Jedburgh Jail Report – Saturday 28th March 2009

Present – Mostly Ghostly Team, Grey Ladies Team + Guests

On Saturday 28th March, Kathleen, Derek, John and Mary conducted a joint paranormal investigation with the Grey Ladies and their guests at Jedburgh Castle Jail in the Scottish Borders.

Jedburgh Jail was built around 1823 and closed at the end of the 19th century. During this period, the jail was considered to have higher standards and better conditions for the prisoners than many others at this time e.g. sleeping cells came equipped with heating, wooden beds and straw mattresses. Despite the favourable reforms made by John Howard, some cells were still very small and punishments contained an element of cruelty, with prisoners placed in solitary confinement or made to participate in hard labour. Women and children were also imprisoned along with their male counterparts in the Bridewell wing for committing minor offences.

We arrived at Jedburgh around 9pm, and buoyed by other groups stories and magazine articles we had read, we eagerly anticipated the night ahead and whatever experiences it may bring. We met up with the Grey Ladies from Kelso who had brought along eight guests who shared our interest in the paranormal. There were 15 people altogether including the Mostly Ghostly team. Angela from the Grey Ladies introduced her team members and friends to us and then took us on a brief tour of the two sections of the jail we had access to that night.

After the tour we split up into two groups, one group with the Grey Ladies, and the other consisting of ourselves and four of the guests brought along for the night. We then collected our equipment from the base room; this consisted of a digital camera, camcorder, Dictaphone, two data loggers and some trigger objects including a blackboard with chalk and a beer tankard.

The night was going to be split up into two parts, each to be spent in one of the two sections available to us on the night. In our case, the first part would be spent in the Debtor’s jail and the stairwell leading to it. The second part would be spent in the Bridewell part of the jail which has an upper and lower level.

DEBTORS JAIL

Initially, at the Grey Ladies suggestion, we formed a circle in order to build up energy and stood for a few minutes speaking out to any spirits present. We then went upstairs into the corridor of the Debtor’s jail. It looked very dismal and felt quite eerie. One of the guests (Jill) described having a pins and needles-like effect on her legs and shoulders. Jill also told us she had a similar experience when she had first entered the jail.

We returned upstairs to the corridor of the Debtor’s jail, and could only have been there a few seconds when Mary felt a prick on her shoulder with another woman feeling as if someone was prodding her stomach. Derek then gave a quick summary of some of the previously reported paranormal activity, which was alleged to have taken part in this section of the jail. This included poltergeist activity and evil laughter. The group then spread out along the corridor and we commenced our first vigil. Kathleen tried to communicate with the spirits but with no apparent luck. John then tried to contact a spirit by the name of Joshua said to visit this part of the jail. One of the guests then said that she had been experiencing feelings of pins and needles which had suddenly stopped when John had mentioned the name Joshua. During the vigil a dripping noise was heard as well as a flapping sound which appeared to be coming from outside, a sound which all those who heard it agreed sounded like a flag flapping in the wind. Several of the group also felt a cold draught at the end of the corridor furthest from the stairwell. John set up a tripod around 10.20pm and Derek placed the data logger on top of one of the cell doors. Shortly afterwards, a strong feeling of pins and needles was again experienced by the same woman as before and seemed to be causing her some discomfort. A few others also remarked on having felt this strange sensation. Another strange happening in the corridor took place when one of the women accompanying us heard what sounded like a baby's cry coming from the wall in the area of cell 3.

The flapping Saltire produced a strange noise in the Debtor’s Jail

Around 10.30pm, the group split up to carry out vigils in as many cells as possible in the limited time we had. The four women from the Grey Ladies guest group paired up and went into two cells, and Kathleen, Derek, John and Mary went into cell 4 and held a vigil there.

At around 10.45pm, we left cell 4 with the blackboard and chalk in one corner as a trigger object and went to check on the others. When we met up with the others, the two women holding a vigil in cell 8 told us of a smell of cooking fat that was coming from the area around the fireplace. Derek left the data logger on top of the fireplace to see if it would record a change in temperature. Sharon, one of the guests who were in cell 8, told us her torch had come on by itself after she spoke with the spirits, however, this could have been nothing more unusual than a fault within the torch.

Around 10.50pm, the first vigil was held in the stairwell. A cold draught was felt when going downstairs. And several members felt cold air on their face. The air was extremely chilly and the bottom of the stairs was also very draughty.

At 11pm we returned upstairs to the corridor. While up here Derek thought he heard a rolling sound and went to check the chalk on the blackboard left in cell 4 and discovered things were just as we had left them.

At 11.10pm we held a vigil in cell 2, but no experiences were felt after communication with the spirits.

At around 11.20pm, Kathleen, Derek, John and Mary held a vigil in the corridor of the Dividing Hall. Kathleen made a recording using the Dictaphone. While in the corridor other members went to different cells. During their cell 8 vigil, Jill one of the guests for the night, felt a sudden numbness in her leg. Her balance was affected and she felt she was being pushed backwards and forwards. She also felt a pulling sensation. She told us this happened after communicating with the spirits. Kathleen also noted that it was extremely cold in the cell at that time. The next thing to happen was that Derek thought he noticed a strange light at the end of the corridor. But this turned out to be nothing out of the ordinary and merely the reflection of another light.

Not long after this, a whistling sound was heard at the end of the corridor. Kathleen contacted Angela using the walkie-talkie to ask if any of their group had whistled or perhaps squealed. They informed us that none of them had made a sound. It should be noted that the other group were in a separate building to ourselves but if they had returned to the base area we might have been able to hear them from our location. However, since they were still in the Bridewell wing this allowed us to discount them as a possible source of the whistling we had heard.

At 11.40pm we decided to hold a second vigil in the stairwell. Kathleen spoke to the spirits and again the Dictaphone and camcorder were used during the vigil. One of the guests for the evening felt a sudden cold draught on her face as well as a feeling of pins and needles, and not long after this Mary’s torch came on by itself - again this may just have been a fault within the torch. At 11.50pm the camcorder stopped working and John discovered there was only 30 minutes filming time left and started it recording again. The sound of a door shutting and a tapping noise were heard from the corridor above us along with a strange shuffling sound in the area we were stood in. These incidents were witnessed by several people.

At around 12am we decided to have our first break.

BRIDEWELL WING (UPPER LEVEL)

When our break finished at 12:30am, we entered the Bridewell wing and went up the stairs to the juvenile wing and held a vigil near cell 15 and 16. We communicated with the spirits and Kathleen started to record using the Dictaphone, while John operated the camcorder. During the vigil, several members of the team saw a dark shadow on the wall in front of us. We all felt very uncomfortable in this part of the building compared with other apartments. Derek asked if there was a spirit of somebody called Robert in this part of the jail. A knocking sound was heard on the wall just after this. This was noticed by several members of the group, and Kathleen asked if Robert had caused this. The camcorder at this stage was making a strange sound. It appeared to sound louder which was rather intriguing.

We decided to hold a vigil in cell 15. Kathleen started to record with the Dictaphone. Communication with the spirits took place. During the vigil, a sound some thought to be footsteps was heard outside the cell. We heard two taps which soon stopped. It felt more comfortable and less eerie inside the cell than in the corridor.

A camera points into cell 13 where the mysterious purple shadow was witnessed

We moved to cell 9 where another vigil was held. Some team members felt very uneasy and rather scared while standing inside the cell. One of the team experienced a feeling of being pulled forward, while Jill felt pressure on her chest and the sensation of being pushed forward. Several members smelt perfume, while others smelt manure during the time spent in the cell. We went to cell 13 for the next vigil. Kathleen communicated with the spirits before she started to record using the Dictaphone. Derek informed us he saw a shadow outside the cell and Kathleen asked John to ask the spirits again since he had been the one trying to communicate with them when the shadow was seen. As John was asking if the spirit that had passed by the door causing the shadow would like to come back again, a whispering sound was heard by various members of the group. Mary also said that she thought she heard a sort of whistling sound. Several members saw a purplish shadow which appeared to be coming towards us. At around the same time Mary moved, prompting somebody to ask what that was. Just after Kathleen answered that it was Mary, a banging noise was heard by a number of people. The silhouette came forward, before disappearing between Derek and John. When asked to describe the shadow she had seen, Kelly one of the guests said “It looked like the purple outline of a figure with a sort of cohesion in the middle of it.” Not long after this Jill felt her arm being touched and feeling as if someone was trying to lift her torch up. As we continued to try and contact the spirits, Kathleen and several others heard what sounded like footsteps. John asked for another sign and the footsteps were heard again, apparently coming from above.

We moved on to cell 8 where another vigil took place. We communicated with the spirits before the Dictaphone was switched on for recording and the camcorder was placed so as to be looking into the cell. We had only been there a couple of minutes when again several people heard footsteps and Derek heard what he described as a dull tap. Several people expressed feeling as if the room was filled up with people, like they were packed. A couple of people also said they smelt something similar to stale sweat. Kathleen remarked that it was feeling a lot colder but also pointed out that this could be due to the fact that it was getting late and the temperature would be naturally dropping anyway.

Upon returning to cell 13, Kelly and Mary both said they could see the purple shadow again. Kathleen took some photos in the hope that we might capture something on camera. Kathleen explained for the benefit of the guests that although one person might see something, it does not necessarily mean that everybody will see it. Kathleen informed the spirits that we were about to move downstairs and asked if they would like to make themselves known to us again. Kelly said that she saw the purple shadow again, only this time appearing right inside the room. To further explain she said that it looked like the top half of a body and that it floated in under the top of the door with a mist like trail behind it. Kathleen then asked if there was a spirit present could it make itself visible in a way that it was possible for all of us to see it and reassured the spirit we meant it no harm. Knocking sounds were then heard inside the cell.

Not long after this we decided that because of the time constraints we were under we should move on so that we could carry out a vigil on the lower level.

BRIDEWELL WING (LOWER LEVEL)

We decided to go downstairs to the lower level to where the condemned cells had been. This part of the jail would at one time have been the Jedburgh equivalent of death row. It was around 1:45 am when we decided to hold a vigil in the corridor, and before long several people heard a tapping sound. Again we asked for whoever was causing this if they could please do it again. Kathleen asked the spirits if they could hear us, to please give our group a sign. Not long after this a loud bang was heard by everyone, a sound similar to that of a door being shut. Derek checked with the Grey ladies group to see if they had heard or maybe made a loud banging noise. They answered no to both questions.

We then moved into one of the cells used for prisoners awaiting execution and held a vigil there. Soon after we communicated with the spirits, several members noticed a smell of aftershave; John thought it was more like brylcream (a hair product used by men in the days before gel and wax became widely available). Next, one of the women accompanying us thought she heard a noise outside the window of the cell, again this was heard by more than one person. At around 2:10am Derek noticed that the battery warning light was flashing on the camcorder. After turning it off and then back on again the timer said there was still 55 minutes left of filming but after a couple of seconds it was once again reading that the battery was dead. Derek told us he heard what sounded like the shout of a male voice coming from outside. At around 2:15am we went back upstairs to the juvenile cells. Kathleen remarked how reading the board just as you enter the upper level brings home just how harsh reality was in those days. Unlike today a juvenile prisoner then could have been as young as 7 years old, also in those days men, women and children were all in the same jail. Derek also said that on entering the corridor it just felt like it was a horrible place. We opted to hold our last vigil in the corridor as opposed to one of the cells, but this time everything was quiet and we got no response. We decided to return to base as by this time it was 2:30am. We had only just got there before the caretaker arrived to tell us that it was time we started packing up as we had to be out before 3am. We collected our equipment and said goodbye to the Grey Ladies and their friends before heading home.

A museum dummy illustrates life in the cells

SUMMARY

As a group we all found Jedburgh jail an interesting experience, and have tried to record most of the nights happenings here in this report. But it should be noted that although our group had quite a number of experiences, The Grey Ladies and their guests had nothing out of the ordinary to report, in fact they commented on how unusually quiet it had been throughout their vigils. No doubt there are probably some perfectly logical reasons for some of our groups experiences. For instance the loud bang we heard while we were in the corridor on the lower level in the Bridewell wing may well have been caused by an automatic locking procedure that is part of the security system in the jail. While Derek was talking to the caretaker in the office he stayed in all night he heard a similar banging noise and after asking the caretaker what the noise was he was told that it was part of the security system. The noise was indeed very like the one witnessed by our group, but there are a couple of questions. If as we were told the noise was part of some sort of security program that was meant to happen every half hour as told by the caretaker. 1: why did we only hear it once, and, 2: why did the Grey Ladies team not hear it at all? The Debtor’s jail and the office where the caretaker was are part of the same building. The Bridewell wing is a separate building all together.

The camera footage taken on the night showed, as you would expect in an old building with stone floors that provide lots of dust, plenty of orbs. Most, if not all of these can probably be discounted by dust and insects. There is one point on the footage where there is a noticeable increase in the number of orbs seen when there is a group of people standing in the vicinity of the camcorder.

Having said all that, Jedburgh Jail was well worth the visit and for us personally, the volume of experiences that were shared, have left us with much to discuss and deliberate. Doubtlessly, there will be explanations for some of the night’s activity, but there are a number of elements which remain unexplained.

Thank you to the Grey Ladies and their guests for a fascinating investigation!