The Royal Oak, Eccleshall

Eccleshall is a town in Staffordshire with a long history dating back to the 10th/11th Century. The town is on the main Chester to London coach route and as a result Coaching Inns in the area flourished during the 18th Century, the Royal Oak being one of them. Until recently the large stables at the rear of the property were still present.

SPG investigated this location in February 2005. In an unusual move, the team used all camcorders as lock off cameras in various areas of the building throughout the night opting to record team progress with digitial voice recorders. Several references were made to King Charles II and King James II. A Cavalier was picked up in the bar area. The loft area was said to be servant quarters originally. One of the oddest pieces of evidence we have had on investigation concerned the locked off camera footage of the loft area. Several team members on viewing back the footage could see a family of four standing in front of the camera. Each team member account was recorded separately and appear to match each other. The footage also showed a sequence where the torch used to give some lighting to the loft to aid the nightvision on the camera dimmed in brightness as if someone walked past and actually stood in the way of the beam. The footage confirms no one had entered the loft up the steps and this remains a mystery.

In the bar, the team were mystified by the glass washing machine seemingly turning itself completely off and back on, something the landlords confirm does not usually happen. Several energies were picked up in the area from different time periods up until the last century.

The Function Room also proved interesting with masonic links being picked up on. A former 18th Century landlady was picked up on who had a love of horses. What was most intriguing though were the photos taken in the room. We have no explanation as to what caused these light swirls but judging from the clarity of the pictures we can exclude movement of the camera when the photographs were taken.