our PUBLIC LOCATION INVESTIGATIONS
We conduct numerous investigations each year, some of which cannot be disclosed due to their private and confidential nature involving individuals, families, or businesses.
Whenever possible, we share details of our investigations at public locations we plan to visit or have previously examined. Such information is only shared with the consent of the location, and in certain cases, sensitive details may need to be withheld.
Hidden Norwich
(The Shoebox)
History
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Nestled in the shadow of the imposing Norman castle stands the Shoebox Charity building, formerly the renowned Pond’s Shoe Shop. Beneath it lie the remains of a 15th-century street and small courtyard, once open to the sky. Incorporated into the foundations above are the remnants of a two-storey structure, believed to have been a weaver’s cottage. Another trace of the street includes a small animal pen, alongside the remains of a merchant’s vaulted cellar filled with bomb rubble, partially concealed behind a wall from the original 15th-century street.
Date:
Awaiting Conformation of Date
Beacon Hill Fort
Harwich Essex
History....
The remains of the once impregnable Beacon Hill Fort, also known as the Battery, stand on the promontory of Blackman’s Point on the Harwich Peninsula, overlooking the estuary of the Stour and Orwell rivers. Defences have occupied this position since the reign of Henry VIII, when three blockhouses were erected to protect the port town. These blockhouses continued in use during Elizabeth I’s reign as a safeguard against the significant threat of the Spanish Armada, but both the structures and their site have long since been lost to erosion.
In 1803, responding to the threat from Napoleonic France, a new Harwich Barracks and an earthen battery were constructed near the original blockhouse site. By 1822, the sea had claimed this battery as well. In 1887, amid renewed fears of a French invasion, construction began on another battery, completed in 1892. This fortification featured an innovative design: an artificial mound at the centre of the promontory concealed underground magazines, shelters, and ancillary buildings, blending into the landscape to obscure lighter weapons positioned at its base. The rear was defended by a perimeter built to the Twydall Profile, comprising an earthen rampart, a glacis sloping to a shallow ditch, and a hidden steel palisade fence.
By the early 20th century, military focus had shifted from France to the rising threat of Germany. Beacon Hill entered a new phase of construction, adding structures, updated systems, and modern artillery. In 1940, modernization plans resulted in the Cornwallis Battery, a concrete casemated installation designed to shield crews from air raids, complemented by a three-storey battery observation post. In 1941, a hexagonal tower was added housing a Type 287 Radio Direction Finding (RDF) Array to monitor the observation minefields at the mouth of the harbour. Additional pillboxes & other buildings were added.
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The fort was finally decommissioned in 1956 on the dissolution of coastal artillery in the United Kingdom. Following its decommissioning the fort fell into disrepair & was abandoned for more 65 years, with nature reclaiming back the fort, obscuring the whole location with foliage. The site was fenced off & entry into the site was forbidden. Though during this time people would still enter Beacon Hill. It is evident from the graffiti on the walls of the tunnels & buildings.
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The Alleged haunting & it's phenomenon....
The fort is reputed to be haunted, with numerous reported sightings of apparitions, including spectral soldiers and, more specifically, a headless soldier. A mysterious lady in white has been seen wandering the grounds, her identity unknown. Some accounts describe a ghostly monk accompanied by a spectral dog.
Visitors have reported unsettling sensations, such as being touched or pushed by unseen forces in the tunnels. One volunteer claimed to experience a burning sensation on their back, later finding three scratches.
Strange noises often echo through the underground passageways, with footsteps, marching, whistling, and shouting frequently reported in the otherwise empty corridors.
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Date:
Saturday April 11th 2026
