Preston Manor was built in the village of Preston, which means ‘priest’s holding’ It is thought that there was a monastery on the site in the Middle Ages. The house was originally built about 1600, rebuilt in 1738 and substantially added to and altered in 1905. The Manor was bought by the Stanford family in 1794 and for 138 years was their family home. The last member of the family to live at Preston Manor was Ellen Thomas-Stanford who, following the death of her mother in 1903, came to live in the house with her second husband Charles Thomas-Stanford. Ellen had the Manor altered and re-furnished in keeping with the conventions of upper Edwardian taste. On the death of Sir Charles and Lady Thomas-Stanford in 1932, the house and contents were left to the Corporation of Brighton (now Brighton & Hove City Council). Preston Manor now presents a unique opportunity to see an Edwardian home both ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’. In the grounds there is an ‘old-fashioned’ walled garden and family pets’ graveyard. Immediately adjacent is the mediaeval church of St Peter (no longer used). Tales of ghostly sightings and supernatural experiences at Preston Manor go back through history, including Sister Agnes, the medieval nun who helped travellers on their way; a body buried under the patio; a disembodied hand floating by the four-poster bed; the White Lady and the elegant Lady in Grey who descends the grand staircase with nowhere to go. One friendly ghost was even seen trying out a child’s toy tractor during the 1960s. The reports continue with modern-day sightings of visitors to the Manor who proved not to exist, doors locking themselves and lights turning off for no reason, and the chill ghostly hand holding onto a doorknob.

This was my second visit to Preston Manor, and the third time Paranormal Tours had investigated there. We were joined by new medium Marc Richardson who I had worked with previously at Newhaven Fort, so I was very much looking forward to a new set of experiences and some fresh energy in the group. After out usual workshops we embarked upon the ghost walk with Penny, the resident historian, and this would be my first opportunity to see Marc at work. Things kicked off with a bang as Marc reeled off an array of names and accurate information, and seeing as he had never visited Preston Manor and had no prior knowledge of the history is was certainly impressive. Most notably while on the ground floor he linked with twins who he suggested had three names and something linked to a flower. This was somewhat confusing to Marc until Penny revealed that indeed there were female twins, one of whom was otherwise known to her family as Lilly. Just prior to this when we arrived on the ground floor some of the team experienced a rushing sensation on the stairs as if something had shot past them, which is interesting as this area is known for activity, specifically images of The White Lady & The Elegant Lady in Grey. As we neared the end of the walk around Marc also linked in with the name Vere, which in itself was unusual, but after Penny confirmed this was again correct he interjected, convinced that his first name was preceded with another name beginning with F. Although Penny was not aware of this we were able to research this in detail, and indeed Marc was correct, which was something of a surprise at the time to Penny who was not instantly aware of this fact. During the investigation Marc also linked in with the story of Sister Agnes, but as the night progressed he revealed what he felt was the true story behind her death. Much of the information he revealed could be validated based on various accounts from other mediums, and it related to her being prostituted by the lord or owner of the building which stood there previously and eventually raped and murdered. Her name was actually Elizabeth, but ever since the séance in Victorian times the name "Agnes" had been assumed. He believed that she still responded to the name of Agnes since that time. Finally when returning to the base camp prior to the vigils it was noticed by one of the first people back that the ladle hanging up in the kitchen had begun to swing on its own, and this was indeed an example of activity in this room recorded many times before.

My first vigil of the night took place in the Basement and Kitchen area. We started in the Boot Hall and were joined by Marc who had earlier connected with a male energy named Edward who was apparently linked to the former building on this site. We began by asking out for signs of activity and at one point there was a single clear noise from the fireplace as if something had knocked against one of the copper ornaments. I then decided to split the group up for smaller vigils but unfortunately there was no real notable activity so we all joined together for one last vigil in the kitchen. Here Marc connected with the energy of a young girl named Annie, who he said was fascinated with the light from the infra red thermometer. Mel pointed the light so that it reflected off Marc's hand while he held it out in an attempt to attract the spirit girl to hold his hand. Shortly after I was kneeled on the floor looking upwards towards Marc when I noticed a glowing above his head. It then became apparent that the light bulb above which he was unaware of had begun to glow and pulsate dimly in the dark. Of course this may have been the result of some strange coincidental electrical surge, however it almost seems equally as implausible as the likelihood that indeed Marc was channelling the energy of this spirit girl in some way. It certainly was a fascinating experience, and even if the coincidence and timing was perfect it certainly gave me food for thought.

Vigil two took place on the Ground Floor where we started in the Macoid Room and linked in a séance next to the shuttered windows at the end of the room. This area was closest to where the bones of Sister Agnes had been discovered. Unfortunately after a period of asking out for a connection there were no signs of any activity, so we moved into the Drawing Room where again we attempted, fruitlessly, to make contact. At this point the energies of the team seemed a little low, so I decide to split us all off into pairs to investigate the other rooms on the ground floor. It had appeared that nothing had happened until the very end of the vigil when some of the team members suggested hearing two clear bangs on the door to the Morning Room. There had been some banging from the wooden shutters during the night which covered the windows, primarily due to it being windy outside, however they seemed convinced this was definitely on the door. Unfortunately I was not in vicinity to hear this so I cannot say whether there could have been any other possible explanation.

The third vigil of the night was on the first floor and began in the Blue Room with a linked séance where there was really nothing of interest to report. We then left Stuart alone in the room while I split the group among the other bedrooms. I attempted some scrying on the large mirror in one of the main bedrooms and the two team members who tried this suggested their faces changing into that of a slim woman with similar features, but naturally this can often be the result of low light conditions affecting the minds attempts to make detailed sense of the faint image staring back at you. Finally we moved onto the first floor landing and stairway where initially there were suggestions of movement from the landing on the top floor and cold breezes on the stairs. I moved up onto the stairs alone and did notice a cold spot on one section but it has to be said that both experiences could be a result of the awful weather outside at the time. As the other groups were retuning to base camp we did experience a bright flash of light on the stairs beside me, however this was at the time when flash photography was taking place downstairs. Although it was clear what the difference was between a double camera flash and the light we all witnessed it must be noted that there was only a small shaft of space up between the stairwell which could have channelled any light from one of the cameras downstairs in such a way as it manifested itself into the light we all saw. We would need to try and replicate this with different camera flashes to be certain.

The final vigil took place in the servants quarters. We started with the planchette and attempted some automatic writing and almost instantly the pen began to move. Over a period of about ten minutes the name "Lilly" and the surname "MacDonald" appeared to be written on the paper. This sounds somewhat incredible, and almost too good to be true. Suspicions of possible conscious or sub-conscious influence from team could be levied considering that the second name was only forthcoming after Sue, a staff member at the Manor who had joined us for the night, revealed the name "MacDonald". Prior to this when I had asked for the second name we only received illegible scribbles and circles. It did seem strange that only after the name was mentioned was something resembling MacDonald was written on the paper, as this was now in the conscious minds of the team. The name "Lilly" had also come up for this group in a prior vigil which would suggest thoughts around this prior to the experiment. The seed of suggestion had been sewn twice and it may or may not have been deliberate, but it was definitely something which made me question its validity. We then moved to the adjoining room and I set the team up in a circle where we asked for signs of activity. Little happened until near the very end when while asking out for a sign a noise from the corner of the room drew our attention as if something had been thrown. We turned the lights on and found a thin brass hairclip alongside the small metal bath on the floor. That had clearly been the sound when we replicated it, and the suggestion at first was that we were connecting with children in the room as this had once been the Day Nursery. We asked out again a second time in between singing nursery rhymes to try and encourage further activity, and sure enough one of the team exclaimed that they had just been hit with an object - another hairclip, identical to the previous one. The original hairclip was in its original place where I had left it so we could rule out that the original object had been thrown again. Although the end of the vigil was drawing close we tried again, and once more after a few minutes a third hairclip was heard landing in the corner of the room, and was found resting on the seat of a chair. For me there were a number of factors which made me unsure as to whether this was in fact genuine poltergeist activity. Firstly the objects were only ever thrown when the room was entirely dark so it was impossible to see the source. Secondly the hairclips were modern, the kind any woman might wear, and from speaking to Sue no such objects had ever been left or found in this room before. This poses the question of where they came from if they indeed did not belong to a member of the team. I can't possible assume foul play, but my logical mind has to accept that it is a far more likely explanation. Typically such activity involves an object belonging to the room, and to be considered truly genuine it is essential that at the object is in some way tracked from its point of origin to its final resting place. In this case I would not personally consider this to be paranormal activity, although I would be interested to hear if any similar occurrences are recorded in the coming months as I would dearly love to be wrong.