7:54pm Wednesday 14th May 2008
By Chris Williams
I can't remember the last time I went to the theatre or what I saw, but I could guarantee that as theatre experiences go, this was going to be unique.
On a Saturday evening at the beginning of May I found myself standing at the entrance to a Victorian theatre in Warminster. The performances had finished and the audience had left, which left only Wiltshire Phenomena Research in the alleged haunted building.
The theatre is a large building with many rooms spread across multiple floors. Our lit walk around started in the cellar, moved up through to the stage, dressing rooms, bar and lounge area, caretakers flat and ended at the top of the building in the attic. With so many areas to cover we were going to be busy as the night progressed.
The whole team initially investigated the decaying cellar and carried out the first vigil. With no responses to the team co-founders' call out, the group split in half and while group two left to explore the rest of the damp cellar, we remained to continue the vigil. However with little response to our presence we decided to leave the cellar and investigate the stage and dressing rooms.
Several hours into the investigation we took a break near the theatre entrance and planned out the next course of actions that would take us into the early hours of the morning. We split into smaller groups to cover as much of the building as possible and I found myself paired with the team co-founder in the attic. The room felt comfortable, just like any other attic and so it was that half an hour later we left the location, descended the stairs and met up with another team member in the bar and lounge area.
It was while we were in this location that we heard a door slam shut. We listened carefully in the darkness, each of us straining to hear any further sound. We were not disappointed as another loud bang was heard. This time we were certain it came from the direction of the attic. After checking on our radios that no team members were in the attic area we climbed the stairs and approached the attic door.
We entered the room and immediately noticed how cold the location was. It was freezing! Even more mysterious the room smelt strongly of violets. The scent lead to the furthest part of the attic and it was in this direction that we continued our investigation. The attic no longer felt comfortable, it felt decidedly uncomfortable and much colder than it was less than an hour earlier. The scent continued to linger, then disappear only to reappear minutes later.
We left the attic to continue the investigation and returned to the ground level. Other members of the team noted there was a smell of violets on the stairs.
The investigation also uncovered other phenomena that I will leave to W.P.R. and their investigation report to detail. The full report will be published on their web site.
I had an exciting and interesting night with W.P.R. and once again my thanks to this very busy and professional team for allowing me to accompany them on another investigation.
Watch out for more news from W.P.R. In the meantime why not check out their forum pages? I have included the links below.
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