The Royal Hippodrome is a grade II listed building which opened its doors on 2nd August 1883 as the Theatre Royal and Opera House.  This was a time when Eastbourne was a highly fashionable destination for people to visit.

   The theatre changed its name to the Hippodrome in 1904.  The Foyer was remodelled in the 1930, but the auditorium remained untouched. It was closed during World War II as the street to the east of the building, known as Hellfire Corner was a bombing route for the Luftwaffe.  One night during the war the Lion Public House and motor garage only yards away from the theatre were both obliterated.  Luckily the only damage to the theatre was the ornate plaster inside, which was damaged beyond repair and had to be removed at a later date.

   Halloween - 31st October 2009

   Weather -   Dry and mild

Investigators - Jackie, Bill, Paul, Donna, Jon, Steve, Kevin, Michelle, Kate, Claire and Karl.

    We arrived at the theatre around 7.30pm to be met by a member of the theatre staff who kindly took us on a quick tour of the entire theatre and for us to observe any hazards like steep steps, low ceilings etc.

  We then set up our equipment

   1.  Three trigger objects. 

   The first was placed in the Centre Circle on the ground floor, between the 1st and 2nd rows.  The second was in the rehearsal room and the third in a derelict Room, together with a camcorder to hopefully film any activity which may have occurred.  This room was then locked off so there was no disturbance.

   2. Motion beams where then placed on the front of the stage.

   3. A video recorder was set up in the stalls pointed at an area with reported paranormal activity.

   4. A laptop was set up to record trigger movement in the hallway.

   5. Temperature readings were taken and seemed to be consistent throughout the night, allowing for a slight drop as the evening went on.

   6. EMF readings were taken:      

Café = 1, centre circle = 3, grand circle = 1, lighting box = 2, derelict room = 4, rehearsal room = 1, stalls = 1, stage left ground floor box = 4, stage = 1, wardrobe room = 1, dressing room = 1, rigging platform = 1, rigging green room = 1, cellar = 2.

   

   Investigation:

   We walked around trying to get feel of the atmosphere and tune into the energy of the theatre.

   While standing at the front of the stage Paul and Jackie were aware of an ‘energy’ close by them.  Steve who was facing the curtain said he felt as if someone had breathed on his neck.  At the same time Donna who was standing next to Steve but facing away from the curtain also felt a breath.

   We looked around to see if there was any explanation, and noticed a door was open in box next to the stage but as the breath had come from the opposite side of the theatre it was dismissed.

   After the walk around Jackie noticed that a couple of the recordings she had kept on one of her voice recorders had been unexplainably deleted, which upset her as they were a couple of her best E.V.P.’s from other locations.  The recorder showed it to be completely clear.  However, the E.V.P.’s unexplainably re-appeared back on her recorder while she was sitting in the stalls after we had split into groups.  Jackie showed the recorder to Kate and Clare after it showed as being cleared, who can confirm this.

    Around 10pm we split into three smaller groups so that a large area could be covered in a shorter time.  

   The groups were:

                   1. Jackie, Donna, Paul & Jon.

                   2. Steve, Kevin & Michelle.

                   3. Bill, Kate, Claire & Karl.

Group 1

   The group started the investigation in the stalls area.  This group sat in seats at various positions.  Jon reported feeling cold while both Jackie and Donna felt burning on the left side of their faces.

   The group went and stood near the front of the stage and asked if there was any spirit present, to which the motion beam where trigged.  They had full view of this area and know body was within the beamed area. Paul recorded a temperature of 15.6°c.  Paul thought the beam may have been triggered y the flash on his camera, but was unable to set it off again after taking photos directed at the beam.

   The group then moved to the 2nd floor and went into the stage right box. As they entered the box Jackie saw a Victorian lady in light coloured clothes with a white parasol exit the box.  Both Jon and Jackie both heard heavy breathing in between Jon and Paul.  Jackie then ‘saw’ a small skinny man with a bushy moustache standing in between Paul and Jon.  Jon also reported kept feeling cold breezes on his left leg.  Paul closed his eyes and said he was getting visions of a rope being placed around his waist, then being pulled backwards over the edge of the box. The group felt and heard a loud bang on the floor by their feet but when they asked if it was spirit, could they repeat it again nothing was heard.  They then went to the rehearsal room to try using the Planchete but didn’t get any activity.

 

Group 2

   As they entered the rope room Michelle reported her legs feeling very heavy and feeling as if they were being squeezed.

   In the rehearsal room, Steve picked up the names Toby and Ingrid.

   When they went and sat in the top stalls, in front of the control room.  Kevin and Steve felt as if they were being watched.  The beam breaker was set off on the stage while they were here.

   Steve picked up the name of either Phillips or Phelps.

Group 3

   This group started their investigation on the 1st floor balcony.  Kate had a falling sensation and her legs felt weak and reported feeling sick. She also kept sensing that someone standing in the 1st box but it was empty.  The group then moved to the side of the stage where Kate felt her legs trembling and was sensing that something was above the group, but nothing could be seen.

   The group then moved to the lighting room, where they all saw one of the ropes hanging from the ceiling start moving.  The group then proceeded to the Derelict Room where Kate and Claire reported both smelling smoke.  The group ended their investigation in the Rigging Green Room.  Here Kate reported having goose bumps as soon as they entered the room.  She also felt the presence of a child.

       We all returned to the café, which we had made our base area for a coffee and to, discuss our findings.  On the way back to the café Jackie ‘saw’ a small child of about 9, with long auburn hair in plaits, wearing a pretty dress and long white socks who she felt was looking for her mother.

   After the brake some of the group made their way to the rehearsal room, where some of the group conducted a Planchette session. No one in the group could sense any spirit and there wasn’t any movement from the Planchette so they decided to proceed to the stage to try using the Planchette there.

   The group sat in a circle in the middle of the stage and proceeded with the Planchette.  As soon as we asked if there was anyone who wished to make contact the Planchette began to move drawing lines over the paper.  Questions were asked but the Planchette just continued to draw uncontrollable lines.  Kate then sensed the spirit of a small child trying to make contact but who was unable to write, due to being so young.  Jackie then wrote the alphabet and numbers, together with the words yes and no on the paper at the outer side to see if it would help.

   We then asked the following questions and using the Planchette received the answers:

1.    How old are you - 8

2.    Are you a little girl - YES

       Kevin picked up the name Sally and Auburn hair, so we asked if her name was Sally but the Planchette didn’t move.  Jackie had picked up the name Sarah-Jane so we asked if that was her name and reply was yes.

3.    Are you happy? - YES

4.    Do you like playing on the stage? - YES

5.    Did you use to sing on the stage? - YES

6.    Does your mum watch you on the stage? - D6 (The group guessed   

       that this maybe the seat that her mum use to sit in)

7.    What colour hair do you have? – No answer

8.    Do you have Blonde hair? - No

9.    Do you have Brown Hair? - YES

10.   Is your hair long and curly? - YES

11.   Is your mum with you?  YES

12.   Does your mum sit in the box on the left of the stage? -  YES

13.   What is your mum’s name? – I

        We said several names but it said no, until we asked.  Is your mums  

        name IVY? – Yes

A few of the group left the stage area to investigate other areas of the theatre.

14.   Was your mum an actress? - YES

15.   What is your last name? - P (This was the only letter that the

        Planchette moved to. We couldn’t get any other letters)

16.   Have you been giving Kate the giggles all night? - YES

17.   Is the seat D6 upstairs? - NO

18.   Is the seat D6 in the stalls? - YES

19.   Have you been watching us tonight? - YES

20.   Have you been playing in the Rigging Green Room? - NO

21.   Have you been playing in the music pit? - NO

22.   Do you know what year it is? - The Planchette moved to the  

        following numbers 1-9-3-6

23.   1936 is that correct? -YES

24.   Do you like us? - YES

25.   Do you dancing on the stage? - YES

26.  Are you tied? - YES

27.  Do you want us to come back later? - YES

28.  Would you like that? - YES.

Jackie, Paul, Claire and Jon left the Planchette session on the stage and went up to the 2^nd floor.  Paul wondered around taking photos leaving Jackie, Claire and Jon to sit in the chairs where they all felt as if they were being watched from the control room.  They called to Paul to see if he was there but he wasn’t.  Jackie then ‘saw’ two men fighting near the front of the balcony.  One man appeared to be pushed over the top during the fight but she felt it was an accident.  Clare 'saw' a  man with long sideburns, wearing a suite.  Jon also felt two men fighting in same area.  Clare felt that the fight was about a lady and got the name Elizabeth.  They then went into the small room on the right of the stage.  Cold drafts were felt by them all but they were unable to find a reason.  They all said they’d sensed it to be a sad place for some unknown reason.

   The groups concluded the sessions on the stage and in the theatre and returned to the cafe for another break, where Michelle reported feeing very tired and drained of energy.

   After the brake Jackie, Donna, Kate, Claire, Paul, Jon and Steve made their way to the Rehearsal room to carry out a table tipping experiment.  A metal bowl filled with marbles was placed in the centre of the table to detect any movement of the table.  Jackie, Kate and Donna all felt breezes around them at different times and the table did rock slightly but the stopped so they proceeded to the derelict room.  The lights were turned off and they stood in silence to try and ‘feel’ any activity.

   Kate sensed smoke as she had before and began coughing so had to leave the room, no-one else in the group sensed anything.  They then went to the Dressing room and the rigging area but couldn’t find any paranormal activity.             

   Steve, Kevin and Michelle went back to the rope room where Michelle felt her chest become very tight and her breathing irregular so had to sit down.

      Conclusion - A very enjoyable night.  The theatre has a lot of atmosphere.  Quite a few of the group managed to pick up on ‘spirit energy?’ In different areas of the theatre and the Planchette was very interesting.  Unfortunately we didn’t manage to capture any paranormal activity on video, cam-corder, photos or voice recorder and the only activity recorded by trigger record on the lap top turned out to be a member of the group.