This event was hosted by Brothers & Spirit and attended by thirteen members of Cauldron Paranormal. In Cauldron’s group, there were eighteen people in total. This write-up follows what happened to Cauldron Paranormal.

Everyone from the evening (about sixty in total) went to B Wing and opened a human pendulum. As this was taking place, a shadow figure was seen walking past the foot of the far end stairs and heading into Room 13. At the top of the same stairs, a shadow figure was seen at the top of the stairs. Some people standing near the human pendulum started to feel chesty and a bit ill. The sides of someone’s temple felt painful. All around was a musty smell combined with sweat and dirt. On the opposite staircase, some people had explored the middle and top floors. They saw lots of orbs all over and heard a screech on the middle floor. It seemed to come from the doorway of one of the cells. On the top floor a shadow figure was seen and at the same time a tap was heard came from the opposite side of the walkway. Throughout this exploration, a continuous tapping noise was heard, rather like someone knocking their fingernail against the metal railing. A couple of people wandered into the exercise yard and had a walk around. They felt breathless as they walked and the whole area had an eerie feeling. Lights were seen in windows where no lights should have been.

Everyone had a tea break in the base room (which was the shop/cafe room). After the break, Cauldron went to the Execution Shed and stood around the area where the trap door for hangings was. Some people felt ill and had wobbly legs. The spirit box said, ‘Bastard. Bastard. Door (trap door?). Shit.’ The group asked, ‘Did that say shit?’ The spirit box said, ‘Yep.’ Someone tried to close the door into the room because it was noisy in the corridor, but it wouldn’t close. The spirit box said, ‘Shit. Gil.’ A weird wailing noise was heard. The spirit box said, ‘Step back.’ The K2 meter was going up to green. The spirit box said, ‘Hello. Door.’ Some people were getting cold and tingly. The spirit box said, ‘Boss.’ Note: this is what Prison Officers are called in the north of England. People were getting headachy and dizzy. Some had a tickling sensation on the chest and neck. A cat ball in the corner of the room went off. The spirit box said, ‘See me. Here.’ The group asked, ‘Can you light the ball up for us?’ The spirit box said, ‘Yep.’ A loud tapping noise was heard. The group asked, ‘Were you found guilty of something and executed?’ The spirit box said, ‘Amazing.’ Some people became headachy again. The group asked, ‘Are you angry?’ The spirit box said, ‘Yep.’ The group asked, ‘How many spirits are with us?’ The spirit box said, ‘Four. Mac.’ Someone shouted ‘Hello’ in the loud voice and the spirit box said ‘Hello’ and mimicked the voice. The group asked, ‘Have you a message?’ The spirit box said, ‘Yep.’ Then the spirit box said ‘yep’ again, this time in a child’s voice, followed by ‘what am I.’ The K2 meter went up to green. The group asked, ‘Where you murdered?’ The spirit box said, ‘Yep. Help. Come on this three of us. Used to lock you up. Three.’ This was followed by a sinister laugh. The group asked, ‘How many people were executed here?’ The spirit box said, ‘Guess. Three. Three. Four. Snitch.’ The group said, ‘Tell us your name.’ The spirit box said, ‘Mia.’ Some people could feel a cold draught around their head. The spirit box said ‘Gil’ and the K2 meter went orange. The group asked the spirit to make the K2 meter turn to red but it continued to go to orange.

Some of the group opened an Ouija board in the corridor because a bang was heard coming from there. A second board was opened in the hanging room. In the hanging room, a woman was heard wailing and a dragging noise was heard. In the corridor, footsteps were heard. On the board, the relative of someone in the prison came on. They said they felt injustice because their relative was wrongly accused for killing four people. The relative passed in 1967. Lots of questions were asked. The spirit box said, ‘Questions.’ A sound was heard like a latch being lifted and closed and many orbs were seen on a camera. On the board in the hanging room, Rick said he died in 1938 in this room. He said he had killed women, but he didn’t do it. He spelt his name as Hale then said his name was Dick – Richard Hale. Note: I have found Richard Hale was executed – hung for murder on 27^th December 1864 (not at shepton Mallet) https://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/1837.html The group asked Dick to spell any word. The planchette spelt ‘game’ (board game?). One member said they felt cold and their hair was being touched. Dick said it was him doing that. Someone else said their palm felt very tingly. Both boards were closed down.

The group walked through C Wing and one member felt someone touch their head. The group made their way to the Infirmary. Everyone had a heavy feeling of foreboding and the room smelt of death. A sacred circle was opened and banging could be heard coming from the back of the room. A male spirit came through in the circle who said he had been in the prison but didn’t die there. A lot of questions were asked about his life in prison and with each question, the spirit box answered accurately. The group asked, ‘Does anyone here mean us harm?’ The spirit box said, ‘Demon. Watch my lips. Kill. F…. it. Control.’ The male spirit said his son had been in prison. He died of a stroke. The spirit box said, ‘Well done. German. Was 1719.’ One member said their head felt funny and they had a feeling like they were falling backwards. The group asked how many spirits were in the room. The spirit box said, ‘Wrap it up. A geezer. Liverpool. Look up.’ A new spirit connected to William (Billy) made contact. The spirit box said, ‘ Two thousand. Two years.’ The group asked, ‘Did you die just before 2000?’ The spirit box said, ‘Before the war.’ The group were talking to Billy’s mother. She said her son had been in the armed forces. The spirit box said, ‘Dead. Bon jour.’ A new spirit in the room said they were French, then said they were not French but showing off by speaking French. Billy’s mum said she was still there. The spirit box said, ‘Bill.’

One member went into the back room and felt someone standing in the doorway. A noise sounding like the click of a door being opened was heard. After investigating, a door leading down to some circular stairs was found to be slightly ajar (it had been closed when the member had walked around this area earlier). The member closed the door back up and felt a waft of cold air across their face.

Meanwhile, back in the circle, a new spirit had made contact. One member said they felt peculiar, like the spirit was affecting them. The group asked if there were more than five spirits in the room but less than ten. The spirit box said, ‘Eight.’ The group asked, ‘Have we spoken to any of them before?’ The spirit box said, ‘Two of them.’ The member who the spirit had taken a hold of said they still felt funny so the circle was closed down. The spirit box said, ‘Shit happens.’ Another member said they felt someone holding their arm and pushing them against the wall. The group left and went to the Gatehouse. Some people crawled into the 1600 cell and saw heaps of orbs in the window. Walking up the circular steps, some people stopped in the middle room and saw what looked like hundreds of orbs in the camera, but on closer inspection they decided it was probably dust particles. In the corner a noise which sounded like a ball big bounced was heard. On the top floor an Ouija board was opened. The K2 meter went up to orange and a loud thump was heard. Some personal spirits came on the board and the cat ball went off several times. The group went back to the room with the 1600 cell and a bang was heard coming from the cell. The spirit box said, ‘Cell. Help. Listen.’ One member said their ears hurt and their eyes felt funny so the group left and went back to the base room for a quick break. During the break, the spirit box mentioned many of the group’s names.

After the break, the group went to B Wing and some people opened an Ouija board in Room 8. Zozo came through several times, so the board was closed down several times. Other members walked around the top of A Wing. They had the feeling this had been the women’s wing, but it felt sinister and quite scary. One member said they felt the urge to jump off the top landing. The members went back to B Wing and the entire group moved to the top floor and placed some cat balls in cells and on the walkway. The cat balls on the walkway were placed on a skull. Three members of the group used to be prison officers and all of them had brought some items they had once used. Two had whistles which they blew from time to time. Every time the whistles were blown, the skull lit up. The skull was moved to a different location but it still responded to the whistles. Loads of orbs were seen through a camera coming from the skull and flying into two cells on the middle floor. Two members were in Room 24. They were drawn into the room with a feeling as if they were being pulled in. They went in and closed the door. Lots of unexplained lights were seen dancing across the floor. By now it was 2am so everyone went back to the base room for a debrief. At this point, some people decided to go to sleep in some cells in B Wing whilst others continued to ghost hunt.

The group moved to the Mortuary area. Some people stood in the room below the hanging room (the trap door would have opened into this room). The spirit box said, ‘Look up. Swing.’ The group were talking amongst themselves about executions. The spirit box said, ‘Jumping. Nosey. They hung me. This man. Chris. Electric. Swinging.’ One member standing right under the drop said they felt very cold. An Ouija board was opened. The spirit box said, ‘Is there many.’ On the board the group said, ‘Take the planchette back to the centre.’ The spirit box said, ‘Course I will.’ The member standing under the drop started to cough. A female spirit came on the board and said she had worked in the prison. The spirit box said, ‘Jailer.’ The female said she had been in the prison in 1935 then changed it to 1945. The spirit box said, ‘Five. Eight.’ The planchette spelt ‘nurse’ and the spirit said they had worked in the Infirmary. The spirit spelt her name as Cath Peters. The spirit box said, ‘I don’t like this.’ The person standing under the drop said they were getting a sore throat. The group asked, ‘Did you have a middle name?’ The spirit box said, ‘Yes. Stabbing. Here for twenty seven years. Long time. Frank. Collette.’

The group were talking amongst themselves about American soldiers who had been shot in the prison. The spirit box said ‘six’ three times. The planchette spelt ‘4’. The group asked, ‘Was it four?’ The spirit box said, ‘Six. They were all shot. They marched us from our cells. Shot.’ Note: Two American soldiers were shot by firing squad and sixteen were hanged. The group asked, ‘Do you know where we are?’ The spirit box said, ‘Hanging. Terminal.’ The planchette spelt ‘hang’. The group asked, ‘How many were hung here?’ The planchette spelt ’16’ then said that fifteen spirits were in the room. The spirit box said, ‘Awesome.’ One member was looking in their bag for a camera. The spirit box said, ‘He’s got his bag out.’ A spirit on the board said they had worked in the prison from 1945 to 1969. The spirit box said, ‘Look back. Whatever. Finish.’ The group asked,’ Would you show yourself to us?’ The spirit box said, ‘Would you.’ A photo with a flash was taken. The spirit box said, ‘My eyes hurt.’ More photos were taken. The spirit box said, ‘Don’t like the light. Bev.’ The member standing under the drop said they could see flashes of light on the floor. A new male spirit came on the board. They spelt their name as ‘Harry’. The spirit box said, ‘Hanged.’ The k2 meter shot up to red. Note: Henry (Harry) Dainton, aged 35 was hanged at Shepton Mallet on 15^th December 1891. He was convicted of drowning his wife in the River Avon. Two members left the room and the spirit box said, ‘Goodbye.’ A new spirit came on the board and just kept going to ‘no’ with every question. The spirit box said, ‘Darren. Sue. Ghost dead.’ Yet another spirit came on the board. The group asked, ‘Are you a prisoner?’ The spirit box said, ‘I was.’ The group asked, ‘How many years were you a prisoner here?’ The spirit box said, ‘Ten years. Can’t stand it. Spirits. I’m shaking.’ The board was closed down and whilst the closing prayer was being said, the spirit box said. ‘Heathen bitch. Get out. Go.’

The members joined the others in the Mortuary. An Ouija board was opened but the planchette kept going to ‘Zo’. The board was closed down. A dog was heard barking on the spirit box. The group moved outside to the Execution Wall and Burial site. Not a lot happened so the group moved to the seating area on the ground floor in C Wing. K2 meters were placed on both tables. People sitting around them started to feel very cold with wafts of cold air blowing around their faces and bodies. Both K2 meters were going to red. Someone heard a low moan. Twice a couple of people had a strong smell of cannabis. The cold wafts of air kept being felt. The door leading outside was checked to make sure it was closed. The K2 meters kept jumping to red. People’s mobile phones were checked to make sure they were on air plane mode. Orbs were seen through the camera. Some of the group started to talk about nonces in the prison. The K2 meters were constantly going to orange or red. One member felt their shoulder being roughly shoved. I t was becoming apparent that every time a cold breeze was felt, the K2 meter would shoot to red. People’s chairs were being wobbled then the person who had been shoved suddenly got a bad nose bleed. The cat ball on the table went off and more orbs were seen in the camera. The group talked again about nonces and more orbs were seen. One member sitting on a chair felt as if they were swaying back and forth. The warden’s whistles were blown and the K2 meters went absolutely crazy. A black orb was seen shooting across one of the K2 meters. Some of the team were talking about scrubs Note: this is a type of prison uniform. The K2 meters continued to go crazy and a weird moaning noise was heard. Then people heard what sounded like ‘hello’.

The group moved to A Wing and on the ground floor, a sacred circle was opened. A K2 meter was placed on the ground in the middle of the circle. It kept going to orange and people could feel cold breezes on their faces. One member felt a pain on the side of their head. A black orb was seen shooting across the K2 meter. A female spirit made contact. Lots of questions were asked but there were no responses until a child was mentioned which made the K2 meter go to red. More questions were asked and the K2 meter would go to red in answer to a ‘yes’ answer. A child spirit connected to someone in the circle was discussed and the K2 meter kept going to orange every time it was spoken about. There was a red light on a wall on the second landing. Every now and then it would disappear then reappear as if someone was walked in front of it several times. Lots of questions were asked regarding the three prison officers in the circle and how the spirit was treated by wardens or jailers when they were in prison. The k2 meter kept going up to red when the spirit wanted to answer. One member left the circle and a massive flash of light was seen as they walked away from the circle. Another member sang a funny rude song and the k2 meter flashed to red again. The group asked if the spirit was sad the group was leaving shortly, and again the K2 meter shot up to red. The circle was closed and everyone heard a sound like the clink of metal being tapped.