Berkeley Castle – September 2007
Investigation Site
Berkeley Castle
Gloucestershire
England
GL13 9BQ
History of the Site
The Castle was originally built to keep out the Welsh and was finally completed in 1153 by Maurice Berkeley. The Castle was located next to the Severn Estuary by the command of Henry II. Due to the demands of the castle, it was built to include many of the latest defenses of that century including trip steps designed to make the enemy stumble during an assault, arrow slits, murder holes, enormous barred doors, slots where the portcullis once fell, and worn stones where sentries stood guard.
Berkeley Castle has another remarkable fact, which is that it has always been the home of the Berkeley Family, starting with Robert Fitzhardinge, and it is a well known fact that they can trace their ancestry back to Saxon times, being only one of three families that have been able to prove this.
Many people have perished in the castle as well as in the surrounding 6000 acres, but none quite as big or as infamous as King Edward II in 1327, for which he was murdered due to issues with his sexuality.
The castle and grounds have been involved in many battles and wars throughout its existence, and was surrendered to the Parliamentians after a siege during the English Civil War.
Investigating Team
The members of the team present for this investigation:
Marlene
Sandra
Gill
Sue
Pete
Reason For The Visit
Unlike most of the investigations that the SGPIT team are involved in, this investigation was actually part of the 680th anniversary of King Edward II murder and was a ticket only evening.
The event was held 21st of September and was attended by 465 people. The evening also marked the first ever paranormal investigation event to be held at Berkeley Castle, and was fortunate enough to have Richard Felix as a special guest.
Investigation Report
The team arrived at the castle at around 7.30pm and instantly booked their slot for a tour around the castle. Their time slot was 11.20pm and this was quite pleasing as it gave them plenty of time to look at the other activities that were on.
The amount of people at the event was very impressive, and all the more amazing as everyone had an interest in the paranormal. There was a tent setup with a Medium and Tarot card reader, as well as a team of Paranormal investigators from Gloucestershire selling ghost tapes made by Richard Felix. The atmosphere was truly amazing.
After spending some time walking around, the team made their way to the Great hall as Richard Felix was giving a talk on his theory of ghosts, and also some of the history of the castle, including information on Lord Berkeley. He also gave the reasons behind way the family had decided to allow the vigil on this fantastic night.
The murder of King Edward II happened in September, so to raise money for cancer, Richard Felix was planning to spend the night in the Keep.
Once the talk had finished, it was time for the team to have their ghost walk around the castle. Unfortunately due to safety reasons the lights were switched on which meant that it was not quite as spooky as the team were hoping for, but still the castle left them with a great feeling.
The tour lasted for about 1 hour and made the team appreciate the splendor and size of the castle. On the way back to the main area, the team was fortunate enough to meet up with Richard Felix and had an opportunity for a photo.
Once the evening came to an end the team headed back towards the car park passing the castle church yard, and decided that they would take a walk around. Gill took a couple of photographs whilst in the yard and noticed that one looked like a vortex and another had what seemed to be an orb in between the head stones.
Marlene also took several pictures and was also fortunate to have one with a little bright light near to the church itself. All in all the team had a very good night and really loved the aura of the castle.
***We would like to the Berkeley family for holding the paranormal evening and would love to have the opportunity to attend another!!***