Woodchurch Windmill - Woodchurch, Kent

A Victorian smock mill dominating the village of Woodchurch and subject to intensive restoration is impeccably maintained by its custodians the history of which was detailed in our initial report.

Our first report can be read here.

Background:
Ghost Connections were privileged to be allowed an immediate return visit to this wonderful venue. There had been no previous reports of any paranormal phenomena but we were keen to return given the experiences we had on our last visit. Interesting though it was, our attempts to conduct a meaningful investigation were thwarted by the effects of the weather upon the structure of the building which meant the integrity of any results was questionable.

The Investigation

Video camera-
Sony DCR HC-24E with night vision and Sony HVL-IRM IR light
Sony DCR-HC19 with night vision and Sony HVL- IRM IR light

Digital Camera-
Fuji Fine Pix S5000
Fuji Fine Pix S5500
Pentax K-100D Digital SLR

Voice recorder -
Olympus VN-2100PC
Olympus DM20

Other-
Video tapes (mini DV)

Team:
Kim, Ian, Paddy and Dave

Method:
We were going to apply the same methods as before, being silent vigils along with periods of asking aloud for activity, we hoped to provoke some potential paranormal phenomena that could be recorded on our equipment.

Investigation:
As before for the purposes of this report we shall refer to the four floor levels of this windmill as ground, first, second and third floors.

This time the weather was to remain calm with no wind for the entire investigation although we were well aware that there would still be an amount of noise caused by movement within the structure that would need to be borne in mind.

A number of dead house flies were clustered around one area of the second floor.

After arrival we prepared our equipment, this time without the CCTV and made our way to the second floor. The exterior flood lights are on a timer and extinguished just after we started the investigation. It was initially noted that there was the occasional movement of the mechanism in the cap although this time it was very infrequent, and dimished considerably very quickly as the wind subsided completely.

As always we observed and noted the sounds, smells and feelings the mill provided us.

Dave began calling out for some signs in accordance with normal techniques.

Kim described the atmosphere as heavy and felt quite apprehensive. There were various taps heard around the floor. Kim shuddered as though someone was behind her and she began to feel cold, then we all heard a noise, a whine that we could not explain. It sounded as though it was from in front of where Dave was sitting in the centre of the room.

Paddy and Dave had heard a similar noise on the last visit that could only be described as a cat squalling, and Paddy was certain he saw a cat earlier this evening between Dave and the stairs. We had a brief chat about methods of communication during which some taps were heard from around the room.

Kim thought she could see the outline of a child in the middle of the room, one minute it was there, then gone.
Ian felt uncomfortable sitting and began to stand and whilst he did he began swaying involuntarily and complained of the sensation of pins and needles throughout his upper body along with a heavy sensation in his head. This developed into a feeling of sadness and a feeling of physically being about to cry.

Dave made mention of this emotion when requesting further evidence. There was an unexplained tap from behind the hoppers then another from a level below.

We decided to have a break at this point, as we did so Ian's feelings of sadness subsided although he was glad for a break.

After the break we returned to the second floor. We relocated our camcorders to cover different areas of the floor. There were more clicks heard from either side of the floor, by Kim and behind the hoppers, Kim became very agitated and was coughing and felt that something was affecting her. Dave and Paddy called out and noises were heard, some that could be explained and some that could not, although nothing could be truly termed as responsive. After a while we had another break.

We took another break to discuss our findings and then we moved our investigation to the ground floor as so far this had been ignored in this and our previous investigation. We thought this would be interesting as this is the only original part of the building. Nothing was forthcoming but towards the end of the session Ian swung his left arm sideways to place his camera on the floor and was shocked when it hit an obstruction, he checked but there was nothing there and he was not close to anything within the room. Other than this there was nothing remarkable, no noises, no feelings or sensations, nothing to report. It was soon after this we decided to close the investigation, pack up our equipment and leave.

It was observed that of the initial noises, some that could be attributed to the strip lights cooling once extinguished. This seemed to be consistent with the fact that the strip lights had been on during our break and were obviously cooling again.

During our second investigation at this venue various noises were heard and discounted as they were believed to be attributed to the movement of the structure. Any noises from “other” sources are difficult to prove, therefore, not evidentially valid.

The feelings of a heavy almost apprehensive atmosphere could be caused by the teams own anticipation of the investigation ahead and may by psychosomatic, or they may not, this cannot be proven either way.

Kim thought she had seen the outline of a child in the room. It is possible that the shadows caused by exterior illuminations may have been confused for a free standing object, a child, or this may have simply been the effect of tired eyes, however, it is also impossible to prove or disprove the reasons why Kim thought she saw this child.

There are no reasons we can suggest for why Ian felt overcome with sadness. We have since had a response from the custodians of the mill that may explain the whining or cat type noise heard on the first investigation that was repeated this time, the explanation for this is currently the subject of discussion. Although this noise was caught on our audio recordings nothing else was found to be on our audio, and video recordings, or in the stills taken that evening.

There was nothing else forthcoming during our second visit of the night to the second floor other than Kim's agitation and coughing, for which again no reason could be found.
No obstruction could be found that would have collided with Ian's arm during the last session on the ground floor.

During our stay a certain amount of other information of a clairvoyant nature was forthcoming. As Ghost Connections conducts scientifically based investigations we do not publish such observations, however, this information is held on a separate database and may prove interesting when compared to other peoples experiences. Should you wish to discuss this information please email us.