Boringdon Hall has a place in recorded history by being mentioned in the Doomsday Book, however it is said that in 956AD King Edgar granted the Manor of Boringdon to St. Peter of Plymton. For years the Manor belonged to the local priory until the Dissolution by Henry VIII in 1539. It then became property of the Crown and Henry granted it to his courtier Thomas Wriothesley. Ten years on it was sold to Henry Grey, father of Lady Jane Grey who was Queen of England for only nine days. Building works were carried out throughout the 16th century until 1587, by then owner John Parker. It was at this time the building was renamed as Boringdon House. On its completion, John Parker put on a lavish party in honour of his great friend Sir Francis Drake. During the Civil War the Parkers were huge supporters of the Crown and it is no surprise to learn that the House was taken by Cromwell, destroying part of the Hall. The Parkers lost everything at this time and was only when King Charles II was restored to the throne that they were given back their home and rewarded for their loyalty. Activity has been witnessed in various parts of the Hall, key sightings claim to be Lady Jane Grey and Sir Francis Drake. People sleeping in rooms 15, 16 and 17 have experienced the feeling of someone sitting on the bed and unexplained noises. Strange lights and flashes have been seen by staff and residents, one visitor is said to have almost fainted in fear of what lay behind the door into room 15. Another guest sleeping in room 16 woke to see a dark shadow crossing the room. Night porters have also heard loud footsteps and felt cold spots, sometimes the electricity will cut out for no apparent reason leaving them alone in the dark.

Boringdon Hall was a magnificent sight as we approached along the driveway early on the afternoon of the investigation. This impressive Elizabethan monument which once played host to such dignitaries as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh was indeed a majestic location for our event, and anticipation of an equally enjoyable night ahead was high. After our usual introductions we were fortunate to be accompanied on Marlene's walk around by none other than Sir Francis himself - well, our historian to be precise, who had joined us complete in period costume with this wife to assist us with his historical knowledge of Boringdon. Marlene made a number of accurate statements about the history and supposed hauntings within the building, however the most significant incident of the walk around occurred when we entered Room 12. Prior to the ghost walk Marlene and Lyn had set up an experiment using a wooden cradle (which apparently was used to hold wood for the fire). This had earlier been placed adjacent in front of the fireplace and the room locked off. Upon opening the door to the room I immediately noticed that the cradle was approximately 2 or 3 feet nearer the centre of the room and placed at an angle to its original position. Either a member of staff with keys to the room had placed it there, or a member of the crew – or failing that we were left with no obvious solution to this riddle so early on in the night. The anticipation for the night ahead had risen even further.

My first vigil found me returning to Room 12 with one of our teams, and we started by attempting to link in with the names of any possible spirit energies that might reside in this room. The experiment involved each team member sitting in silence and concentrating on a word in their minds eye, appearing upon a blank screen as if slowly being brought into focus. This word would eventually represent the name of the person they were hoping to connect with. Of most interest was that one of the team brought forward the name Parker, which is the name of the family who had resided at Boringdon for almost 400 years. I too had linked in with a name beginning with the letters P and A, and in all honesty was not consciously aware of the Parker relationship to the house at that time. Possibly this was nothing more than coincidence, or otherwise subliminal suggestion as the Parker name was found on more than one of the history boards throughout the Hall. Apart from the results of this experiment there was little more to report for the first vigil - as is often the case, the night had started quietly.

My second vigil involved me taking 2 teams (one consisting of staff members from the Hall) to the Grenville Room and the adjoining Bar Area downstairs. Here we attempted a number of divination experiments, using glasses and the planchette, but we were continually frustrated at the lack of movement - this may have been the result of having so many people within the vigil, and even a group séance at the end did not help to raise energies or activity. By this time the night was growing to be a disappointing one, but hopes remained that the remaining 2 vigils would prove more successful.

My third vigil of the night took a team together with our medium Marlene to the upper floors and Room 16 - a small annex bedroom on the top floor of the building. I began by leaving the majority of the team in Marlene's capable hands while I was joined by night porter Martyn for some solo vigils on the main floor below. We began by sitting alone in different areas of the corridor asking out for signs of activity, with no response. I then left Martyn to investigate the corridor while I ventured into Room 11 alone and sat asking out for any spirit energies near by to make themselves known to me. Unsurprisingly this short solo vigil was another quiet one, so I re-joined Martyn and we returned to the rest of the team in Room 16. At this point I decided that a séance was in order, especially was we had the help of Marlene to guide us through. I conducted the séance for the most part after which Marlene began to sense a presence coming forward to join the group. Marlene then proceeded to undergo a psychic trance state, channeling the energy of a man named Thomas Parker, who was unhappy with the team being there and wished us to leave. The Parker family resided at Boringdon or owned the lands between 1583 up to the 1920’s however no records exist of a Thomas in the family (although this by no means suggest that he would not have lived here). The trance was interesting but was not accompanied by any other phenomena in the room despite our attempts to encourage it.

My final vigil of the night took place in Room 12. We began by asking out for signs of activity with no obvious response so I decided to conduct a linked séance with the team sat on the 4-poster bed. At this point the activity appeared to become more notable as the doorknob on the main entrance to the room appeared to twist or shake a number of times in direct response to our questions. Upon investigation we discovered that there was nobody on the other side of the door. Some of the team believed this to be related to a female energy in the room although no names were forthcoming. We also heard faint whispering sounds which appeared to be coming from the corridor outside, although we could not hear any movement of people from the other side of the door as the floors were very creaky in this area so any individuals nearby would have most likely been heard moving across them.

Our night had come to an end, and Boringdon had brought us some unusual experiences although again nothing conclusive of paranormal activity. When reflecting upon the night with the other teams it appeared that others had also heard whispering coming from outside the door to Room 12 while a number of anomalous noises and bangs were picked up by various people throughout the night. Compared to other investigations it had been a relatively quite event, although the magnificence of the location had certainly made up for any apparent lack of paranormal activity.