FOR centuries, visitors and staff at Hampton Court Palace, west London,
have reported encounters with Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII,
one of England's famous ghosts.
Some claim to have heard her
screams as she begs for mercy
from her unforgiving husband.
Others have seen her running
through a gallery. The gallery she
is said to haunt is the centre of one
of the biggest and most scientific
investigations into ghosts.
From today, psychologists from
the University of Hertfordshire are
using sensors to monitor
temperature, light and electromagnetic fields in the palace's haunted gallery.
Visitors will be asked for any strange experiences. The investigators do not
expect to film Catherine Howard but they are hoping to find a scientific
explanation why some rooms affect people.
Catherine was beheaded for adultery with Thomas Culpepper, a courtier. She
was locked in the palace while Henry deliberated on her fate. One day,
legend has it, she escaped and ran along the 40 ft gallery to hammer on the
king's door, begging for mercy. Guards dragged her screaming to her cell.
She was sent to the Tower and beheaded on Feb 13, 1542.
The scene is informally known as the haunted gallery. At least two women
have fainted at the same spot in the corridor, complaining of cold and feeling
as if they had been kicked. Others have heard noises or seen an apparition
fleeing down the gallery.
Dr Richard Wiseman, who leads the researchers, said: "We will be asking
people to walk through the gallery and mark down where they may have felt
anything unusual. That should give us a few locations and some control areas
where nothing has been reported." His team will use thermal cameras,
electromagnetic sensors and light sensors to monitor ghostly spots. "We will
be able to see if the spots are colder than the control spots and, more
importantly, if there are any interesting electromagnetic fields."
Illinois University studies suggest that weak electromagnetic fields from power
cables may affect the brain, triggering "microseizures". Dr Wiseman said:
"These are reported as being tiny amounts of brain activity. Some people say
they have odd tastes in their mouths, or feel a drop in temperature. These
experiences are similar to those reported by people who believe that they are
having a ghostly encounter. The team wants to see if any areas where strange
encounters are reported have unusual electromagnetic fields."
Some spots in the gallery are linked to ghost sightings, but the team has not
been told where they are. More than 1,000 visitors to Hampton Court are
expected to take part in the experiment, which runs all next week.