Wellington Hotel (Boscastle)
The Wellington, a grand and luxurious hotel located in the village of Boscastle on the North Cornish coast. Steeped in history this listed 16th Century coaching inn has seen its fair share of guests and staff over its many years. One or two have decided to revisit on a more permanent basis.
Contry to popular belief (as portrayed by TVs Most Haunted program) this is not a dark and evil building laced in murder and suicide but rather it's a peaceful almost serene building. An unusual and surprising occurence for many paranormal investigators.
On arrival we were met by Tamsyn (the hotel receptionist for 12 years and our insider view on life at the 'Welly'). Having lived in the hotel and a few occasions been the only person in the building of a night, she was well versed in the paranormal occurances and was keen to share her experiences.
The hotel itself is split into two very evident sections, there is the older 16th Century part (at the rear of the hotel), and this used to be called the Joiners Arms. Then you have the newer section at the front of the hotel dating back only 300 years, with the infamous Turrit Tower. This was added in 1852 when the hotel gained its third re-naming from the now Bos-Castle Hotel to The Wellington in memory of the late Duke of Wellington.
This time warp of building expertise is wholely evident within the structure of the hotel, the older part has narrower corridors with lower ceilings whereas tha newer part is alot grander and splendid with straight corridors, higher ceilings and larger rooms. The hotel is almost split level in height.
We decided to focus on the elusive rooms 9 and 10 in the 16th Century part and rooms 14 and 16 in the tower of the 19th century part. Our temperature and EMF readings picked up little next to nothing due to the physical nature of the building. However our clairvoyant and our clairaudient/sentient picked up exactly what we were hoping for.
Room 14
For the whole of the evening we were suprised how still and calm the atmosphere was throughout the hotel at times almost abit eerie. You'd expect an old building to be making settling noises and experiencing drafts but there was nothing. As we walked through the corridors there were 'spots' of massive overwelming energy, there one minute gone the next. Our clairvoyant said it was almost like the energy was moving throughout the hotel. In particular the corridor by rooms 9 and 10 held a particular reverence with him. The elusive room 9 where the spirit of a festidious housekeeper is said to roam was unusually quiet. It was later confirmed by our clairvoyant who said she was (as in her physical life) going about her duties elsewhere in the hotel. Tamsyn said this housekeeper had a habit of almost testing the current staff to check they are doing their jobs by moving items around the hotel hence the reports of poltergiest activity.
Room 10 was probably one of the most interesting places of the night. This room has been physically altered over the years. Here our clairvoyant picked up a large volume of people hurrying straight through the room as if the bed wasn't there and then disappearing through the wall. He said he could also see a gathering of uniformed men holding a meeting. Our clairaudient subsequently backed this up by hearing a man shouting marching orders. Our clairaudient/sentient also noticed that the mirror on the wardrobe door (which faces the wall where the people were heading to) was simmering almost breathing as you looked into its reflection.
Room 10
Throughout the evening our clairvoyant said he was been followed around by the spirit of a young boy with a cloth cap on. Our clairvoyant and our clairaudient gave the name Jac. When we asked Tamsyn about this, she confirmed his identity as a previous owner of The Welly, a Jack Scott. She revealed a photo to us of a 14 year old boy in a cloth cap stood outside the hotel, the day he started work. He remained at the hotel for many decades finally taking ownership and he apparently still watches over the hotel to this day.
After an enlightening evening (and not quite what we expected) we came to the conclusion and it was happily confirmed by the staff that the Welly is not a dark/menacing building holding tormented souls but in actual fact a serene place where people have shared happier times. Not to say negative events have never happened at the Welly because they do in every location, history and human life is never a bed of roses. The negative aspects of the hotels long history don't seem to be as prominent as the positive. This is reflected in the energy imparted into the pure fabric of the building. The building itself, not so much the spirits make the Welly what it is today.
Thanks to Suzanne (manager), Tamsyn, and Paul Roberts (owner) for allowing us to look around this wonderful refreshing hotel and for imparting their knowledge. For more information on staying at The Wellington Hotel take a look at their website www.boscastle-wellington.com or e-mail info@boscastle-wellington.com