In 1750 the Board of Ordnance purchased 40 acres of agricultural land from Jane Priddy to construct an earth rampart as part of the defences of Portsmouth Harbour, which were completed in 1756. In 1771 a magazine, office and cooperage were constructed, with Officer's houses and large gardens added in 1777. As the Navy grew in size and importance, Priddys Hard Royal Naval Armaments Depot was one of a network of ordnance yards and gunwharfs to supply war ships with their guns, ammunition and associated services. During the Napoleonic Wars the magazine complex was extended and in 1848 a laboratory complex was built to the south of the office block specifically for testing the quality and condition of gunpowder. In 1861 "C" Magazine was built and in 1879 the largest magazine, "E" Magazine was constructed. During the 1860s the fortifications were strengthened incorporating brick gateways and carponniers after which the site was altered continuously during the early 20th century. The complex was fully utilised during the 2nd World War with the introduction of 2,500 women workers who filled jobs vacated by men on active service, and it was last used for significant naval activity during the Falklands Conflict. Now the Priddys Hard site is home to The Museum of Naval Firepower. The untimely deaths that have happened at Priddys Hard have been as a result of accidental explosions and in one case an unnatural gust of wind, rumoured to be the evil spirit of a convict labourer who died in the same spot. Sightings of many of the past unfortunate souls have been rumoured by former workers of the Royal Navy Armaments Depot over the years including more recently security guards that have looked after the listed buildings. Recent investigations witnessed a set of heavy chains swinging for no apparent reason and a white shadow seen coming into "C" magazine. The area around room 309 is also said to be active in that phantom footsteps have been heard along with a banging noise against a locked door.

After a history tour of the museum and its artefacts we embarked upon our first vigils of the night. I began with a solo vigil in the small arms section of the museum where I stayed for about 30 minutes asking out and hoping for signs of activity. Nothing occurred however, so I left to join the rest of the group. While in the torpedo display room Jim explained how shortly before I arrived there had been some movement of the plastic curtains by the entrance which sounded as if something had walked through them. Upon inspection I noticed that there was a reasonably strong breeze coming through this part of the building which did cause the plastic strips to move against each other, so this may well have been the explanation. We then moved onto the Sea Mines display where apart from Jim hearing some scratching noises coming from the back there was nothing to report.

Our next vigil took us into the abandoned officer's building across from the museum. We started in the Radio Room with a short séance and glass divination experiment, however we had no responses of any kind. We did hear the occasional loud bang coming from upstairs, however as the building was derelict we put this down to the windy conditions outside. We then moved up to the first floor corridor and rooms where we discovered a board on one of the windows which was responsible for the banging we had heard earlier. Owing to the lack of activity we had encountered I decided to change the approach and began a more antagonistic line of questioning to see if I could draw a response, but again all remained quiet.

Our penultimate vigil took place in the small derelict storage room towards the front of the complex where we again setup a glass divination experiment and asked out for some kind of response. It seemed that we had chosen a night where the activity levels were very low as for the third consecutive vigil we had no activity or responses of any kind. For this reason we kept the final vigil short as we made our way over to the large storage warehouse where many of the artefacts undergo restoration. Unfortunately this section had to be lit for health and safety reasons which resulted in creating a comfortable atmosphere, and as to be expected we encountered no activity of any significance. The night had been a frustratingly quiet one for all concerned, but that aside it had certainly been an educational experience and on reflection the Museum certainly does have a few areas which on another night may just bring about some rewards for other groups - but as we know all too well, paranormal activity is fleeting at best and we know that sometimes you end up with nothing to show for a nights work. We can only hope that our next ISP investigation brings about more activity.