NGI

The Heugh Gun Battery is a site of great significance in terms of both history and poignancy. As a surviving 19th century coastal battery, complete with WW1 and WW2 modifications, it stands as a memorial to a means of engagement now largely relegated to the pages of history books by modern warfare techniques and technology.

... Head over to Haunted UK for a review of the general history and haunted history of the Heugh Gun Battery. Alternatively, use the table of contents to view the reports for each location.

... Head over to Haunted UK for a review of the general history and haunted history of the Heugh Gun Battery. Alternatively, use the table of contents to view the reports for each location.

The Workshop

This is an area where there is a lot of modern day activity - its currently being used as both a storage are for a lot of equipment and also a small workshop involved in the renovation of the entire site.

Its a an old, dirty, rotten and decrepit building that was perhaps used as an office or a mess for the the officers and soldiers that were stationed here.

Dotted around the cluttered workshop are pieces of equipment - some obviously modern like a motor-cycle, but hidden away in certain areas you can find original equipment dating back to The Great War.

Due to the dirt and grime here and some of the holes in the roof, care has to be taken here not to mistake activity that obviously originates in this world with anything that could be of the other.

Walkaround With Chris

From within the workshop Chris immediately picked up on the aroma of wood cuttings and paint and he could hear a clanging noise. He doesn't normally pick up on smells and wasn't sure whether they were really there or not. Jay, who was with Chris, could not smell anything.

He also picked up on the presence of 3 men in this location. Two he could only identify as two young men Mark and Anthony while the 3rd man remained wary and unresponsive to any attempt by Chris to make contact.

Whilst walking around the entire site Chris had kept hearing the same word said to him but could only make out the first part of it : CAN.... . It was only when he was in the workshop did he finally hear the word fully : CANTEEN. Not sure of the relevance, he checked in with Ralph and Nikki and found that the renovation plans involved turning the workshop area into a canteen .. perhaps the spirits there aren't too keen on the idea?

Group 1 Report : Kris Danny Sue Jay

We got absolutely nothing in this location that indicated any activity other than a few strange photographs by Sue.

Sue did also pick up on 2 men that we're in the location but could not pick up any details concerning them. Chris, who was with us at the time, confirmed that two men we're present but that was all Sue could manage.

Jay picked up on the name of a man - Cedric Monkhouse (or something very similar) but again could not come forward with any more information.

As a group we attempted to locate any old items of equipment stored in the workshop from either of the WWI or WWII periods and with what we found (old shells etc) attempted some psychometry - other than Chris who managed to pick up some images of a man he believed helped fire the shell, nothing much came from it.

Group 2 Report : Dave Bruce Andrea Pam

We went to our 1st Location which was what could be described as a large brick hut, full of work equipment and tables, also it could be a work shop.
We all sat down and sat quiet. Bruce closed the door as it was quiet cold.

We sat for 10-15 minutes then started to call out. Pam called out for the man Malcolm whom she has sensed before on her walkaround. Everything was quiet for a while then Bruce called out and so did Andrea.

After a while all of us felt very cold around our legs. We thought we could hear more knocks coming from the top part of the room. Pam said there was about 12 men in his room but they stood back.

About 5 minutes later the door which Bruce had closed opened up, we expected someone walking in but no one did. We are not sure if this was the wind but at the time the door opened it wasnt windy and the door had been quite tightly shut. Bruce went out to check if anyone was about or if it could of been the wind, but found no-one.

About 2 minutes after we all heard a whistle it was not the wind as it was like a tune been whistled, again we expected a team member to walk in but no one did. We sat quiet for a few more moments then decided to have a look around the outside locations.

... Head over to Haunted UK for a review of the genral history and haunted history of the Heugh Gun Battery. Alternatively, use the table of contents to view the reports for each location.

The Battery

This location covers the entire outside area of the Gun Battery. Used not only for a parade square for the soldiers on duty to perform drill exercises, it was also used as an equipment and shell storage area.

The original guns are sadly no-more. What stands on guard today overlooking the North-Sea sits a large blue naval gun that was donated to the Gun Battery Trust after it had been salvaged from a sunken Royal Navy Ship that had gone down near to Japan.

Scattered around the ground now are other guns in various states of repair that are being renovated by the Trust and which will be used as display pieces one the Battery opens once more to the public.

Some of the outside locations are shielded from the wind that whips in from the sea while other areas are completely open to the elements. There are also a couple of abandoned rooms - really small affairs with no doors or windows - dotted around the complex as well as an area underneath the Observation Post that had until just recently been bricked up.

Walkaround With Chris

One of the first things that struck Chris when he began walking around the site we're two names that he got that we're very surprising to him - St Paul and St Nicholas. Not knowing the relevance to this, after his walkaround he spoke to Ralph and Nikki about it and when he mentioned St Paul, Nikki gasped loudly and her chin nearly hit the floor. Without wanting to go into the details too much, Ralph recounted a story to us that had happened to him at a convention once and how, since then, a lot of mediums who came near him picked up on the name St Paul.

But back to the battery. Chris was picking up a sense that two sections of the battery overlaid each other and that the floor level we were walking on was not the original (EDITOR : This had been mentioned to those on the pre-visit and Chris had picked up on it so this is confirmed.)

At the top end of the battery - at the 2nd gun housed on site that Chris was walking around, he was startled when he almost bumped into a completely black figure which quickly vanished. Chris tried searching for it but could no longer locate it.

While continuing to walk around the gun telling Jay what he was picking up on, Jay thought he could hear a separate set of footsteps. There was a slight echo of Chris' own footsteps that could be heard, but other footsteps could be heard beyond them. Chris stopped walking briefly and they both listened and then both heard footsteps running along an out-of-sight path. They shouted out and had a look around but no-one could be seen and no-one responded to their calls.

Chris picked up on what he described as a terrible affliction, similar to the flu that was not only something that affected the battery but also a wider area. He kept getting images of biscuits and ship in relation to this.

He also kept getting shown a picture of a man in uniform - it was someone on this sites brother who was in another branch of the armed services.

Chris picked up on another man a padre or a vicar who was carrying a bible. Chris kept calling him Father Clive and said that he often visited the site when he was alive. He was a small portly man with grey/white hair and who was bald on top.

Finally, Chris could pick up on a foreign influence on site - not 'the enemy' but perhaps an ally of Britain who held a position of authority on the site.

Group 1 Report : Kris Danny Sue Jay

Sadly we were unable to investigate the battery itself due to the shockingly bad weather conditions during our time. Torrential rain and gale force winds are not a paranormal investigators best friends when investigating outdoor locations!!

As you can imagine, of the time we did spend outside, we got very little.

Group 2 Report : Dave Bruce Andrea Pam

We tried our best to fight against the conditions which had calmed down somewhat, but the wind was still cold and blowy.

Pam had earlier sensed a woman who was around, she sensed the name Elizabeth and her surname began with a M. She also sensed a man Called "George" and he carried something on his shoulder. Pam told us that in this area people have experienced footsteps, knocks and even whispers. Pam also sensed 3 other men and 1 was in uniform.

Pam now sensed footsteps running around and also said that even though there was gravel/concrete on the ground there used to be grass as well which as been covered up. Pam also got the name Gregory and also Colonel Mansell.

Down a short set of stairs was a small room that the teams smokers were using and as we moved close to that room Pam saw a black figure move at the back of the room. We also thought we heard a stone being thrown in the room as well but this could of been the rain or wind but it sounded very close to us.

... Head over to Haunted UK for a review of the general history and haunted history of the Heugh Gun Battery. Alternatively, use the table of contents to view the reports for each location.

The Tunnels

The Tunnels situated under the battery are situated directly under the gun housings and were used to store and arm shells that were then passed up to the Gunners to load into and then fire from the large artillery guns that once resided at the battery.

From the entrance into the tunnels - they run both to the north and to the south and covered both gun emplacements. White washed walls vanish into the darkness and once you light small candles - stored in alcoves which would have had a glass casing in front to prevent any gun powder igniting - you get a sense of what it must have been like for the men who worked and even fought from here during the Hartlepool Bombardment.

At the south end of the tunnel, water drips from above and sometimes small pools of water form on the floor of the tunnel, while the north end of the tunnel remains dry. If you stop and stand quiet and its a rough day out at sea, you can sometimes hear the sea water rushing in and out of fissures that run under the battery - not to be confused with anything paranormal!

Walkaround With Chris

Chris picked up on the spirits of 2 men - one of the men he got the name Reggie Mckinstosh and then other he only could pick up on the surname of Hunter. He felt that these two men were friends but did not die on site yet visited frequently.

He kept getting shown barrels which he assumed contained gasoline. He also felt as though he was being choked and coughing and spluttering from fumes or a gas itself.

He picked up on the spirit of a lady who wasn't actually allowed on the site but she would visit on a regular basis to bring food packs to one of the men - maybe she also offered more. The spirit name Reggie is telling Chris that her name was Katrina.

Chris also got the sense of dogs - either owned by someone on site or the site would often be visited by dogs.

Reggie is also telling Chris of how the men used to spend their down time and at one point talks about a conspiracy yet doesn't want to talk much about that.

Leaving the tunnels - Chris hears the word : Kashmir but is not sure whether it refers to the wool or the piece of land between India and Pakistan!

Group 1 Report : Kris Danny Sue Jay

Our time in the tunnels was spent both calling out for any spirits that were present to respond and a session with both objects on a table and then with a ouija board.

The intitial round of calling out unfortunately failed to produce any noticeable results and so we switched out attention to the table and objects.

We placed a small military badge that Kris had brought along and a £1 coin standing on its edge on the table and called out for any spirits present to either move the badge or the coin.

The coin was rocking backwards and forwards as though it wanted to roll away but we eventually determined that it was due to the pulsing of the blood through our hands that was causing the table to rock slightly.

We finished off with the ouija board and attempted to make contact with any present spirits using this method.

The glass did move a short distance. Everybody confirmed this and also confirmed they were not pressing on the glass hard enough to bring about an unconscious movement to it. After a few more questions, the direction of the glass changed and moved approximately 6 inches back the way it came. Again, everybody confirmed they were not applying sufficient pressure to unconsciously move the glass.

Sadly, the glass limited itself to only these 2 movements and did not respond directly to our questions.

Group 2 Report : Dave Bruce Andrea Pam

We were joined by Nikki and we tried Ouija board.

Andrea, Nikki, Pam and Bruce joined in but Dave sat out and watched. After asking some question the glass kept going to Dave and when Nikki asked if Dave should join in the glass went to yes. So Dave joined in and we started again.

Pam asked questions and at first it spelt out that it was a woman then it stopped and started to spin about very fast with Andrea and Nikki's fingers been taken of the glass as it was going very fast and then then it went completely of the board. It also kept going to the letter F and the number 8 backwards and forwards.

We tried again and Nikki asked some questions, we got the name George and also a few taps next to us, we also heard a big bang and what sounded like footsteps but there was no one there.

After a few more tries we stopped and went back to join the other team members.