The Wolverhampton Civic and Wulfrun Halls

Where the Civic Hall now stands houses once stood. A photograph taken in 1870 shows North Street and to the left can be seen the newly built Town Hall. The house in the centre was used as a Vicarage from 1828 until the site was demolished to make way for the Civic Hall. We know that there was a mortuary in Corporation Street in 1886 but we cannot confirm how far this goes back to. We have uncovered a document sent from the Post Office Authorities to the Corporation of Wolverhampton, requesting permission to erect a telegraph pole in the mortuary yard dated 6th December 1886. There is also a document, dated August 7th 1935, relating to the demolition of properties on the site of the proposed halls. No. 9, 11, 13,15,17,19 & 21 North Street; 2,3,4,5 Mitre Fold; 3 & 5 Weights & Measures Offices and Mortuary, Corporation Street. We also discovered that the cellars at these properties were NOT to be filled in during demolition.

The Wolverhampton Civic and Wulfrun Halls Investigation.

The base line readings remained normal throughout the walk-around except in two areas: In an area we referred to as “Area 2” the EMF spiked between 2.5mg and 10mg and also “Area 8” EMF spiked to 20mg.

We split into two groups and the investigation began. Group one started in The Wolverhampton Civic and group two started in the Wulfrun Halls.

Group one began their first vigil in “Area 4” stage. On walking onto the stage several footsteps could be heard, we all stood still and could clearly hear the footsteps. During the next few minutes a series of knocks and raps were heard and no explanation could be found for the cause of these sounds. The area is very big and lots of shadows were seen which we carefully debunked one by one. Throughout this vigil all base- line readings remained normal.

Group one then went into “Area 3” balcony. We all sat down and within a few minutes something appeared to have been thrown or dropped. It sounded like something metallic being dropped from a great height and then flying across the floor below in “Area 4”. Our guides for the evening confirmed that no one else was in either area. All base line readings remained normal throughout this vigil.

Group one then moved into “Area 8” along the corridor for the dressing rooms. We moved to the lift area where we all heard knocks and strange growling noises and one person reported having their jumper pulled. As we were leaving this area our EMF started to spike, it then dissipated before returning to normal. A thorough investigation of the area confirmed that there was nothing that could account for the EMF fluctuation.

Group one then moved into the Wulfrun Halls. All the base line readings were normal. In “Area 13” stage one member asked for something to happen, shortly after this request our guide for the evening noticed that a spotlight had come on. After looking into this incident our guide confirmed that there was no power going to this spotlight - as all the breakers had been turned off, he also said he would speak to the Head Technician to confirm that this was the case. The Head Technician has since confirmed this in writing and his report will be included. The second group investigating also had the same experience with the spotlights. What makes this particularly interesting is that neither group knew about each others experiences regarding the spotlight at the time!

Below is Ken's report into the spotlight incident:

On the 25th May 2008 around 4.30 pm I personally switched off all power to the disco units and the mains distribution as I wanted to make sure that the possibility of human interference be limited. The following day I was told that one of the lights had spun round, then pointed in the down position with the words HOME on the side of the units and a light projecting from the unit. From what I can gather, talking to various people there on the night, all say that only one unit moved and positioned itself. I could not explain why only one unit powered up as there are 3 units on the one switch. This I could explain if it had been more than one unit moving. 2 units are linked through a pixel line unit, which would mean that there would in fact be 3 units powered on, 2 Mac 250s and 1 pixel line. It could be that someone had switched the power on causing the unit to start resetting itself but that would need someone to physically switch 2 sets of mains power on and the dimming rack where the units are powered up from. This could only be done by me or some technical person who would have the knowledge to turn the mains power on, the individual breakers on the mains distribution and the knowledge to use a lighting desk to command the Mac 250 to output light. Also this would a need to be done without anyone seeing or hearing you.

So my conclusion to this event is that for just a single light moving I cannot explain the sighting and that there must have been some odd things happening

Yours

Ken

Civic Halls Technical Manager

Group one also heard a toilet flush in the vicinity of “Area 13.” Upon further investigation it was found to be the men’s loo, water was still flushing down the bowl, which ruled out that it was the urinal flushing! There was no one in the area at the time so we cannot explain why this toilet would flush by itself!

Group one then moved to “Area 14” ladies loos. All base line readings were normal at the beginning of this vigil. Upon entering the first cloakroom we all heard knocks and raps and no explanation could be found for these noises. We then moved into the far ladies loo where things became quite unusual. Every time someone mentioned they felt cold the EMF spiked suddenly then stopped, it turned out to be a game of hide and seek and continued for the rest of the vigil for which we have no explanation. We were using two K2 (EMF) meters to confirm this phenomenon and they both behaved the same, both pieces of equipment were and still are in good working order.

Group two did not experience as much activity as group one, although three members did have a personal experience. One member heard footsteps emanating from the spiral staircase so he went to investigate joined by two guides, upon further investigation no explanation could be found for the purported footsteps.

Without a doubt we feel there is more to the Wolverhampton Civic and Wulfrun Halls than meets the eye and definitely warrants further investigation. We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that made this investigation possible. We know that there was a lot of work involved for all the members of staff who volunteered to help us on the night and without their help and support this investigation would not have been possible, particularly Carol for making all the tea!