pannell Hill where her ghost is reputed to have been seen in more recent times.
1570 - Mary Pannell Burned As A Witch.
Mary Pannell, of Ledston, lived in a small hut and mixed enchantments and made curses and is said to have had dealings with evil spirits. She is said to have bewitched to death William Witham, Esq., of Ledston Hall, in 1593, and was convicted in York in 1603 and put to death by burning on Mary Pannell Hill, on the edge of Castleford.
Local legend has it that Mary was a maid who knew a little about medicine. She gave a lotion to rub on a child's chest for a chill but the mother (an important person of the time) gave it to the child to drink. The lotion killed him and Mary was burned as a witch for it.
Her ghost, leading a horse, is supposed to haunt the Pannell Hill and it is claimed that anybody seeing her will have a death in the family
Leopard Inn, Burslem : Night Two 28th October 2007
The Leopard Inn, Burslem, formerly the Market Place Inn, is a listed building in Stoke-on-Trent. The current owner, Neil crisp has recently re-opened the Hotel side, some 58 rooms, to the inn which had been closed since the 1950’s.
The Leopard Inn is steeped in history, including fact such as it being the place where Josiah Wedgwood and James Brindley met to discuss building the Trent and Mersey Canal in 1765, which was confirmed in a letter written by Wedgwood in March of that year.
By the mid 1800's the Inn was run by vicar from Porthill and it had fallen in status. However transfer of the inn to Mary Lee’s was a turning point and she returned the inn to it’s former glory. A grand function is recorded in 1857 when the town hall was opened.
The Leopard was purchased in 1872 by James Norris, a local brewer who'd built a bottling plant and small brewery directly opposite next to the meat market and the town hall. Regrettably the brewery and meat market were both demolished in the 1950’s.
James Norris turned the inn into a up market hotel extending the rear of it with 57 bedrooms. With it’s total of 69 bedrooms it soon became one of the area’s top hotels.
By 1956 the inn was losing trade to the chains of hotels that were opening in the area and the rear rooms were closed, averting back to just the 12 original bedrooms.
The premises was brought by Bass in 1960’s and it re-opened in 1965 after major refurbishment. However the rear bedrooms remained closed off and unused.
It is only last year that current owner Enterprise Inns and landlord Neil Cox found the entrance to the old bedrooms and re-opened the corridor to find the bedrooms distraught from neglect. Although plans are now being made for a major refurbishment in the near future.
Doors are often heard to open and slam by themselves, and a rustling of a lady skirt.
Recent Media
A Televised ghost hunt is being planned at a 300-year-old hotel, where the owners are already trying to raise scores of rooms from the dead.
Researchers from Living TV smash Most Haunted will visit the Leopard Hotel, in Burslem, next month, in preparation for a possible scientific investigation to be screened in the winter.
It comes after its new landlords discovered 58 bedrooms left exactly as they were when they were sealed off between 1931 and the 1950s.
They have also unearthed a tunnel leading from the cellar to a former brewery across the road.
Now producers from the cult series, fronted by ex-Blue Peter presenter Yvette Fielding, have made contact with the pub.
Joint landlord Neil Cox said: "The approach came out of the blue, but so many people have been talking about what we have found here I suppose it's no surprise, given the colourful history of the building.
"They want to come for a few days at the end of next month to look at the lie of the land.
"They seemed particularly interested in the cellar and tunnel. We believe the cellar used to be a mortuary, and there are stories about people sentenced to death being held there before taken to a nearby courthouse to be hanged."
Since the Leopard's rooms and tunnel were uncovered earlier this year, there has been a resurgence of interest in the pub, both from drinkers and Mother Town history enthusiasts.
Guided tours at last week's open weekend attracted a total of 200 people, including two couples who held their wedding receptions there in 1951. One remembered that film star Dirk Bodarde was a hotel guest at the time.
Mr Cox told how spiritualists had already visited the hotel since he and partner Neil Crisp took over the licence last December.
He said: "They set up a meter for measuring electromagnetic radiation - and it was going off the scale even before it had been switched on properly.
"I'm pretty sceptical about all this, but it can be pretty spooky if you're on your own, and I tend to lock up as quickly as I can at night and get out of there."
Owners Enterprise Inns want to bring the hotel's rooms - once earning it the title Savoy of the Midlands - back to their former glory when it attracted the likes of Charles Darwin, James Brindley and Josiah Wedgwood. Aided by possible grants from English Heritage and Advantage West Midlands, they plan to spend £1.5 million on restoring the hotel's period features.
New paintings now adorn the Leopard's function rooms depicting Burslem witch Mollie Leigh, celebrated artist Arthur Berry, a chartist riot in the town, and a prostitute said to have had her throat cut by a man later held in the cellar before being executed.
Some of the rooms were found behind a door hidden by an old cupboard.
Mr Cox said: "I didn't expect any of this when we took over, but as it is sparking so much interest locally, someone must have tipped Most Haunted off about it."
Source: The Sentinel Online
Report of the events of the night
The night started in what was referred to as the Red Room, the room the night would later finish in. A tankard was heard to fall on the floor and beer mats later followed. From a technical point of view Ciaran's thermal camera locked up when he started to check the beermats for heat. David Wells picked up the prescence of a man with a goaty beard and bad skin, who may have murdered a woman.
As they moved on David picked up on 'prostituation' in the premises and confirmed the murder of the woman was in the 1860's.
A seance in the function room picked up once more on this man and the name 'Grenville' or 'Granville' was given. Leslie Smith, historian, later confirmed a woman had had her throat cut in this very room.
The team moved up to the next floor leaving Karl to continue a vigil on his own. David now picked up on 'James', a man with an agressive character, who he believed was a former owner of the inn. David later stated she was a loner and not pretty in appearance.
On moving into the cellar Cath reported to have been pushed twice. David picked up on 'Maragret', a woman from the 1700's, who was a lonely figure. Leslie connected her to be Mary ' Mollie' Lee a prior tenant or owner who was reported to be a witch. David also picked up on children running about in this area.
A door, that was leaning against a wall, fell to the floor whether this was knocked over or fell from unknown causes in unknown.
The night finished with a seance in the Red Room using an overturned tankard on the table. The table was seen to move but because of the lack of a camera at floor level there was no solid evidence this was being moved by paranormal activity. David reported the 'activity to be caused by 3 or 4 prescences in the room who may want to play.
Townely Hall : Night Three 29th October 2007
Background To Venue
Towneley Hall was the home of the Towneley family from the 14th century until 1902. The park covers many acres and houses football pitches, bowling greens and a vast woodland containing many walks.
In 1926 a War Memorial was erected in the park and was unveiled on December 12th by the Earl of Derby.
It is rumoured that the Hall is haunted by a spirit whose visits were limited to once every seven years, when its thirst for vengeance had to be satisfied by the untimely death of one of the Hall residents.
Legend says that Sir John Towneley (1473 -1541) was said to have offended and injured the poor of the district by enclosing some of the area’s common land where the villagers used to graze their cattle, making it part of the park. As a result, his soul is said to wander about the Hall, crying out: "Be warned ! Lay out! Be warned! Lay out! Around Hore-Law and Hollin-Hey Clough, To her children give back the widows cot, For you and yours there’s still enough."
In addition to this wailing spirit there are a few other phantoms reported to wander the grounds of Towneley Park. Deep within the woods behind the hall is a small bridge that crosses the stream. This is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a white lady. Who she is, nobody knows. Perhaps she waits at the bridge for a lover who never returned. Or was it simply a place of peacefulness that she enjoyed in life.
Quite close to the bridge is a long avenue through the woods. It runs from Todmorden Road staight to the back of the hall. It has been reported that the sound of marching boots has been heard coming down this avenue. Some say that it is the ghost of Roundheads, sent by Oliver Cromwell, coming to arrest Charles Towneley, or that it is the ghost of a faithful retainer reporting that his master had been killed in the massacre of July 2nd, 1644.
Report of the events of the night
Towneley Hall in Burnely was introduced to us as ‘just a stones throw away from Pendle Hill’ and past viewers will remember the events there. On entering the building psychic medium David Wells picked up on a large assured gentleman wearing Elizabethan clothing and a dominant woman. Historian Lesley Smith was quick to associate the gentleman with John Towneley.
The investigation began on the main staircase where David began to feel enclosed and put upon by the energy (Past Amtosphere) of the house. As they entered the 1st floor gallery Wigan felt nervous and dizzy, Ciaran O’Keefe reported humidity of just 44% and temperate of 21 degrees.
On entering the first bedroom David sensed a lady in white and noise where heard that could be described as a moaning, the team thought this was more of a melody. A whistle was heard back in the long gallery and Yvette called out for responses to questions asking for taps in return. She reported the ‘responses’ where that 5 spirits were present, they should leave and the presence meant them harm. Ciaran was quick to point out with the wooden floor and wall panelling they should not take what may well be natural noises to be responses, a view Yvette was unhappy to accept.
Back in the hub Leslie associated the lady in white with Lady Sybil, who was associated with the witches of Pendle Hill.
The team began to set up for a séance and David offered the team ‘protection’, something that Karl and Stuart refused. The séance began and David once more made contact with the Lady in White, as well as giving a number of names; Isobel, Jane, Francis, John and Lawrence. With the use of a Ouija Board the phrase ‘U ARE MINE’ was spelt out and the following transcript took place:
Do you know who we are ? YES
Did we meet before ? NO
Are you a witch ? NO
What do we call you ? M
Where you hanged for murder ? YES
Did you kill children ? YES
Do you have a message for Karl ? NO
At this point Lesley in the hub put forward questions via Yvette
Are you a Towneley ? No
Are you an abortionist ? Yes
In this house ? Yes
Are you a witch ? Yes
The word ‘DIE was then spelt out
Where you set up ? Yes
Do you have a hatred for the family ? MURDER
Where you murdered ? Yes
What’s your surname ? M
Did you get money for your services ? Yes
Do you worth with the goat mendes ? Yes
This question was put to confirm that the spirit was a Black Witch and mendes was a symbol of the occult.
As the séance continued one of the cameramen, Geoff’ fell backwards through the door and Yvette believed he had been pulled. The team then took time out to recover from these events.
Regrouping in the cellar whining noises and bangs where heard, which once a gain could have been natural sounds. David felt there were bodies in the ground and sensed war type figures.
On request from the viewers Karl and Yvette went up to the attic, with Stuart on camera and Simon on sound. There was no activity and all noises heard could be put down to the movement of the webcam and clock mechanism house in the attic.
On returning downstairs the team regrouped in the Towneley Room and Cath was singled out to do a lone vigil in the long gallery, not comfortable to do this David Wells took her place leaving the rest of the team to carry out another séance. Something he voiced he was unhappy about.
After a sedate start the Karl and Yvette resorted to insults to provoke a reaction and where rewarded by movement of the glass. Yvette then went against advise from David Wells and recited a spell she had got from Leslie Smith to uncloak a witch. The response was instaneous as the heavy table they were using jerking backwards into Yvette and Cath. Once more there was no camera under the table to quantify this was not a team member.
Most Haunted Live Halloween 2007 : Bolsover Castle : Night 4
Raised by the Peverel family in the 12th century, very little is known of the original Bolsover Castle. A stone Keep was built c1173, surrounded by a curtain wall with an outer bailey, but the wall was breached in 1216 during the reign of King John. Surviving fragments of this curtain wall were later incorporated in a wall walk that can be seen in the castle garden.
Bolsover Castle became Crown property in 1155 when the third William Peverel fled into exile, but by 1400 it had lost its strategic importance. Years of occupation by tenants had left Bolsover Castle ruinous by the time it was purchased by Sir George Talbot in 1553. Talbot, later becoming the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, is noted for two famous associations. Firstly, his marriage to 'Bess of Hardwick', probably the most astute business woman of the 16th century, who owned the vast Chatsworth estates. And then his lengthy term as keeper to the exiled Mary Queen of Scots, a 16 year duty that seriously drained the family's resources.
To ease the financial burden, Bolsover Castle was first leased to Sir Charles Cavendish in 1608, and five years later he became the owner. Employing Robert Smythson as his architect, Cavendish set about re-building Bolsover Castle. The tower, known today as the little castle, was completed c1621, and building work continued with their sons adding the terrace and riding school ranges. Used as extra accommodation, the Terrace Range originally consisted of apartments and kitchens, but with a Royal visit imminent this range was extended to include a long gallery and an external staircase. When Charles I and his Queen arrived in 1634, the Riding School Range was probably at foundation level. At completion, the school had every facility required, including a forge, a tack and harness room, a large arena, and an upper viewing gallery. One of the most notable features of the Riding School range is its magnificent timber roof.
With the advent of the Civil War, Sir William Cavendish took command of the Royalist troops who were defeated at Marston Moor, in 1644. Although he survived, he was forced to flee into exile and Bolsover Castle was surrendered to Parliamentarian troops in August of the same year. After the reformation of the Monarchy in 1660, Sir William Cavendish was able to return to England and his now ruinous castle. Despite great financial problems, he added a new hall and staterooms to the Terrace Range and, by the time of his death in 1676, Bolsover Castle had been restored to good order. His successors, however, chose to live at Welbeck Abbey and in 1752 they stripped the lead from the roof of the Terrace Range at Bolsover Castle to effect the necessary repairs to their preferred residence.
The Little Castle and the Riding School Range survived much better, and was let to the Curate of Bolsover in 1834. Following the death of his widow in 1883, Bolsover Castle remained uninhabited and was eventually given to the nation by the 7th Duke of Portland in 1945.
Bolsover Castle, once the home of Sir Charles Cavendish, whose family owned Chatsworth, is reported to have a fairly active ghost in the domestic quarters.
A spectral figure of a woman carrying a baby is regularly seen in the kitchen.
“She obviously cares deeply about the child because she very carefully lays it down before disappearing. But, inexplicably, she puts it in the fireplace,” the book recounts.
A local legend claims that the devil was in Bolsover one day and decided to have his hooves shoed by the local blacksmith. Unfortunately, the blacksmith drove a nail into the soft part of the devil’s hoof, who took off with a scream of agony. As Chesterfield church was in his way, it received the full force of one of his frenzied kicks – which accounts for its twisted spire
Report of the events of the night
The investigation of Bolsover Castle began with some background information, including the word Bolsover is said to mean ‘Devil’s Pasture, in the room called the ‘Pagan Room’ it is said if you lie on the floor and say ‘Sleep No More’ you will die and William Peveril who built the castle in 1086 was a known devil worshipper and held regular eleborate pagan parties. He fled the castle into exile in 1155. The devil is also said to have visited the castle and when he left he hit the local church spire twisting it.
The investigation began on the first floor with David Wells unsettled and complaining of a fast heart beat, he warned of hedonistic feelings, energies he was not used to. In the Star Room he picked up on past lavish parties that were extremely endulgent. The first presence he sensed was that of a lady in a pinder blue gown with a short skirt to it. Also a cavilier style gentleman from the 1600’s who he gave the name William to.
The first séance picked on the aforementioned William who spelt out his surname as ‘CAWENDIJUQ’, Leslie Smith in the hub believed this was a badly spelt ‘Cavendish’, who did renovations to the castle in the 1600’s.
Leslie posed questions through the séance asking how Mad Madge Of Newcastle was and was she playing with the devil. This was William Cavendish’s wife, Margaret Cavendish . (Born into an East Anglian Royalist family in 1623, young Margaret Lucas went into Court service, joining the Queen, Henrietta Maria, in Oxford during the Civil War and sharing her hair-raising escape to France in 1644. While in Paris she married Willianm Cavendish, Marquess of Newcastle, who was famous for his horsemanship. They lived together in exile for more than 10 years, as part of a Royalist circle that included aristocrats and intellectual giants of the day. )
On returning to the Pagan Room it was Karl and Stuart who had to test the theory of lying on the floor, even Ciaran O’Keefe was to follow suit. After this the team split up Karl & Stuart into the kitchen, Cath and Yvette in the Housemaids Room, David and Ciaran in the Lantern room and Geoff and Wigan remained Pagan Room.
The only outcome was Karl who fell down some steps probably over a cable.
The team regrouped in the ‘Hell Room’ for another séance. David picked up on Margaret, Elizabeth, who he described as a powerful woman and he said had a connection to Leslie in the hub. Ciaran caught a sound or voice on EVP which would be checked later. Geoff the cameraman then did a lone vigil in the Kitchen.
Most Haunted Live Halloween 2007 : Plas Teg: Night 5
The historic and architecturally important mansion of Plas Teg has dominated the Welsh countryside for nearly 400 years, writes Mark Baker.
It was built by Sir John Trevor I in about 1610; it was here that this eminent courtier expressed his worldly aspirations and social standings through the grandeur of his private residence, which undoubtedly was used for sumptuous entertaining.
At the time of construction it was the most advanced house in Wales and few others of this date can truly be compared to its uniqueness. Throughout the early 17th Century it was primarily a family home and the setting for lavish entertainments put on by the Trevor family. It was only after the death of Lady Margaret Trevor, wife of Sir John Trevor I and the onset of the Civil War that the house was tenanted out and the family resided at their other residences.
During the 18th century it was used off and on by the family and it was only until Lord and Lady Dacre inherited that Plas Teg once again became a family home. The young couple set about altering the house, gardens and outbuildings, a trend continued by their heir Cadwallader Blayney Trevor-Roper. It was this young, Irish born, distant relative that inherited the wealthy Plas Teg estate in 1809 following the death of Lady Dacre, an action that did not sit well with the Trevalyn Trevors who felt they were deprived of their rightful inheritance.
For nearly a century, Plas Teg was, in the main, a happy home, housing subsequent generations of the Trevor-Ropers. It was through the devastating effect of two World Wars and multiple death duties that this came to an end and the estate was broken up to be sold.
During the Second World War, the house and outbuildings were requisitioned by the War Office to house soldiers and it was during this time that the decay of Plas Teg began. In 1945 it was sold to Dodds the auctioneers who used it as a furniture store and by the mid 1950s it was an estate of advanced decay.
Dodds applied for its demolition which was refused following a public outcry and Plas Teg was brought back by Patrick Trevor-Roper, a direct descendant of the original owners. He partially restored the house and let it out to various friends and acquaintances including a distant relation of mine. By the late 1970s, the house proved too unwieldy and it was sold privately to a young student couple who, in turn, found it hard to cope with such a vast property.
Then in 1986, it was bought by Cornelia Bayley, an antiques dealer and interior designer from London who had experience of restoring historic houses, managing to return Plas Teg to its former glory. Despite its fame as one of the most haunted houses in Wales, Mrs Bayley has never forgotten Sir John Trevor I's lavish original vision.
She has restored the destroyed formal gardens, forecourt and gazebos which had all but disappeared at the end of the 18th century. Today, its interiors are sumptuously filled with an interesting and notable collection of antique furniture, porcelain, objet d'arts and paintings dating from the 17th century to the present day.
Supposedly one of the most haunted places in the UK. Built in 1610 by Sir John Trevor, it's been considered haunted since even then – Sir John's gatekeeper commited suicide after seeing a ghost. There have been at least three other violent deaths, not counting those caused by the most infamous resident.
Before becoming Lord Chief Justice of England (1681-3), then Lord Chancellor (1983-88), then dying in the Tower of London, 'Hanging Judge' Jeffries lived here in the 17th Century. He held court in the dining room; those sentenced to hang were executed immediately in an adjoining room.
There have been a disproportionate number of accidents on the nearby A541 dual carriageway many of them caused by motorists swerving around ghostly figures.
Yvette Fielding last visited PlasTeg with Girls Aloud for her series 'Ghost Hunting With...'
click here to see where to watch or .
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