I would like to say that I’ve left the best until last, but in all honesty I don’t really have a favourite or believe one location is haunted more than another. I’ve actually left the oddest location until last. Bradwell Abbey itself isn’t odd, it’s more my own experience of the location. You see I haven’t actually performed a formal detailed investigation at Bradwell Abbey, but I have visited the location on many occasions and had some interesting personal experiences and that’s why this is one of My Top Ten Most Haunted Locations in the UK list.

A Little Haunted History of the Abbey

Bradwell Abbey dates back to around 1154 when the land was granted for the establishment of a Benedictine priory. The priory has a touch of a chequered history with it bouncing form crisis to crisis throughout it’s lengthy existence.

 

Around 1330 before the Black Death struck the area, the chapel of St. Mary dedicated to ‘Our Ladie of Bradwell’ was built. This was thought to be in response to the discovery of healing properties of a statue of the Virgin Mary. The Monks may have sold badges and holy charms to pilgrims that visited the area.

In the late 17th century the Manor House was remodelled quite considerably, shaping it to be more similar to that which is present today.

There is of course much more detail to the history of this wonderful site which can be found online and by visiting the site itself.

With a site which dates back to 1154 it’s not surprising that there have been a few reports of ghosts and odd goings on. These often range from strange ghostly sounds to actual sightings of ghostly monks around the grounds. However one such report comes from a trusted friend and investigator Graham Smith of RSVP UK. Graham told me how during his investigation he once heard distinctively loud footsteps in the main building which appeared to head towards him and another investigator. There have also been a few reports of mediums picking up on more negative spirits, sometimes related to a particular monk.

My Ghostly Experiences at Bradwell Abbey

My own experiences at the Abbey began a few years back when I visited the location along with a few teams for what was a kind of paranormal open evening if you like. Incidentally it was also the same night I first encountered Graham’s RSVP UK team and was instantly impressed with their professionalism and organisation on the night. Once the teams had all interacted a little, discussed their own experiences and generally got to know each other; we all headed out to look around the location. I first headed out into the grounds to have a look around and see if any ghostly monks could be found, but unfortunately I was a little unlucky on that occasion.

However things changed slightly when I decided to check out the little chapel. When I first walked into the little chapel that first time I found it occupied by five other people. As I sat with them in the dark with only a slither of light from the moon allowing me to identify their silhouettes, it soon became apparent that I was sharing this space with five sensitives. I decided to sit quietly as they all began to mention what they were picking up on. The information varied slightly and I seem to recall at point the description of a tall man standing over me too. However it wasn’t what they picked up which caught my attention, it was what I personally experienced as they picked things up. As sat listening I noticed that a corner of the room was changing, it was growing darker and I could feel a slight drop in temperature too. If only I had a MEL Meter on me! It was a strange affect to witness, but what made it slightly more interesting was when another member of the group mentioned it too. We’re the sensitives picking up on something that was trying to manifest itself and if it was, perhaps that was drawing energy out of the area reducing light and temperature?

After my first visit I didn’t really return to Bradwell Abbey for quite a while. However last year I worked with a group, which included members of RSVP UK on the Cosmopathic Project and we used Bradwell Abbey as our experiment location.

Over the course of 2015 we done our best to conduct fortnightly experiment sessions at Bradwell Abbey with the aim to understand more about communication with spirits. In order to do this we based our approach primarily on the Scole Experiment, which took place in 90’s and provided some very interesting results in physical mediumship. Results which were documented by the Society for Psychical Research and in my opinion have also split the community slightly. There have been many which believe the results of the Scoles Experiment to be genuine whilst others have classed them as fraud.

The experiments that we conducted meant that we had regular exposure to Bradwell Abbey and over the course of the year many of the group had various experiences. Many of those more sensitive picked up on a tall Monk like figure that appeared to be interested in our experiment, perhaps a little too much sometimes. They also associated this Monk with being quite a dark or negative character.

During our experiments a number of other characters were picked up on, but as far as we know they were not directly linked to the Abbey itself and possibly linked to our experiments.

The Abbey itself remains an interesting historical place with some interesting activity. In fact on visit to the attic room we once felt the presence of something in the room with us, but couldn’t nail it down to something or someone specific.

Bradwell Abbey certainly is a location that deserves further investigation and research. I know Graham Smith has some interesting theories about the activity at the Abbey that are worth looking in to.

A Most Haunted Abbey

Bradwell Abbey is full of history and a very interesting place, which has certainly left me thinking about the location. It’s a location I will have to return to one day soon for another more detailed and in-depth investigation. It’s because the strange reoccurrence of the ghostly monk and Graham’s experience that makes Bradwell Abbey one of My Top Ten Most Haunted Locations in the UK.

Find out more about the experiments we conducted at Bradwell Abbey here..

Also, if you’ve ever visited or investigated Bradwell Abbey, then I would like to hear about it too? Have you ever experienced similar activity as I did with my team?

Have You Ever Been To One Of My Top Ten Most Haunted Locations In The UK? Would love to hear your comments below.

I will be posting the ghost stories, and how our investigations went in future articles on this site. So, make sure you follow me on Twitter, or like my Facebook Page to hear the latest. Better still, so you don’t miss out on any spooky haunting stories, you can sign up for me free newsletter here:

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I’m always on the lookout for new locations, if you have one that you feel may make it on to next year’s list of my favourite most haunted locations in the UK, please let me know.

Also, if you run paranormal events I am interested in checking out the experience and event that you deliver to your customers. Invite me along and perhaps your event will make my top five paranormal events for 2016