Location: Guy’s Cliffe House

Address: Guy’s Cliffe House

 Coventry Rd

 Warwick

 Warwickshire

 CV34 5YD

Aprox. year Built: 452AD

Guy's Cliffe (variously spelled with and without an apostrophe and a final "e") is a hamlet on the River Avon on the Coventry Road between Warwick and Leek Wootton in Warwickshire, England, near Old Milverton in the civil parish of Leek Wootton and Guy's Cliffe. Formerly the smallest Parish in England, it was merged with Leek Wootton to become Leek Wootton and Guy's Cliffe Parish Council. The name Guy's Cliffe originates from the name of the country house and estate that the land belonged to, which in turn was named after the cliff which the house itself was built on. The house has been in a ruined state since the late 20th century. Guy's Cliffe has been occupied since Saxon times and derives its name from the legendary Guy of Warwick. Guy is supposed to have retired to a hermitage on this site, this legend led to the founding of a chantry. The chantry was established in 1423 as the Chapel of St Mary Magdalene and the rock-carved stables and storehouses still remain. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII the site passed into private hands. The current, ruined house dates from 1751 and was started by Samuel Greatheed, a West India merchant and Member of Parliament for Coventry 1747-1761. The estate also comprised a mill, stables, kitchen garden and land as far as Blacklow Hill. Blacklow Hill is north-west of the house. It is the site of an ancient settlement and the location of Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall's murder. In 1308 Edward II travelled to Boulogne to marry Isabella, leaving Piers Gaveston, a Gascon knight to act as regent. Resentment against Edward's rule and Gaveston's position of power grew, some barons began to insist Gaveston be banished. Edward could do little to prevent Gaveston being captured in 1312 under the orders of the Earl of Lancaster and his allies. He was captured first by the Earl of Warwick, whom he was seen to have offended, and handed over to two Welshmen. They took him to Blacklow Hill and murdered him; one ran him through the heart with his sword and the other beheaded him. In 1821 Bertie Greatheed erected a stone cross to mark the execution of Piers Gaveston, "Gaveston's Cross" and later commented in his diary that he could read the inscription on the cross with his telescope from the house.

1900 Onwards

The house was used as a hospital during World War I and in the World War II became a school for evacuated children. Guy's Cliffe estate was broken up and sold in 1947. In 1952 the mill became a pub and restaurant and was named The Saxon Mill, the stables became a riding school, the kitchen garden became a nursery, all of which still exist today. A toll house also stood by the road to the north of the Saxon Mill, but this was demolished in the mid 20th century. The new owner of the house intended to convert it into a hotel, but these plans came to nothing and the house fell into disrepair. In 1955 the house was purchased by Aldwyn Porter and the chapel leased to the Freemasons, establishing a connection with the Masons that remains today. The roof had fallen in by 1966. In 1992 during the filming of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (The Last Vampire) a fire scene got out of control and seriously damaged the building, leading to an insurance claim. English Heritage has given the building grade II listed status. Two new houses were built within the grounds, Heron House and Guy's Cliffe House (note: the ruined house and by the 1980s, when the parishes merged, the population of the Parish of Guy's Cliffe was no more than 4 people. The new boundary split the original estate: the stables and nursery are not within the current Parish of Leek Wootton & Guy's Cliffe, but the house, mill and modern homes are.

Timeline of ownership

452AD - St.Dubricius founded an Oratory dedicated to St.Mary Magdalene. Later he became the 1st Bishop of              Warwick.

929AD - 'Sir Guy of Warwick' area became Hermitage.

970AD - 'Sir Guy of Warwick' reputedly dies in 'Guy's Cave'

1158 - Roger Earl of Warwick gave Hermitage to St.Sepulchre's priory Warwick. Chapel of St.Mary Magdalene              served by Secular Priests from Warwick Castle

1312 - Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall and favourite of King Edward, executed in 1312 at Blacklow Hill in              sight of Guy's Cliffe

1327 - Thomas de Lewis, a hermit at Guy's Cliffe, possessed the 'King's Letters' offering him protections.

1359-1401 - Guy's Cliffe is confiscated from Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, given to Earl of Kent, later                    Duke of Surrey and eventually restored to Thomas Beauchamp.

1409 - John Burry is recorded as being a hermit at Guy's Cliffe.

1420 - Guy's Cliffe visited by King Henry V who wished to found a Chantry there for two priests.

1422 - Richard Beauchamp obtained licence for two priests, these were, Will Berkswell, later Dean of           Collegiate Church, Warwick and John Bevington.

1432 - Chapel of St.Mary Magdalene & Cottage for Priests built in stone on the site of the Oratory and           Hermitage. John Rous also becomes a Chantry Priest at St.Mary Magdalene.

1534 - Survey by King Henry VIII. Chantry valued at 17=2=3d. The priests at the time were, Nicholas Lunnder           and Thomas Moor.

1536 - Dissolution of the Monasteries - Chantry at Guy's Cliffe, St.Mary Magdalene, overlooked.

1546 - Further survey by King Henry VIII. Chantry valued at 19=10=6d. The priests were Thomas Moor and           Roger Higham.

1547 - Obtained by Sir Andrew Flammock who removed the Priests Cottage and build a substantial Tudor            house, granted by Royal Licence.

1560 - Siezed by William Flammock and later passed to Katherine Flammock.

1581 - Ownership granted to John Colbourne by Queen Elizabeth I after his marriage to Katherine Flammock.

1583 - Sold to William Hudson, Baliff of Warwick. Later passed to Ursula Hudson, daughter of William.

1584 - Ursula Hudson married Thomas Beaufoy of Emscote, taking up residence at Guy's Cliffe.

1619 - Inherited by Henry Beaufoy, son of Sir Thomas Beaufoy.

1672 - Leased to Mr Geruise.

1674 - Leased to Mr Somerville.

1700 - Inherited by Dame Charlotte Beaufoy of Emscote.

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Walk Around - The start of the evening was the site orientation with Adrian who is the site historian. This took us to the upper and lower chapels, The stables, the beer cellar (located through the underpass), the kitchen and servant quarters and some smaller rooms that we are not sure what they were called. This site has a mix of ruins and well maintained areas. With the history of the location it is hard to say what spirits are at the location and which ones we met on our investigation.

 On our walk round we spent a small amount of time in the caves doing a watch and wait investigation. We only spent 10-15 minutes calling out to the spirits to see if we could get any sort of interaction with them. This was a very quite area with the only thing seen being a light at the rear of the cave. This was seen by at least three different people. It was a constant light and looked similar to a torch light although no one had a torch on or admitted to having a torch on.

Vigil One - The first vigil of the night was held in the stable and included everyone at the investigation. We formed a circle and had abut 6 K2 meters spread around the floor inside the circle. Right from the start we had K2 activity with 4 of the K2 going off to the red lights. While calling out and trying to get the spirits to only set off the K2’s when asked we did not seem to get the responses that we hoped. While they did keep going off it was very random. I could not say that this was paranormal as there is also a possibility that some one had there phone turned on and this was setting the K2’s off. In the same vigil I had a shadow move between me and the person stood to my right. I was the only one that saw it and again would not say that it was defiantly paranormal. There was also cold spots and drafts that we could not explain that was felt by more than two people in the group.

Vigil Two - For the next vigil we split into smaller groups and we went into the lower chapel. We there broke into two small groups for four and started with the Oujia board. We had a slow start with the glass moving very slowly and shakily. We did however seem to connect with a young boy ages 5, his name was Freddie but he did not seem to know his surname. While he could not give us a year that he was born or any dates that would mean anything he did say that he did not like being there and he was treated badly. It also came out that he could have been killed there by the people that were meant to be looking after him. We asked if he had had a gas mask as the house was used as an orphanage in the second world war, but the only reply we could get was “LUP 3”.

“We have done some research on “LUP3” as it was first thought this could be a model or make of gas mask as this was the question how ever we are not able to find any reference to it. We have also tried to find out more information about the time around the second world war but there seems to be no reference to “LUP” any where. Another thought is it could be the name or reference that the school gave to the child. We was thinking of a house name so that it could stand for “Leamington (House name within the school) Unidentified Person”. This is just theoretical .

Vigil Two - Kitchen Area. In this vigil we started with watch and wait. While most of the group stopped in the main room I was stood in the corridor. The group were asking for some one to walk down the corridor that I was stood in and for them to enter the room. I had the feeling of some one stood at the far end of the corridor just watching me. I held out my hand and said hello and asked them to shake my hand. What happened next could have just been in my head but I was sure that I could feel someone hold my hand and shake it. This was quite a surreal moment as I felt as if I was shaking someone's hand. While I could not see anything it was quite a lovely moment.  

Next we moved to table tipping, we also had a red light on the table in a rubber ring. While calling out we got some small movement on the table but this I can not say was down to the paranormal. This was more lightly to be the people round the table as every time you moved the table seemed to move as well. We also had some taps on the table which we had asked for. While I think some of the group did not hear the taps o the table at least three of us did which made them more authentic. There was also no way that anyone around the table could make the same tapping noises.

We did have the small of smoke and fire at one point that was smelt by Paula and Natalie and Natalie also said she had seen a cloud of mist or smoke between her and Paula. This was not seen by any one else but we may have it on video. See the video below, while you cant see a mist as such the video has gone out of focus as if there is something stood in between the recorder and the people in the room. We will leave it to you to decide.

Vigil Three - This was free time and in this time we set up the CCTV cameras in the chapel upper and lower rooms. We also conducted a quick vigil in the lower chapel. For this vigil myself and Paula sat in two of the large chairs and asked for the spirits to give us a sign that they were there.

We chose these chairs as on the orientation walk I had picked up high EMF readings around both the chairs. I had looked and was not able to find and electrical cables that could be effecting the readings. The reading also seemed to be higher around the bible sat on one of the tables. In this vigil I had nothing happen and no feelings. However Paula felt that something was playing with her hair and a tight pressure on her chest. Could this be the spirit of Freddie trying to get some motherly love? This is the same room where he came through on the Ouija board in the earlier vigil.

Vigil Four - The next vigil was in the board room above the chapel area, the room has two tables in it, one long heavy table and the other a smaller table at the far end. We sat around the table and conducted a séance. We again had K2s’s on the table as well a voice recorder. We asked for the spirits to communicate with us but the spirits were quite. We did hear some foot steps coming from outside the room on the stairs that lead up to the room. In the vigil this was the only thing that happened. I also stood on the stairs where we had heard the foot steps but they did not happen again.

Vigil Five - Next we moved to the stable area where we did some more table tipping. Again as before this was slow to get going and we only managed to get the table tipping onto two legs. This could be that the spirits were weak as the energy in the room was not great.  

Vigil Six - In the final vigil we all met up in the stable. This time we did a watch and wait in a circle. The activity was cold spots felt by a few people and near the end of the vigil we had a big bang that came from outside the stable. On investigation we were not able to identify the course of the bang. There were some people from the house outside at the time we heard to bang which they also heard but were not able to locate the course either.

The night ended on a high with a great night at Guy’s Cliffe House. Our only disappointment was that we would have like 2-3 more hours at the location.