Situated in the heart of rural Shropshire and overlooking the River Severn, Fitz Manor, is an Elizabethan Grade II listed building, has a rich and varied history. The existing building dates from 1450 but the original structure is thought to have been a Saxon Hall. The first written records date from the 12th Century where it was recorded in the Doomsday Book.

It was also recorded in the Charter of Henry I. The Manor also has a rich ecclesiastical connection; significantly, it has its own church and was once owned by the Bishop of Shrewsbury. Since the 18th Century the Manor has been in the hands of the Baly family who now run it as a successful bed and breakfast. The Manor itself is a hotbed of spiritual activity. A priest is rumoured to have been crucified in the dining room for being homosexual, and groans and sobs have been heard here. Additionally, a figure of a lady has been seen many times in the Red bedroom. She is also reputed to haunt the graveyard and church yard. Reputedly, there was a painting found in the attic of a young Victorian lady, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the figure that people have seen on the grounds. Finally, in the Orange bedroom, people have smelt a strong and pungent tobacco smell even though nobody has been smoking.

This is thought to be the ghost of a family member who smoked a distinctive brand of tobacco that he imported himself. In 2003, it was featured on the UK television program Most Haunted. Types of Haunting Residual Haunting The most prevalent type of haunting, by far, is referred to as a residual haunting. In this type of haunting the ghostly energy goes through a cycle of actions over and over again. It's like a video clip that repeats itself in a loop.

Oftentimes this plays out at a specific time as though it were following a schedule. Most commonly the scene played out will be that of a tragic event, such as a death. This type of haunting is more like a psychic impression of energy than an actual haunting by a presence or entity. Many true stories seem to describe this type of occurrence. Intelligent Haunting The second classification of haunting is known as the Classic or Intelligent Haunting.

In an Intelligent Haunting the spirit, or ghost, demonstrates intelligence and an awareness of its surroundings. These ghosts have been known to communicate with humans and to interact with their environment. In this type of haunting it is common for objects to be moved. There have been reports of ghosts making noises, such as rapping or banging on walls, slamming doors, or making footsteps. Ghosts have been known to move things around, or even to hide objects. They may even turn light switches on and off. This type of ghost will often manifest the personality of someone who has died. Smells and odors that were commonly present with the person when they were still living, such as tobacco, perfume, or flowers, often occur in these hauntings.

Group members conducting the Investigation Andrea, Kate, Lorraine, Kate, Tina, Dave, Jim, and Mike The Investigation The group arrived at the location around 7pm on a cold, frosty and snowy night in mid-January; we were warmly welcomed into the Manor by the owners Dawn and Neil Baly.

We all agreed that this looked a fantastic and atmospheric building in which to hold a paranormal investigation. After settling into our rooms the group where shown around the Manor by Dawn. Our medium was already picking up on what he described as layers of time and paranormal activity which he would have to pull apart during the night and hopefully come out with names associated with the building. In the Orange room he straight away picked up on a gentleman sitting in a chair smoking his pipe. This gentleman gave his name as Edward Baly who had passed away during the last 50 years. He was also adamant that Dawn's husband was also named Edward, so rather sheepishly, the medium asked Dawn if she had been married before to which she replied 'no', but surprised by the question she said that the gentleman that he had seen in the room was known to the family and was indeed Edward and more surprisingly Dawn's husband's first name is Edward (but known by his middle name of Neil) Edward apparently is the first Christian name given to all male members of the Baly family.

Pipe smoking Edward also conveyed his pride in a family member who was becoming a successful photographer. Again Dawn said that her daughter Helen worked as a wedding photographer based in the Chester area. With the lights switched off and the night vision cameras set up in some of the bedrooms and the living room the investigation started. The group started in the first floor bedrooms. We started in the Red Room with a seance. Two women were picked up whose names were Jane and Elizabeth Wood.

The approximate date given was around the 1730's. Our medium asked the two women if they had ever married and Elizabeth confirmed she had been married to either a Richard or Robert Denston and Jane said she married a Reverend William Powell. Over the years a spirit of a Victorian lady has been seen in this room and although Jane often comes back in visitation it is Elizabeth that shows herself to unsuspecting guests. Some members of the group held a seance in the Orange Room where Edward had been seen earlier and he made himself known to the group by moving an upturned glass and answering questions with 'Yes' and 'No'.

The K2 meter was used in both bedrooms with impressive results. (A K2 meter picks up on the energy fields that spirits disturb when they are present in the environment) The lights flashed up while the K2 meter was placed on the beds and to questions asked of the spirits. Although the team went into the attic which was very eerie nothing was found. The medium and Jim then went into the cellar area where the medium detected what he described as a blocked up tunnel which he thought led to the church that belonged to the Manor.

The spirit of a young boy aged approximately 8 years old showed himself to our medium and the name given was Thomas Middleton. This information was then relayed to Neil Baly, who asked if our medium could come up with the name of Thomas's father. Again the medium and Jim descended to the cellar, where the medium again made contact with Thomas and asked him if he could give the name of his father, to which he replied Richard Middleton. This information was relayed back to Neil Baly who said that the owner of the Manor in the early 1800s had indeed been Richard Middleton. A male spirit wanted to come in and make himself known, but would only do so if the owners would allow him in to the house, he said he was once a gardener at Fitz Manor. Dawn Baly said 'Yes of course he could come in'.

The spirit gave his name as Ernest Pugh and had worked at the Manor between the time of the two World Wars. He said that he had been born in the area around 1900 and loved his work and had become very attached to the Manor. The team decided to hold a seance around a circular wooden table in the Living Room with the lights turned off and a log fire roaring in the hearth it certainly lent itself to the ideal setting for a seance. Within minutes our medium picked up on a priest who had been crucified on an interior wall for being a homosexual. The medium went to the living room wall were it was thought the priest had been nailed. Again Dawn Baly said that he had correctly identified the actual spot on the Living Room wall.

Our medium brought through a strong spirit who at times tipped and shook the table when asked to. This spirit was a First World War army officer who gave his name as Cyril Baly. He was known to everyone as 'Sugar' Baly. When asked why he had the name 'Sugar' Baly he said that a lot of the male descendants from his Grandmother's side of the family had this included with their Christian names. His family had moved up from Devon in the early 1800's and moved to a house within one mile of Fitz Manor known as Ivy Cottage.

Cyril had been killed in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 aged only 19 while leading a charge towards the Prussian trenches. Asked if his body had ever been recovered he said yes. He had enlisted in the East Kent Regiment 3rd of Foot and had acquired the rank of Lieutenant. He also said that the regiment was known as the 'Buffs'. He gave his father's name as Price Baly, a Surgeon who had died during the Bore War when Cyril was only 3 years old. His mother was Florence. We asked him if he had more Christian names to which he replied 'Yes' and during the evening the names that came out were as follows : Cyril James Tyson Price Sugar Baly.

Later in the early hours of the morning the group switched to the Ouija Board in order to continue making contact with Cyril and he gave us some more details, such as 'Ivy Cottage' is now known as 'Rose House' he also gave his military I/D number, indeed we spent quite some time conversing with him about life in the trenches. Other names that were also picked up but unfortunately without Surnames were as follows: Elizabeth, early Victorian, Robert and William again Victorian, but without Surnames it is very hard to verify and find out who they were.

After breakfast, the following morning, the group trudged through the snow to the Church in the grounds to look at the headstones. We found the name Denston on some headstones, but it was very hard to read on others due to being very weathered. Dawn had given us the key to the Church and on the walls of the church were a number of plaques which confirmed some of the names from the night before, such as Robert Wood, Richard Middleton and several Denston's.

The Conclusion

Although the Manor has a large number of spirits most are only there in visitation. Not one grounded spirit was found during the investigation. Although at times it felt eerie and especially if you were left alone in any of the rooms no negative entities or bad spirits were found in any of the rooms. All in all the group thought it the best investigation we had conducted to date. Indeed a lot of the information given by our medium has been verified.

We would like to thank Dawn and Neil Baly for their hospitality and most of all their sense of humour throughout the evening and we look forward one day to returning.