Hanging out in the Hangman's Cell

by Jonathan Morris
BBC News Online South West

Many of the prisoners executed at the docks were French

Ghostly goings on have been reported at Devonport dockyards for years.

Sailors' reports of mysterious sights and sounds in the night have become a part of local folklore.

Most of the reports centred on the Master Ropemaker's House and the more convincingly named Hangman's Cell, but the Navy wanted to know more.

It called in the experts and after a night in the cell, Ian Addicoat of the Paranormal Research Organisation (PRO) lived to tell the tale.

It was early evening when the seven PRO investigators arrived at the ominously named Hangman's Cell.

It is there that the ghosts of condemned Frenchmen have been heard wailing as they await their fate on the gallows.

I'm more afraid of spiders than I am of ghosts Ian Addicoat

Few have as much experience in the quest for spooky goings-on as Ian Addicoat, a full-time ghost-hunter for the past 10 years.

But father-of-two Ian from Penzance, Cornwall is not the least 'other-worldly' and approaches his subject in a scientific manner.

"Our first job is to lay the groundwork, so that we know if something strange does happen, it is not connected with natural activity," he said.

That means checking vents and windows and any other source for sudden temperature changes.

"We always take a building surveyor because things can happen within the building itself," said Ian.

The entire process can take several hours while a vast array of equipment for sensing paranormal activity is positioned.

This consists of still and video cameras, tape recorders, laser thermometers, digital voice recorders and motion detectors, dowsing rods and meters for picking up electro-magnetic activity.

Rational viewpoint

By the witching hour everything was in its place and then it was time for a coffee and chocolate.

"You need sustenance to keep you going through the night," said Ian, in his typical matter-of-fact approach.

Armed with flasks and Mars Bars, the group got down to the business of waiting.

No one has ever proved ghosts exist, and this time was to be no different, but Ian is undeterred.

"We always look at things from a rational viewpoint," he said.

"It's very easy for a psychic to say 'yes, I saw a ghost', but we are trying to offer unarguable proof."

His quest for ghosts has led to at least two close encounters.

"I saw something out of the corner of my eye at Pengersick Castle in Cornwall and turned round and it was gone.

"But when I described it, it was the same description as a ghost that has been seen there before."

Seven ghost hunters take up watch in the cells

Unnatural forces

"I've never been scared," he said.

"I'm more afraid of spiders than I am of ghosts.

"It is usually so quick anyway you do not have time to think about it and you just concentrate on getting your equipment ready."

The early hours of the morning are spent hanging out in the Hangman's Cell, working in teams of two and monitoring the equipment.

"We have done so many investigations where nothing happens," said Ian.

"It is often quite dull, but when something does happen, it makes it all worthwhile."

The team are accompanied throughout the night by Navy personnel.

Devonport is a major submarine depot, but the Navy is also hoping to open a visitor centre and any visitations could add to the attraction.

Spooky feeling

But there is no joy for the Navy tonight, apart from a few "orbs" - round shapes that are rarely seen with the human eye, but often appear on camera.

They are regarded by the experts as signs of other-worldly energy, unnatural forces that whirl around and then are gone.

It's the way of the netherworld, Ian says, who has been disappointed many times before.

"We analysed all the stuff," he said. "It was very interesting, but no proof of anything supernatural."

It is 0600 BST and time to pack up and for the team to chat over breakfast about the night.

Ian is pragmatic about the results.

"I am not particularly looking for an answer," he said.

"As a researcher I have no definite need to prove it either way.

"And of course, if it was proved, I would have to find something else to do."