This house has stood for many years and might yet stand for many more. Within, walls are propped upright, few bricks now meet, floors sit unfirm and doors are boarded shut. Silence lies steadily against the wood and stone of Guy’s Cliffe House and we who walk here, walk alone..
— The Haunting of Hill House 1963

Many have inhabited, visited, even revered this place over time and legend is sewn into its very fabric. Does some essence of these others haunt this enchanting estate? Whether you believe in such things or not the sedate atmosphere of this place can lull you into a sense of calm that can be shattered by the unexpected should you care to abide in its dark corridors and chambers alone. The following are some accounts of what ethereal entities are purported to still lurk the estate, sometimes caught on film, sometimes seen or heard and occasionally felt. Does something here still move amongst us?

The Wine Cellar.

This secluded underground chamber could be home to some very active spirits who would not appear to be camera shy. One bright morning when the birds were singing we decided to try out the night vision on a camcorder and the wine store was the place to try as it’s near pitch even during the day. We proceeded into the wine store with little expectation of anything unusual happening, we were proved wrong! We were stood along the length of the store when Adrian looking through the viewfinder exclaimed that something akin to a streak of light had flown right across the store form one side to the other, but he had not set the camcorder recording! Hitting the record button we began again, success! Again a quick moving streak of light materializes and this time it comes right at the camcorder. We returned once again after we had exited to show others what we had just caught. This time Adrian got bold and asked out ‘is there anyone in this room with us?’ Bizarrely and as if on cue a mist moves across the room that looks to be in the shape of a person with something smaller following and then it dissipates. At first we thought this was a fluke and continued to repeat the same question another 3 times. Every time we asked the mist would appear for us but most intriguingly in response to the question.
On another visit to the wine store we decided to set up some trigger objects such as marbles on one of the wine cellar shelves, embedded in flour. We do this so if the marbles are moved then marks are evident in the powder. As we got halfway down the tunnel leading to the wine store proper footsteps were heard behind us then an odd rustling noise followed. We were stopped in our tracks by these ominous sounds but then moved on and yet again we heard the footsteps following us, checking to see if perhaps we were being tricked only confirmed that there was indeed no one else there. Since that time the marble trigger objects placed in the wine store they have appeared to have been moved several times.
However in this room we were able to capture a very interesting sound recording of a girl who apparently is in distress as she asks several times to ‘help me’. We decided with the help of our medium at that time to try and attempt communication with this spirit. On the occasion itself we had decided to use a spirit ( ouija ) board to assist in the communication and we got an immediate, positive response. On the sound recording its possible to hear the name Georgina but through our board communication Gina was spelt out as the name of the spirit. Initially we said ‘that’s a very modern sounding name’ the response to which was to quickly move the planchette ( pointer ) to start to spell out George and we twigged the abbreviation at that point. Nick and Dawn Berry ( the medium ) were on the board and I was observing closely. I saw nothing that looked like pushing or pulling on the planchette by either of them. Gina was asked by Dawn if she wanted help to move on to which came a delayed response but the outcome was ‘yes’. However because of the pause we enquired whether she was concerned about this and we got the response ‘afraid’ spelt out. So naturally we asked questions to find out the reason for her concern. She let us know by response that she was being held back by a man and that this man had most likely raped her here in this place. Dawn informed us that at this time the man had entered the room and he was not at all happy with us. It was evident that the atmosphere in the room had suddenly changed as well at this point but we perservered and he was told to stand aside. Dawn reported that she was holing this man back and that Gina could continue. Gina had informed us that her sister Hannah was on the other side and would be there to meet her, then with a quick spelling out of the word ‘goodbye’ it was over. Adrian recollects seeing two red dots akin to a weak laser pointer dot that were at eye height and spaced to match. Were his eyes playing tricks? The atmosphere failed to lift after the ‘goodbye’ and Nick seemed more aware than myself and Dawn of this spirit mans’ continuing anger. Since then groups have heard cries and we are led to believe that we did not fully resolve the issue or there are yet more souls in anguish here.

The Basement Parlour.

This was the principal gathering room for the attendants to the family. Summoned by bells and watched over by a boss-like figure does this room and the corridors leading from it still come under the watchful eye of this strong character?
On one exploratory occasion we headed down the under passage, a thin corridor that leads off from the Butlers Parlour down under the run of the floors above and ended up in a part that may have been a drying room. After being stood there for around a minute or so the main door in the Butlers Parlour inexplicably slammed hard shut in breezeless conditions. Intrigued by this we made our way back to the Butlers parlour to both report a distinct change in the atmosphere there, the type of atmosphere the phrase ‘you could cut it with a knife’ applies to. One of us reported the sensation of being poked in the shoulder from behind, then the tension in the room abated. Others close by joined us to ask what had happened, whereupon they reported seeing lights coming down the passage way during this time but none of us could see how this was possible?

The Under Passage.

A tunnel effectively that served as the basement level route under the house in which staff would transit frequently going about their duties. Perhaps they still walk its always dark length? On a Thursday we were working down there clearing what we call the Butchery room of rubble. This room is the one on your left hand side as you near the end of the passage and just like the underpasage is dark but not entirely pitch, light from openings elsewhere down here can certainly play tricks. We were taking a few minutes out from clearing efforts and given that we were beginning to think something paranormal could happen here we asked out loud some provoking questions. We hoped for something. We stood in the underpassage looking into the Butchery room and continued to ask, we requested a sound, anything to verify the existence of something else..
A few minutes into asking we felt like something had changed but we couldn’t put our finger on it so we kept on asking. As the requests continued one of us heard some very deep, loud breathing noises come from down the passage and then we both saw a handful of rubble in the room itself skit across the main pile, alomost like someone had kicked it on purpose, this was accompanied by a knock, needless to say we were taken aback by this dramatic reaction. Others who have worked in this room and area report smells, principally of leather. But most of all a lot of visual phenomena occurs in the Butchery Room and the adjoining Beer Cellar area. Witnessed by ourselves and several guests on the ghost hunts are orb-like balls visible to the naked eye. A hand has been seen moving down a wall in a caressing like manner and feet that have taken a few small steps. Other phenomena includes a mysterious rectangular shaped light appearing on the floor of the Beer Cellar moving for a brief moment then disappearing where it would be impossible to have been a projection from elsewhere. At the end of a ghost hunt an incident occurred in the Butchery room where the whole room lit up as if a flash photograph had just been taken but the flash was slower than that produced in photography and not of the same spectrum, no one present was using a camera. Footsteps, again witnessed by a large number of guests at the same time have been heard from here in the corridors and areas above.

The 1898 Extension.

The most modern addition to the house was one of the areas we cleared of choking rubble. The floor, now clear, was part of the Gun room and it was the start point of the journey upwards for the hand pulled lift in which people could access the different floors. As we got near to clearing the last remains of rubble we both heard a small bell tinkle from the base of the steps that leading off from the gun room which was odd in that there is not one bell that remains at the house now. We searched for anything else it could have been, but to no avail and quizzed anyone there who were reported not hearing it or indeed having or using something that could be misconstrued as sounding like this.

The Dining Hall.

The largest room now has been heavily modified and used to encompass the kitchen and before this the laundry. Now it can readily adapt to suit all manner of purposes. Upon another working day in the Winter months at the house we were having a tea break in this area. After finishing this one of us went to put his cup back in the corner of the room only to report hearing a noise like something was growling at him, like the noise of a nasty dog and there are never dogs at the house apart from on the open days. We have used this room for several vigils and although we have had limited activity it has been noted that it is not without potential and that the medium Paul Hanrahan remarked that for a brief moment a very powerful energy, perhaps the largest he’d yet seen was present in the room.

The Tylers Room.

A small chamber that is situated just ahead of the chapel entrance and withstairs to reach the upper areas. Tapping noises have been heard coming from the walls sometimes very distinctive to say the least. These taps have been heard on several occasions by people and always seem to happen when you are otherwise distracted but listen long enough and they are there. But we keep an open mind here because of the amount of wood panneling.

The Chapel.

It’s the oldest functional building on the property and was founded as an oratory dedicated to St. Mary Magdelene in the 7th Century by St.Dubritious, the then bishop of Warwick. There are several levels to this building - the middle level being the chapel proper and one utilised for a lot of Masonic events, this part holds the statue of Sir Guy. There is an undercroft below complete with its owner lower chamber, affectionately now known as the oubliette. This low chamber we know became an ice house and its present size is reflective of Bertie Greatheeds adaption of whatever that low chamber once was. It is said that priests inhabited the undercroft area for accomodation and there was also a way through to Guy’s cave by means of tunnel down from one of the longer chambers. In this longer chamber a sunken bath was put in place in Samuel Greatheed’s time. Above the chapel proper are rooms now used for Masonic purposes although again there is a possibility that these were used for accomodation or admininstrative purposes for the chapel and house. On the side of the chapel a brew house was used for water softening. The room known as the Aldwyn Porter suite which is an upper area chamber relates to this as do the locker room and stairway off the from chapel proper.
During a day visit by medium Stuart Brompton we opened the door to enter the chapel and he had to stand back saying that whatever is in there is very strong! During another paranormal investigation in the chapel a few of us had sat in the rows of pews and were chatting. All started to hear a noise akin to someone plucking an instrument, like a lyre and this noise could be heard coming from different areas of the room at different times and it was around this time that one of us was poked in the nape of my back, even though their back was against the pew’s back. We have time and time again sat in the chapel to see if this plucking is heard again, yet we have never heard it since.
An experience repeated several times is in hearing someone walking heavily upstairs and a scraping sound like furniture being dragged, always noticed from the chapel itself and never from the area its suspected as occuring in. There is of course nobody upstairs at these times and we always offer a before and after check around to the doubters. It is odd that the noises will cease once the upper floors are entered. We have recorded orbs, observed flickers of lights in the upper rooms and one unfortunate guest in the Thomas Arthur Wood Suite, a room of this level, was slapped in the face!

The Coach House.

Hewn from the sandstone this is one area that turned out to be surprisingly active after we initially expected little from it. According medium Stuart Brompton two spirits and some dogs are present in this area. One is very much a typical stable lad by nature the other is more of a dark horse, if you excuse the pun! The friendlier of the two likes to play tricks and will poke or pull to let you know he’s there but also he on one occasion this character is attributed to having produced some very dramatic visual phenomena. The yelps of dogs have also been heard by a group however the most dramatic incident meant that in this area Nick was literally assaulted by spirit so we are naturally a little weary of pushing the boundaries in here as we are now unsure of the level of the response!

Guy’s Cave.

It sits down on the lower walk and was once accessed by passage under the Chapel but is now accessed by a walkway that skirts the chapel. It’s window opening if entered would drop you into a narrow hollow whose entrance proper is now in a pre-chamber which in itself drops down a few steps into a larger Cavern and both this and the pre-chamber may have had a use linked to the brew house above. It is utterly dark and still in here - but maybe not always so still? On the day we tested the camcorders night vision in the wine cellar we also trekked down to this hidden hollow. There were three of us in there and we began to ask out for a sign that anything other than us should make itself known. The atmosphere went tight and a flick of light was observed. As we asked for a sound to be made we were duly answered by a distinct ‘ping’ on an old metal bucket littering the floor. At this stage Nick recording with the camcorder pans up and captures an orb that drops down from above. Something seemed to be listening to our requests that day. Since then investigations in this area have resulted in quite a number of people feeling sick and we are directed to believe that an older, perhaps negative energy is rooted here.

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