Since Henry VIII's Dissolution the manor house of Bisham has been known as Bisham Abbey. History has also told us that it was not even part of the monastic buildings that surrounded it. The manor house was actually based around an ancient area built on by the Knights Templar who owned the manor in the 13th century. The Hall within the building dates from around 1260, and In 1307 King Edward II seized it from the Knights to be used as a jail for such notable names and the wife of Robert de Bruce and Queen Elizabeth of the Scots who was imprisoned here in 1310. In 1335 the property was granted to the Montacute Barons who became the Earls of Salisbury and it became the family residence for around 200 years. The Hoby family took up residence in the early 16th century and in 1557 Sir Philip Hoby built the great dining hall and a suite of rooms. Queen Elizabeth I spent a number of years imprisoned here during Bloody Mary's reign. One of the more active paranormal residents of Bisham Abbey is in fact believed to be that of Lady Elizabeth Hoby, who in a tragic accident is said to have killed her son William. Her phantom has been seen since the early 1600's wandering the grounds, moaning and wringing her hands of the what appears to be blood, a symbol of her wicked actions in the death of her son.

This was my second visit to Bisham Abbey, and my second investigation working with new medium Marc Richardson who had been so impressive at Preston Manor. He again made a number of intriguing and revealing discoveries during the initial walk around, suggesting a variety of names and events of the years which could all be validated in the history books. There was also a specific reference to the situation with Lady Elizabeth Hoby where Marc felt the situation surrounding the tragic accident of her son William had another undocumented twist surrounding the name of the child and the exact circumstances which surrounded his death.

I began my opening vigil taking a team into the Great Hall where we conducted a linked séance in the twilight of the room, and asked out for signs of activity. The only incident of note was a faint light similar to that of a torch which appeared to drift across my hand while we were linked around the table. This was spotted by another member of the group, and we could find no obvious explanation as to where this light had come from as there were no obvious sources in the room and no external windows or open doorways nearby which could have resulted in such a light moving across the table. A number of us did also notice a white shape moving in a doorway to our left, which was initially quite intriguing however upon investigation I found that the door led to a small adjoining room where a monitor was playing some historical footage as it had simply been the light from this which had been reflecting back on the open door.

The second vigil of the night took place in the Elizabethan Room where a single table and chairs had been setup in the centre of the floor for us to conduct some glass divination and also to undertake a linked séance. I began by asking the group to link hands around the table, and as we asked out for signs of activity there were a few of the group including myself who could hear clear and repetitive footsteps. This appeared to be something of interest initially, however the repetitive nature of the sounds which I could discern was probably coming from outside of the building suggested that this was most probably something perfectly natural and was simply being misinterpreted as steps. Our attempts as glass divination were relatively fruitless and in general the vigil remained quiet and uneventful for the most part.

Vigil three rook place in the Henry VIII Room where again I asked the group to link hands around the large table as we asked for signs of activity. There were some noticeable raps and knocks coming from the table in response to our questions, however it was obvious that the table did creak when being leaned upon, and considering the number of people in the group I could not discount that this was most probably the result of pressure on the table. There were also some attempts at glass divination which were generally unsuccessful, and again the vigil ended on something of an anti-climax as the hour had brought little reward.

My final vigil of the night took place with Marc in the Sonning Room as we undertook another séance in one final attempt to encourage some genuine activity. We started in the furthest room and sat in a circle as Marc attempted to draw in the spirit energies, and there were some noticeable changes in temperature and suggestions of movement around us. A few of the group suggested that they had been touched, but unfortunately these were all subjective experiences which could not be experienced by the other members of the group. Marc then moved us into the first room where we all sat at the conference tables as it was suggested that Lady Elizabeth and a gentleman friend had joined us in the room. I took this opportunity to suggest to Marc that he should ask Elizabeth to give us a sure sign of her presence in exchange for Marc's silence about the information regarding the death of her son, which he had suggested she was not willing to permit him explaining to the group at the end of the event. Marc proceeded to try and provoke Lady Hoby into a response, and all remained quiet until the very end of the vigil when Marc started to find it difficult to breathe. At this point he suggested that Elizabeth had her hands around his neck, and he quickly left the room and headed for the toilets. After following closely behind Marc it was clear to me that he was genuinely in some distress, and I found him choking and throwing up in one of the cubicles. After a short while he had made a full recovery, and I certainly was presented with some food for thought. Of course there is no absolute proof that this was a genuine paranormal event, or that Lady Elizabeth was even present in the room, but the physical reaction from Marc was certainly convincing. He then decided to try and reveal the information he had picked up about the death of William, who he felt went by another name in the official record, however during the wrap-up while I was clearing away the experiments Marc again was overcome by the same physical reactions he had earlier experienced in the Sonning Room. There is no proof that any of this was indeed paranormal in nature, but it does remind you that there is always the possibility that the unknown could have more than just a psychological effect of members of our team, and any attempts at aggravating or provoking supposed spirits should not be taken lightly.