On 9thNovember 2019, Twilight Shadows Paranormal conducted a paranormal investigation at the Devizes lock-up in Wiltshire. This is a very old building which was built onto the site of a Yarn Hall which dated back to 1575. The lock-up contains two cells below the Devizes Town Hall where wrongdoers spent the night prior to them being presented to the magistrates in the morning. The lock-up part of the building is dated as approximately 1650 with the rest of the building being built in 1808. We couldn’t wait to start investigating this lovely building.
We walked around the building initially, exploring all three floors. The town hall is very pretty, resplendent with beautiful chandeliers and a grand fireplace. There was a lot to look at with a large photo gallery of mayors.
Whilst everyone was upstairs, I went down to look at the cellars with Andrew. Andrew told me that the Ovilus had previously omitted two words, ‘Little Witch.’ As we walked down the stairs and reached the cellar adjacent to the room by the cells, we heard a sound and saw that something was coming down the stairs as if it had been thrown. All other team members were on the top floor. The object bounced off somewhere into the room. Although Andrew and I looked for the object, we couldn’t find it. We went into the next room and Andrew showed me the cells. They were really small and it would have been very unpleasant to have spent the night in them. The second cell contained 2 manikins.
CELLS
We sat inside the room which adjoins the cells and we all saw shadowy figures moving about. Matt and Daniel asked Andrew to move his arm around as they thought that one of the shadows may be him but it wasn’t. Dave laughed and immediately afterwards, we heard a wheezy laugh imitation. It was eerie. The table started knocking. I felt a little uncomfortable. Dave heard a knock on the wall. We tried to find out who the spirit was. We heard a scratching noise and then a strange sound which sounded like a voice making a sound like, ‘Du-du-du.’ We could hear the sound of water gushing but we couldn’t find out the source.
There was a bang in the cellar. Jacky ‘called out.’ There was no response but after we had been chatting together for a while, the activity increased. This always happens. Suddenly, Jacky jumped and she said that something had fallen onto her foot. Seconds later, I also jumped as I felt something touch my right shoulder. I looked up and saw something moving opposite me on the wall. We sat quietly and heard a laugh. Jacky asked if the spirit could speak to us but she felt that ‘it’ was getting agitated by this question. I kept seeing a shadow figure, standing behind Jacky and Dave. I had seen this three times but I had only mentioned the last time when a black shadow walked straight through us. Jacky said that as this happened, she felt icy cold. Dave then told us that he could see a figure standing by the door. Jacky said, “I can see an energy standing right behind you Maria.” As Jacky said this, I could feel something touching the top of my head.
We asked if we could hear footsteps and immediately, we heard loud footsteps on the stairs. Jacky said, “Maria, you have at least three energies behind you, perhaps four.” I asked if the spirits could knock the number of spirits present behind me onto the table and there were 6 knocks. Jacky said that she could see the energies in a misty form. She then jumped and she said that she felt ‘someone’ grip her leg. The atmosphere had been thick but now it started to get lighter. We all heard 4 knocks. I asked, “Where are you?” Jacky said that she thought that there were now three behind me and one behind Molly and Dave.
Suddenly Dave jumped and said, “What did you do that for?” Jacky said that ‘someone’ had grabbed her finger” and it scared her so much, she had grabbed hold of Dave, making him jump. Jacky told us that whatever had grabbed her finger, had grabbed it hard. We asked if the spirit could do the same to Tracy’s finger. It didn’t. The table started moving in a very strange manner.
Matt suddenly jumped and said that he’d heard a loud breathing sound right by his ear. The table moved as if two pairs of hands were shoving it at each other from opposite ends. I heard a strange crackling noise. There was a shadow figure which moved behind Molly and then we heard footsteps moving away from her. We heard a movement noise from the adjoining room. At this point, we captured a strange groaning sound on EVP. Andrew heard a breath sound and the Ovilus emitted the words, ‘Job and desk.’
I could see a shadow figure which looked like it was sitting on the bench. Matt said that he had seen someone moving across there. Daniel and Matt could hear dripping right in front of us but there was no water. Andrew said that he could hear footsteps behind Tracy. There was a big bang and then I could hear footsteps nearby too. A little while later, we heard footsteps again. It was quiet for a time and then I heard a shuffling footstep between Jacky and I and then I heard it again by Andrew. I stamped my feet out in a pattern and asked the spirit to copy me. There were thuds on the ground in the same pattern. After this, all was quiet for a while.
We sat around the table, chatting amongst ourselves and suddenly the table was pushed really hard. Dave was struggling as he felt so hot even though the rest of us were quite cold. This often happens to Dave when a spirit is close by him. It was quiet again for quite a long time and then we heard two thuds. Dave jumped up and said that he had seen someone standing by the steps. Dave showed us what he had seen by walking up the steps and suddenly turning around to face us.
There was a knock on the door behind Matt. We’d been asking if the door could be knocked all evening. I asked for more knocking. There were two loud knocks on the door. I asked if any of the prisoners had died down here and there was one affirmative knock, also on the door.
THRONE ROOM
We sat around a table. Dave and I could hear a humming sound. We were talking to each other and the table started tapping and it felt like it was trying to turn. Tracy asked if this was the same spirit that was communicating with us downstairs and we received two knocks indicating that this was a different spirit. She asked if the spirit was glad that we were here and we were told, ‘No.’ Jacky asked the spirit if they wanted us to stay in the room and if they had anything to say. Both questions were answered, ‘Yes.’ Jacky asked if the spirit could use their voice to communicate with us and we were told that they couldn’t. We were informed that this was a female spirit. Daniel asked if the spirit was happy but there was no response. Daniel also asked if this was the spirit of one of the previous mayors and we were told, ‘No.’ I asked if we could see this spirit and there was no answer. Daniel asked if the spirits could manifest in any of the rooms of this building and we received a negative response. Daniel asked how many spirits were with us in this room and we were informed that there were 8. He then asked if the spirit that was currently communicating with us was the most powerful and we were told, ‘No.’
At this point, there were a lot of bangs and taps. Daniel asked if the spirit had been watching us all evening and there were several definitive bangs in the room. We then became aware that there were patterns of rapping. We tried to work out what it was but we couldn’t. We asked if the spirit was tapping out a song for us and we were told, ‘No.’ We started to tap out some patterns and we were copied. The spirit seemed eager to communicate with us. Jacky asked if the spirit was waiting for something that it recognized and there were many bangs and taps, all in a rhythmical pattern. Jacky asked if this tapping meant something important. We received an affirmative response. She asked if we were supposed to work it out and this answer was also, ‘Yes.’ We asked if it was Morse code or music and both times, the answer was, ‘No.’ It was like ‘Ghost Charades.’
We were trying really hard to work out the patterns and as the knocking rhythms continued, the pattern was always the same. We tried all sorts of ways to work it out but we were unsuccessful. We heard a whistle, twice. We also heard a strange vibrational noise which sounded like fingertips drumming.
Dave asked us, “Did you feel that?” Although we were just leaning on the table and not actively trying to table-tip, it felt like something was sliding from one end of the table to the other. The table was also vibrating and wobbling. Andrew said that he felt that two spirits were doing this, one each end of the table. Daniel asked the spirits if they died in this building. There were two knocks, indicating that they hadn’t. He asked if the spirits had worked in the building at some time but there was no reply.
Matt said that he had felt completely drained since he had entered the room and Jacky said that she felt the same. She said that she could easily fall asleep. The table continued to move back and forth. The Ovilis emitted the word, ‘Sacrifice.’ Molly said that she wanted to go downstairs to see if anything was happening down there. As soon as she left, the activity ceased inside this room but returned as soon as she came back. The knocking commenced again and the table began to shake.
Dave asked, “Did you hear that?” We heard loud footsteps in the room. Jacky was asking questions but there was continual random tapping. At this point, the chandelier started to swing slightly. It had been perfectly still before. There was no draught. Daniel had positioned his ball (that flashes with movement) as a trigger object and he asked if the spirit could touch the ball to make the lights flash. Amazingly, the lights started flashing. Molly kept re-positioning the ball and the ball flashed on another three occasions. A tapping sound started. We asked for the spirits to make the ball flash again but this time, the ball did not flash. Daniel put the ball in the centre of the table and asked for the spirits to make it flash and it started flashing. He asked the spirits to roll the ball down the table and the table lifted on one side so that the ball did roll, but this was obviously not what he had asked for.
I heard footsteps in the room and the table started to move in a very strange way before really shaking. A cold breeze was felt travelling in a circle around us and Andrew said that he felt it blowing on the back of his neck. The breeze eventually dissipated and then all activity ceased. We decided to relocate back to the cells.
CELLS
We sat around together in a room outside the cells and I ‘called out.’ Although I attributed it to pareidolia, I could see a face in the wall. The face was male and as I told everyone, Dave said, “I noticed it too and I just saw an arm move near to the face as if to scratch his nose. “Was this pareidolia or something else?
We heard a loud tapping noise. I copied the tapping rhythm. I reversed the tapping pattern and asked the spirit to copy me. My tapping pattern was repeated in the exact pattern that I had tapped. I banged on the table loudly and there was a response but much more quietly. Andrew said that he was freezing. Andrew has only felt cold once before on an investigation. He doesn’t usually feel cold at all. The Ovilis emitted the words, ‘Most, where and near.’
Matt turned around and saw something move behind him and at the same time, Dave jumped and said that he had heard movement behind him. We all heard something in the corner as if something had been thrown.
Daniel had placed a ball (which flashes when moved) into the far cell. We all saw the flashing light illuminating the cell which indicated that ‘something’ had touched or moved the ball. The table started knocking but it felt like a different spirit. Daniel explained why he had put the ball in the cell and asked if the spirit would or could move the ball. The was an affirmative knock indicating that it could. Dave heard footsteps.
The table started to lift. I knocked onto the table 5 times and 5 knocks were repeated back. I rapped out another 5 knocks but this time nothing happened. We sat quietly and we heard a thud from upstairs. We were totally alone in the building. Downstairs, the knocking continued. We heard a scraping footstep sound. I asked if we could hear footsteps walking around us and we did hear a very odd noise which is difficult to describe. We began talking amongst ourselves and there was a loud bang as if to make us focus, which it did. This was followed by a big thumping sound. The table was tipping and swaying and then it seemed as if it was kicked. Daniel asked a spirit to move the ball inside the far cell and the table was shoved. However, we did hear a thud from inside the cell.
There was a scratching sound from the underside of the table and another scratching noise on the floor. We all saw a shadowy figure by the doorway. The table turned around so that my camera which was placed upon the table, was facing the doorway but upon looking at the footage, the figure isn’t visible. Nothing happened for a while. We asked if the spirit could make the sound of footsteps and there were two definitive taps on the table indicating ‘No.’ The Ovilus omitted the words, ‘Monument, remove, leader and writing.’ We weren’t too sure what context these words fitted into our investigation.
Something was thrown up the stairs. The atmosphere suddenly felt eerie. The Ovilus said, ‘ Disturbed, fate, interest, scratch and puddle.’ We had heard scratching sounds and we often heard the sound of water dripping intermittently and despite checking several times, we couldn’t find the source of the sound and definitely not any puddles. Nothing more happened and eventually the atmosphere felt flat. As it was late, we decided to end our investigation.
Written by: Maria Williams
