17/09/2022
Hi all
As part of my main job I have to survey and measure existing properties, from houses to shops to industrial units. I survey new properties but also many old buildings, like Sawston Hall, which will be another story.
About 24 years ago I had to survey an old house in Suffolk, which part of, remained from the 14th/15th century but most of the building was more recent. The property had large ground floor rooms, living room, drawing room, kitchen, dining room ,etc with corridors separated by self closing doors, which would go thud, thud as the door you came through, lightly hit the other and came to a close. The upstairs was mostly bedrooms, en suites and separate batgrooms, all off a long corridor.
The stairs to the first floor was at the rear of the house, so you had to pass through a large hall from the front entrance, through a pair of doors into a corridor, then finally through another pair of doors into the main staircase area, which also gave access to a downstairs toilet, the kitchen and access to the outside, which was boarded up from the outside.
I always start a survey upstairs and work my way down, so I finish at the door out, knowing I have done all areas. So I measured the first floor, taking about a hour and a half. After measuring the stairs area, i entered the kitchen, which was a large space, about 6 metres by 6 metres. As soon as I stood in the space, I could feel the negativity in the room. I could not sense a single spirit in the room, but I could feel the dread and darkness contained within the room. Though the room was well lit from the big windows, it felt darker than the rest of the house.
This put me at such unease that I very quickly measured the kitchen. I could not not survey it, but I have never wanted to get out of a room so quick. As I left the room, I could feel the release of the dark pressure off me, as I entered the stair space. I was so relieved to be out of that room. I pushed on getting the survey done, as now I just wanted out of the building.
An hour later I finished the survey, back at the main entrance. However I really needed to use the toilet, so decided as long as I was quick and I did not enter the kitchen I would be okay. So I walked quickly through the house back to the stairs area, refusing to look at the door which led into the kitchen. I put my bag down, containing my measuring equipment and drawings by the toilet door and did what I needed to in the toilet.
Once finished I got my bag and walked back to the entrance door and went out. I got to my car on the drive and as always, before leaving a site, I checked my bag to make sure all my equipment was still in there. The measuring tape was missing. As the last olace i measured was the entrance door, I knew the tape only had to be inside, so I could retrieve it quickly.
I let my self back into the house and looked all around the entrance hall, on the floor, on the window sills and on the mantelpiece. There was no sign of it, so I rechecked my bag. It still was not in there. My heart filled with dread, I knew where it was going to be, what ever was in the kitchen, knew I had sensed it.
I made my way back to the staircase area , hoping to find the tape on the way, or by the toilet door, cause it had fallen out of the bag when I put it down. I went to the kitchen door, took a moment to settle my self and then entered. As I stood by the door, there was the tape measure, on the worktop on the other side of the kitchen. I very quickly made my way over and got the tape, trying not to let the darkness in the room bother me, but this time I could sense something else in the room with me, watching me.
I walked out of kitchen as quickly as I could, trying not to show any attention to whatever was trying to get me to notice it. I walked out of the stair area and through the first set of double doors, they did the thud,thud as they closed. As I got to the second set of doors, the ones behind me did the thud, thud again, something had come through them. I could feel the darkness on my back, as i pushed the door open and went through , they did the thud,thud as I speed walked to the entrance, they did the thud, thud again as I pulled the entrance door open. As i walked out the door i looked back and there was no one there, but I could feel that something was standing by those double doors. I locked up, ran to my car and drove of, looking into the rear view mirror, looking back at the house. Once on the road, I concentrated on the road and stopped thinking about the house.
