Luton Paranormal Society Visit - 21st Nov 2009

The Luton Paranormal Society visited The Rose and Crown to investigate our ghosts. We are very grateful to the LPS for all their work and they have kindly agreed to let us display their report on our website. The summary report details are given here with links to the full reports in PDF format afterwards.

Background

In August 2009 LPS was contacted by the Rose and Crown's Webmaster with a view to exchanging links. We were also provided with information about the paranormal events at the Rose and Crown which we added to our extensive articles about the hauntings in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. LPS enquired if it was possible to do an investigation at the pub and we were invited along to meet with Gill Stanbridge from the Rose and Crown. This meeting led to a full, overnight, investigation which is detailed in this report.

There are purported to be several ghosts at the Rose and Crown. One, called the 'grey lady', is said to be responsible for kitchen switches turning on and off during the night. Another could be the ghost of a young girl who lived in the pub locked in her room because she was crippled. In recent years a pair of girl's shoes was found during some renovation work. What made this particularly unusual is that the shoes were very old and the sole of one was built up.

The Investigation

Three members of SPI:RIT (the LPS Specialist Paranormal Investigators: Research & Investigations Team) arrived at the inn around 20:30 for a much enjoyed meal before the investigation and straight away team members began to pick up on things including a presence in the Cosy Bar (other than the living customers). At 23:00 the other team members started to arrive. As is normal with all LPS investigations the team had not been told about the previous history of the site (either physical or paranormal) so as not to influence the team's perceptions of the site.

As soon as the customers had left we were given a tour of the building then we were left on our own to undertake the investigation (we had the full run of the building). We established ourselves in the Garden Room which we were to use as a control room then we set up our equipment including infrared cameras, sound recorders etc. Once this was done we did a séance in the upstairs corridor which was an area where several members had experienced presences or strange feelings. After this we undertook a number of vigils from the top of the building down into the cellar. The results of this investigation are given in the pages that follow, along with a detailed history of the site including some of the names of people who have lived there during the last four hundred and eighty six years and the uses which have been made of the inn and its outbuildings and the two adjoining properties.

Results

From the very start of the investigation several team members were drawn to the area around the south end of the corridor which runs across the upstairs area of the building. In this area members sensed both a male and a female presence with the feeling of someone being locked away. This ties in with one of the alleged hauntings of the site which is of a young girl who was locked in her room because she was crippled. The question is why was the girl crippled as one team member sensed a young girl who had been pushed down the stairs of the cellar? Most team members agreed that the area around the doorway into a storage area at the south end of the corridor was the most active. In that narrow storage area there is a door which, apparently, went through to number 17 next door. Viewed from the outside there is a window in the upstairs wall that has been bricked up and which lies between the pub (number 19) and number 17 next door implying that at one time the two properties were one.

Three team members had similar experiences all involving their necks and all independently of each other. One felt their throat tightening, another felt an ache in their throat and the third felt as if they were suffocating.

Numerous names were picked up during the night but so far only two have been found during our researches. One was Walter and the other Joseph. Unfortunately no surnames were forthcoming so any correlation with previous occupants of the building may be purely coincidental. Walter could be Walter Greery who had a warehouse and brewery at the back of the pub. Joseph could be either Joseph Roberts who lived at number 17 next door or Joseph Jennings who was a baker at number 21 on the other side of the pub in the early 1800s. Unfortunately neither name is directly connected with the Rose and Crown. It is possible that the other names are meaningful but more time would have to be spent looking into who occupied the Rose and Crown (for instance looking at the electoral registers which go back to the early 1800s). Unfortunately we have not had the time to complete such an investigation.

Another area where activity was seen was in the area of the two bars. This is not unusual as these are areas of public houses, inns or hotels that have seen the greatest number of people and all their associated emotions. In the bar areas numerous moving shadows or presences were seen not all of which could be accounted for by the lights on the equipment behind the bars.

One area which caused one of our members the most problems was the Cold Room in the cellar. That particular team member only managed to stay in there a short while due to a feeling of uneasiness and that of a threatening and hostile presence. Another team member heard numerous strange tapping/knocking noises in the ceiling and wall of the Cold Room that he could not explain.

Conclusion

All told it was a very interesting investigation which revealed that there is a lot of activity mainly in the upstairs living area around the south end of the corridor. Other presences were felt in the bar areas and these are most likely due to former clients of the inn who still seem to be around a long time after they have died. Even if the former clients are not there they still seem to have left 'recordings', mere shadows of their former existence.

LPS wish to thank all those at the Rose and Crown who made us feel very welcome and made this an enjoyable investigation (we can recommend the food).