Michelham Priory, set on a medieval moated island, was founded as The Priory of the Holy Trinity in 1229 by Gilbert d'Aquila. In 1388 the threat of French raids led Prior Leem to surround the Priory and its grounds with a moat and built a gatehouse. The Priory was dissolved in 1537 and the church and the east cloister range were pulled down for their building materials. In 1896 the Priory was bought by James Eglington Gwynne who set about restoring the medieval buildings. After 1924 the well-known conservationist architect Walter Godfry carried out further restoration and in 1959 the Priory was given to the Sussex Archaeological Society. Michelham Priory is surrounded by tranquil gardens with the moat providing beautiful reflections. There is a kitchen garden, a cloister garden, a psychic garden, fine old trees and an orchard. Paranormal activity at the Priory include the visitation of a young girl dressed in a tattered dress with ribbon in her hair. Also a maid has been seen and a monk has been heard, together with the smell of incense wafting down a corridor. Strange lights have been captured in a Priest hole, the sounds of a phantom harpsichord have been heard, strange shadows have been seen moving throughout the buidling and doors have been seen opening by themselves.

This was my second visit to Michelham, and its glorious surroundings would again welcome us with open arms. The Priory is indeed one of the more spectacular settings, and hopes were high for a successful investigation. After the usual introduction, workshops and walk around we embarked upon the first vigil of the night where I was joined by Medium Marc Richardson in the Priors Room. We began by conducting a white noise experiment using a medium wave radio. The idea with this experiment is to tune the radio to white noise, turn the volume up and then encourage spirits to try and either affect the radio signal in some way or at best to attempt to communicate through it, similar to the EVP experiments we carry out. Unfortunately this attempt was unsuccessful, as to be expected, so I asked the team to join hands in a linked séance. During this time Marc suggested that a male energy had joined us in the room, and although no activity was forthcoming through the séance we did notice a short time after that the red light on Marc's headtorch began to flicker as he drew the supposed energy closer to him. I then asked Marc to place the light on the floor in front of him to discount any possibility he was affecting the light himself, and again he asked the presence to draw close to him. This time the light dimmed until it virtually went out after which it became immediately bright again. The vigil also included some solo vigils in the adjoining nursery, although none of the team members reported any unusual activity.

The second vigil took place in the downstairs kitchen and parlour area. I began with another linked séance where no activity was recorded, however upon finishing the session it was then suggested by one of the team members that a stone had been thrown at him from across the floor. This was at a time when each of the team members were getting up to reposition in the room, and I wondered if this might have simply been a rogue piece of gravel from outside which had stuck in somebody's shoe and flicked off when they attempted to get up. I did notice throughout the night that quite a number of small gravel pieces were brought in from the driveway outside and therefore this possibility cannot be excluded. There was a moment shortly after when the team had suggested hearing something from outside the door. At this point I went to investigate and upon returning two of the group suggested that as I came back into the room that the table had rocked by itself. As I was not there to witness this I cannot validate that this activity was genuine and therefore must take the individuals on their word. We finished the vigil by attempting some table tipping which brought about no additional unusual movements.

The final 2 vigils of the night took place in the Dining Room and Music Room (Vigil 3) and the Conference Room (Vigil 4). The third vigil was uneventful, however we had high hopes for the final vigil of the night as this was in the location where a number of the other teams had experienced activity during the investigation. Most notably was a vigil with Marc where the group were attempting a glass divination experiment. Our photographer Stuart Cox captured footage where you can hear the sound of a stone being thrown across the room. Click here to view the footage. Unfortunately our vigil was not quite so eventful, and our night had come to a quiet end.