Owlpen Manor, Most Haunted (S4, E1) REVIEW

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The Most Haunted crew investigates haunted Owlpen Manor in Gloucestershire, encountering ghosts and a dramatic possession in a charged paranormal atmosphere, writes JOANNA HAGUE

Episode Title: Owlpen Manor
Location: Owlpen, Gloucestershire
Series: 4 Episode Number: 1
Originally broadcast: 23 March 2004

Owlpen Manor, Most Haunted Review

Yvette opens the episode, straight in with the fact that a monk was walled up in Owlpen Manor, left to starve to death. Margaret of Anjou, the wife of Henry VI, stayed at the manor while she was fighting in a battle where her son lost his life. A picture of a woman was taken in an upstairs window, but no one can say for certain if it is a ghost or not. There is a large, hooded man seen in one of the bedrooms and an alchemist/wizard who is believed to haunt the attic. 

Yvette and Phil talk about the active places in Owlpen Manor, including the stairs, queen’s chambers and the attic. Phil has done the baseline test as always through the day and left equipment for experiments in some of the other rooms. He also discusses the photograph, and he believes that it might be a fake. 

Derek Acorah is the medium on this episode, during he walk around, he picks up on a woman, he says that she is very active in the manor, but she is displaying sadness. He describes her as regal and that she absolutely loved the home. Moving further round the building Derek picks up on the energy of a man who he claims lived in the manor during the 1700s. Derek says that he only owned the manor for a short time, but his energy comes off at evil. 

In the queen’s bedroom, Derek speaks with his guide Sam who picks up on the lady from earlier, while he was getting information there is a loud bang that comes from downstair, Phil goes down to investigate. Derek continues, the lady he picks up on is not alone, she has a child with her, but Derek says the child is no more than 8 years old. He also gets the name from Sam claiming it is Margaret of Anjou, information comes up on the screen confirming this. 

Moving on to the passageway, Yvette says that it makes her feel uncomfortable and she does not like this part of the building. Derek picks up on the energy of the man, naming him Daniel, but as always without a surname he cannot be traced. He also says that children run in the corridor, these can be heard, and spirit lights can be seen. 

Now was the time to split off into smaller groups to investigate, the rooms that were not investigated all had cameras set up and monitors in the base room. An addition to crew for this investigation is psychic Ian Lawman, he goes up to the attic with Yvette, Karl and Stuart. While talking to the spirits Karl hears a cry and both Yvette and Stuart confirm that they have heard it too. Ian keeps calling out and there are noises coming from a doorway to another part of the attic. Yvette calls out and there is a loud bang which makes them all jump. 

As they move to the other side of the attic, something hits Karl on his back, it is a book that seems to have appeared out of nowhere. The owner’s dog is with the group, and it seems to sense something as it is whining and seems on edge. There are several creaks and bangs, along with a whistling sound that can be heard from the room they just came from. Ian keeps trying to entice the spirit forward and the dog begins to bark as there is a loud bang. Just as these events are happening, Yvette catches a light anomaly that goes across the camera screen. 

The crew decide to get Derek up to the attic too in hopes that they will increase the activity. They were not disappointed. Derek begins saying that there are two males up in the attic who clash when their energies meet. As Derek is talking books begin falling of the shelves. One of the books that falls, has some very dark drawn pictures inside, the owners of the property do not know where they came from. 

The team begin a séance in the attic, as they are all quiet Derek begins wheezing and starts to shake. He looks visibly distressed as he gets up and begins to talk, but no in his usual voice. Ian tries to reassure everyone that it is ok, but it seems that Derek has been taken over by the male spirit. Yvette askes the spirit who they are and Derek state that they should leave him.

Filled with adrenaline, Yvette confronts the spirit in Derek, and they begin shouting at each other and end up inches from each other’s faces screaming. When it gets too much Karl and Ian bring Derek back around and he says he was possessed by the evil spirit Daniel. After the event Yvette admits that she was scared to death by what happened. 

When the crew begin the recap, they admit that all the activity seemed to be centred around the attic and there was nothing much else happening in any of the other rooms. 

Read more about Most Haunted episodes in our Most Haunted Episode Guide!

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