The first Castle in the village of St. Briavels would have been a wooden fortress built on a defensive earthwork, and was thought to be an administration office for the Sheriff of Gloucester, Walter Durand. The first recorded data for the Castle is in 1129 when Walter's son, Miles, sent a pipe scroll to King Henry I. King John was one Royal to stay at the Castle, as he used the surrounding area as one of his hunting grounds. The main function of the Castle was originally as a munitions depot,manufacturing axes, picks, shovels, nails and horseshoes in the late 12th century. The manufacture and storage of iron products continued until the end of the 14th century. During the 15th century, use of the Castle diminished and the Royal visits stopped and by the 16th the hall was too ruinous and expensive to heat. The only areas which were still in use and maintained were the chapel and the solar, while the western part of the gatehouse was used as a prison. From 1850 to 1910 some rooms in the Castle were used as a school and subsequently formed into a private residence. Now, maintained by English Heritage, it is leased by the Crown to the Youth Hostel Association. Paranormal sightings include that of a Grey Lady standing by a doorway, two Knights in armour that patrol the grounds and the Castle, a crying baby in the Solar Room and the oppresive Oubliette which has sent previous occupants fleeing the castle.

St. Briavels was indeed an deeply atmospheric and historical location, and suggested that the night ahead could well be of some interest, especially as the stormy weather conditions outside were likely to stir up the mood of the place. The walk-around with medium John Crowdey proved, in both a paranormal and a historical context, extremely accurate. The following vigils would be my first experience leading the different teams of investigators, and our first port of call was a split vigil in the Chapel and King John's Room. One interesting occurrence, although unlikely to be paranormal but experienced by both groups, was that whenever a question was asked in King John's Room it appeared that coincidentally the heater would click on. In the meantime all remained quiet in the Chapel. Our next vigil took place in the foreboding Oubliette at the base of the tower, where there was greater tension in the group. Although nothing was experienced by the whole group, one notable encounter took place with one of the team who whilst sitting on the floor suddenly leapt to his feet and scrambled for the exit. Upon returning he described that he had felt the sensation of something dragging across the floor from the corner of the room towards him, so oppressive and realistic that he could no longer remain in the room. The third vigil of the night took us to the State Apartment, Isobel's Room and the supposedly haunted corridor. Of all the vigils thus far, this was the least oppressive and the team as a whole felt comfortable throughout. The penultimate vigil saw us return to the upper floors of the tower, where again all remained quiet however one member of the group did complain of feeling extremely nauseous. The final vigil took place back in the main castle building, with the team splitting into smaller groups to investigate the Guard Room, Stairwell and Prison. One group did experience a unknown tapping sound in the guard room, while one particularly strange faint light anomaly was captured descending the stairwell. My final vigil was a 20 minute solo encounter in the Prison, where towards the latter part I did capture numerous light anomalies moving in the area of the doorway, although it is unclear whether these are simply dust or insects.