The North Wales Paranormal Group held a Paranormal investigation at Bodidris Hall, Llandegla
Brief History of the Hall and area
There has been a hall on this site from the Dark Ages onwards. The area was the scene of violent warfare between the Welsh princes of Powys and Gwynedd, as well as continual warfare with England. During 1165 Welsh armies and the weather, routed King Henry II's army from the Berwyns, and Llewellyn constructed a wooden hall here. That hall was burned by an English army in 1401, because the Lloyd family (descendants of Llewellyn ab Ynyr) were faithful to Owain Glyndwr. The present hall was rebuilt following the Glyndwr wars in 1465.
The house has a priest hole and a cell and its reputation for conflict and violence can also be seen in its sixteenth century stairway. The stair treads are of uneven heights and are known as duelling stairs to confuse an unwary attacking party. By the late twentieth century, it remained residential, and parts were developed as a hotel and restaurant with a particularly fine reputation for its cuisine. Bodidris Hall now belongs to the Booth Family, although the Lloyd theme continues as Stephanie's maiden name was also Lloyd.Bodidris Hall is uniquely placed in that the county boundary between Denbighshire and Flintshire literally runs through the centre of the hall, and the county boundary stone can be seen outside the front door. Reached by a mile-long drive you will see sheep and pheasants meandering across the road just before you see the lake with duck and swans with peacocks striding majestically across the lawns.
Set in the 6,500 acre estate, the views are simply spectacular and although apparently so isolated, the hotel is only 25 minutes from the historic Roman city of Chester, and the Market town of Wrexham.
Nearly everyone that has watched programmes like Most Haunted and have heard their Parapsychologist give his usual interpretation on the nights investigation will probably wonder, just what is a Parapsychologist ?
A common misconception is that a parapsychologist is a psychic. Not so. Likewise, a child psychiatrist is not a child! Instead, a parapsychologist is a scientist or scholar who is seriously interested in the "paranormal " Parapsychology is the scientific and scholarly study of certain unusual events associated with human experience. These experiences have been called "psychic" for want of a better term.mal." Unfortunately, many telephone books and on-line sites use "parapsychologist" as a synonym for psychic entertainer, mentalist, conjurer, astrologer, or psychic reader. This is an inappropriate use of the term "parapsychologist." The Parapsychological Association is an elected affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest scientific organization in the world. In contrast, organizations of psychic readers and mentalists are not members of the AAAS because they are entertainers, not scientists.
What does it mean to study psychic phenomena? A long-held, common-sense assumption is that the worlds of the subjective and objective are completely distinct, with no overlap. Subjective is "here, in the head," and objective is "there, out in the world." Parapsychology then is the study of phenomena suggesting that the assumption of a strict separation between subjective and objective may be wrong. Human experience suggests that some phenomena occasionally fall between the cracks, and are not purely subjective nor purely objective. From a scientific perspective, such phenomena are called "anomalous" because they are difficult to explain within current scientific models.
These anomalies fall into three general categories: ESP (terms are defined below), PK, and phenomena suggestive of survival after bodily death, including near-death experiences, apparitions, and reincarnation. Most parapsychologists today expect that further research will eventually explain these anomalies in scientific terms, although it is not clear whether they can be adequately understood without significant (indeed, probably revolutionary) expansions of the current state of scientific knowledge. Other researchers take the stance that existing scientific models of perception and memory are adequate to explain some or all parapsychological phenomena.
What does it mean to study psychic phenomena? A long-held, common-sense assumption is that the worlds of the subjective and objective are completely distinct, with no overlap. Subjective is "here, in the head," and objective is "there, out in the world." Parapsychology then is the study of phenomena suggesting that the assumption of a strict separation between subjective and objective may be wrong. Human experience suggests that some phenomena occasionally fall between the cracks, and are not purely subjective nor purely objective. From a scientific perspective, such phenomena are called "anomalous" because they are difficult to explain within current scientific models.
These anomalies fall into three general categories: ESP (terms are defined below), PK, and phenomena suggestive of survival after bodily death, including near-death experiences, apparitions, and reincarnation. Most parapsychologists today expect that further research will eventually explain these anomalies in scientific terms, although it is not clear whether they can be adequately understood without significant (indeed, probably revolutionary) expansions of the current state of scientific knowledge. Other researchers take the stance that existing scientific models of perception and memory are adequate to explain some or all parapsychological phenomena.
Equipment taken for this investigation
The group took their full range of equipment to this location.
Number of team members performing this vigil
5 female members and 3 male members which included mediums
The investigation
On the team's arrival a group of spirit monks in black robes had been seen in the grounds of the Hall. It was later established that they were Cistercian Monks that passed through, usually stopping to perform prayers somewhere close to this locality. Some of the team decided to take photographs with their digital cameras in the area where the monks had been seen and had caught a lot of orb activity which will be loaded onto the group's website.
The night's investigation started with the group placing two locked off night vision cameras in groundfloor rooms. The first camera was placed in a lounge room opposite the reception desk, immediately everyone was amazed to witness the orb display that was unfolding on the tv screen before them and when asked the spirits moved around in an intelligent and planned manner. At times they were asked to pause before moving on and then asked to move to one investigator who had her hand held out and they obliged. This orb activity was to continue for most of the night. Again, all of this activity was caught on night vision camera for all to see.
The second camera was located in the restaurant. A large round wooden table was placed in the middle of the room. Six investigators which included four female and two male members sat at the table. Normally we would perform a séance at this stage but it was decided to place an upturned glass in the center of the table. The glass began to move around the table in a clockwise motion. In order to prove that there was an intelligence behind the movement of the glass we asked the spirit to stop in front of one of the male members of the group, which it did. We then decided to add the words 'Yes' and 'No' on opposite ends of the table in order to get more detailed answers. The spirit was a lady by the name of Margaret Lloyd. The information gleaned from her was that she lived around the middle of the 16th century (1550). She lived at Bodidris Hall but was not a daughter of the house, she married into the family. Lloyd was a family name associated with the Hall. She was the mother of an unknown number of daughters and died in her mid fifties.
All the female members of the group decided to perform a table-tipping and it proved very successful when the table began to rock back and forth and finally the table tipped over.
Group members moved upstairs to one of the bedrooms but no activity was felt in this location so after a long period of time the group decided to return to the ground floor where we had obtained better results.
Mike and Ray had been asked to sit in front of the big open fireplace in the large lounge area. Both started to bring through spirits. It had already been established that Lloyd had been a family associated with Bodidris Hall and three other Lloyds made themselves known. A John Lloyd, an Alice Lloyd and an Evan Lloyd. Other spirits that had come forward included a Catherine Salisbury, Griffith Vaughan, Albert Rixon and a Brendan Lewis Evans.
The Findings and Analysis
We think that this location is haunted by former members of the Lloyd family and it will be interesting to see if the Historian can confirm any of the names given as fact. The group were very disappointed that they did not get any audible sounds but nevertheless it was an excellent premises in which to conduct a paranormal investigation.
We would like to thank David & Stephanie Booth Proprietors of Bodidris Hall for their hospitality during our investigation. It is without doubt the most beautiful building we have encountered on our travels.