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Published: March 13, 2007
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THE HISTORY OF THE LOCATION
In 1308 there is the first reference to an organisation for barbers when Richard the Barber was elected to keep order amongst them. He was instructed by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen 'to make diligent search through the whole of his craft every month, and if he shall find any brothel keeper or other disreputable folk to the scandal of the craft, he shall detain them and cause them to be brought before the chamber'. This company also included surgeons in its number, the first such member being recorded in 1312. Barbers not only attend to the hair and shaving of their customers, but took on surgical and medical tasks, including dentistry, particularly after the Pope ordained in 1163 that members of religious orders should not assist in the shedding of blood. Bleeding was an almost universal method of treating medical conditions; it was also a regular discipline, for health purposes, of many religious orders. Monks wore tonsures which needed constant care from barbers adept in the use of the razor and it was thus logical that barbers should add minor surgical skills to their trade. THE INVESTIGATION
The team at Haunted Britain were thrilled when we were asked to conduct an investigation at the prestigious Barbers-Surgeons Guild Hall in London. This hall is only open to members and occasionally the public on specific days - however, Haunted Britain were being allowed access to the complete hall for 24 hours.
The hall itself is an amazing sight, situated near the original London Wall and steeped in history. In fact in its gardens is a plague pit and burial ground used in the times of the hall. The current residents of the hall have bore witness to many different manifestations, namely that of a small boy, an older lady and another lady. So it was with great anticipation that the investigation began.  | We started our investigation in the main room, which is home to the Holbein painting of King Henry VIII, and our hosts brought in the chalice of Henry VIII too, we thought this would be a valuable addition to our tools as it "could" evoke manifestations or apparitions with its mere presence.
No sooner had we begun that we had already began catching light anomalies on camera, but these were unlike any other light anomaly we had ever captured. These sat in specific places and were not a reflection of flare from another object. Each time a request was made for communication an anomaly was recorded (as you can see from the pictures to your right).  | Paul then left the group and conducted a lone vigil in the court room. Sitting quietly for a long period of time, Paul then began asking for any signs of spirit. And although minor, a few taps and knocks were heard (unfortunately these were not recorded).
Upon joining the rest of the group he found the remaining party eager and also upset as the spirit of a young boy had just begun to communicate. He stated that he was not happy with his death as he was hung for stealing a small loaf of bread, and brought to the Barbers-Surgeons hall for dissection and experimentation. Upon looking this information up we could find no information of a small boy, but many street urchins and homeless people would have been used and met a drastic end.  | Meanwhile one team member sat alone in the court room, again for a long period of time. And upon asking for any signs of spirit activity his camera turned off, this was not a mechanical or electrical failure as the camera was immediately turned back on and upon checking the equipment and tape there were no signs of malfunction.
He then asked Paul to enter the court room with him, where the best evidence was caught so far. Upon asking direct questions to any spirits present, the EMF Meters in the room began reacting when the answer was yes. This was tried and tested for a long time, and the same question was asked at different intervals, all the time the answers were YES when they should be and the EMF Meters gave off an eerie silence when the answer was no.  | The group then moved to the basement, where many different apparitions had been seen. And we attempted to communicate with any spirits present, almost immediately orbs of different colours began forming and were caught on digital and disposable cameras.
Carolyn then made contact with the spirit of Mary, the sister of James, who was looked for her brother. And a group decision was made to unite these two lost souls so that they could move on. A séance was conducted and we urged the two spirits to move on, and during this a few members of the group reported feelings of dizziness and their legs wanting to collapse. After a short while we felt a sudden rush of calm and the two spirits left together!  | In light of the current popularity of Table Tipping, the group then regrouped in the court room to communicate with a more direct method. Again, after asking questions the table was felt to be moving very slightly. But this could be attributed to the people around the table involuntarily moving it.
A question from the previous EMF Meter session had provided the group with information that the spirit was shy and did not like communicating with lots of people. So the group left the room, leaving Paul and Rob behind to carry on the table tipping experiment. This yielded far more positive results.  | Again, for a YES response the table moved, and a direct line of questioning was established. We managed to glean the following information. The spirit was originally alive in the 1400's and was the wife of a former Grand Master of the company (we can not give names for privacy reasons; although a name was given). She was happy here in the hall and came to and from the Barbers-Surgeons often, she was not grounded there.
All in all, this was another fantastic location steeped in history and another set of positive results for the Haunted Britain team.
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