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HISTORY / HAUNTINGS The Viaduct Tavern was opened in 1869 opposite the Holborn Viaduct, which also opened the same year. The pub is the last example of a late Victorian gin palace left in the City of London. The whole area was built on the site of the notorious Newgate Prison. Newgate was infamous for executions and squalid conditions and was completely demolished in 1902. The pub has three paintings each featuring a maiden representing agriculture, banking and the arts. The latter has her bottom defaced by a drunken soldier in the First World War who allegedly fired his rifle at it. The rough nature of the area was still in evidence after the opening of the pub and is noticeable by the small booth behind the bar, from which the landlord sold tokens to buy beer and thus removing any cash from the hands of the distrusted bar staff. The Tavern has been paranormally active for many years with various eyewitness reports gathered. There is allegedly a restless spirit that haunts the Cellar area and Poltergeist activity in the upper floors of the pub.
UPPER FLOORS We started off by heading to the upper floors of the pub. All the upper levels seem to be in a state of disrepair or with half attempts of redecorating. As we walked up the stairs, Alan began to open up to the atmosphere. He was immediately sensing the presence of a lady who walks up the stairs but curiously does not descend them. Alan caught some light anomalies on the stairway but these were more likely dust particles in the atmosphere. On the top floor, we walked into various rooms until Alan and Karen were drawn to the end room. It was here that Alan sensed the lady again who looks out a window onto Newgate Street. He points out that she was attacked here and was accidentally murdered around 1890.
CELLAR / KITCHEN After a break, we decided to place ourselves in the Cells below that were once part of Newgate Prison. We each took our own area and sat quietly as activity has been reported here over the years. Karen and Alan took separate cells with Marq, Angel and Julian in the opposite room. We stayed here for a while and although Karen had run out of her cell, nothing else of note happened. Moving back upstairs we attempted a communication circle in the Kitchen. Patience is a key factor in paranormal investigations and on this occasion, nothing of note happened.
TOP FLOORS For the last part of the evening, we decided to go back up to the top floor to find out more about the lady. We attempted a communication circle and Angel was coming out with the name of ‘Annabelle’ or ‘Annabella’. A short while later, she was also getting the name ‘Anne’ and a little girl of about 7 years old. What was interesting is that a short while later, Alan began picking up on a similar name of ‘Anne-Marie’ (or ‘Anne’ for short). He sensed she was French with a daughter called Annette. We carried on with the communication and Alan could feel energy around him, which others confirmed. We eventually called the session to a close and concluded the investigation.
CONCLUSION The Viaduct Tavern was a really interesting place to visit. We picked up a lot in terms of mediumship but little in visual phenomena. About a week later though, Karen reported that she had a big scratch on her back and that an alleged spirit is in her home and being a nuisance. We have to have a healthy dose of scepticism with regards to this as we are not in possession of all the facts (and this no way a criticism of her character). We are back at the Tavern in a few weeks time to help out another team and will be interesting to see what presents itself then. |
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MEV Productions / Spiral © 2008 |
