Napier Prison Overnight Lock-down

On 22 July 2017 Paranormal Journeys & Investigations were lucky enough to have an overnight lock-down investigation at the infamous Napier Prison. The historic Napier Prison is the oldest prison in New Zealand on Bluff Hill in Napier, with views of the Centennial Gardens and the Pacific Ocean. Napier Prison was opened in 1862 until closing in 1993. Many of the walls were constructed by those imprisoned in them. It was purchased by the Waaka family in 2002 and restored. It was used as a Backpackers and now a popular tourist attraction. Over the years Napier Prison was also used as an orphanage, psychiatric unit, a lighthouse and a set for the television series Redemption Hill and Off the Rails. You can even see the path of the 1931 Hawkes Bay Earthquake which is quite extraordinary!

 

We arrived at the prison at 6pm and were greeted by the amazing Thomas that is full of information and all the history of the prison, it's past residents and apparent hauntings. There are many different reports of activity at the prison including unexplained footsteps, doors opening and closing on there own, disembodied faces and shadow figures have also been seen. The activity picks up on the Anniversary of the hanging of Roland H Edwards.

After a tour of the grounds and all the buildings we chose where to have base and set up all of our equipment. Next we carried out our base readings of the whole area. The weather that night was cold and cloudy but thankfully the rain had stopped and it was not icy or foggy.

A quick dinner break and another informative talk with Thomas and we were ready to begin. The entrance was locked and would not be re-opened until 8am the next morning!

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The new spirit box we had ordered was delayed so did not arrive in time for our investigation so sadly no spirit box sessions could be done. We had issues with quite a lot of our technology at the prison and it effected our Live Feeds as well. Our batteries were not drained more than normal though and our quest cameraman had no issues so we feel it was just the locations area causing disturbance and not something paranormal.

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I decided to do an EVP session in what they called 'The Hole". The Hole is just that; a hole carved into the clay bank where they would lock prisoners in. Many of these prisoners were mentally ill and that was how they dealt with them in those days. We saw some letters scrapped into the walls but since the prison is open to the public we can not confirm if this was from a past prisoner or not. I was locked inside the hole while I did the EVP session. You felt like you could not breath properly but apart from that I felt ok. On play back no unexplained voices or noises were picked up on recording.

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We have a piece of equipment called a Parobolic Microphone. A parabolic microphone amplifies sound and it is a great tool to have when doing a paranormal investigation. Dave and I decided to use the parabolic microphone in  "The Pound" aka the seclusion cells which  was used to  house unstable patients. While asking questions I heard a faint voice which sounded like a male saying "help me". I then heard labored breathing. I passed the parabolic microphone to Dave to listen and he also heard the labored breathing. We are yet to go through the recordings on this device but hope it has been captured in the recordings. The secure cells did not feel uncomfortable or threatening at all.

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The prison has a famous cat named Basil. Basil is rumoured to be the spirit of an inmate named Basil that passed away in his sleep. Basil wasn't to keen on been cuddled but he followed us around and kept a close eye on us.

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The Woman's Wing was the most active on our CCTV monitors. There were numerous orbs and interference with the CCTV cameras filming the wing. We still need to go through this footage properly (we had seven CCTV cameras filming for 12 hours so it will take some time). The woman's wing is known for hearing sounds of woman and babies crying. Female prisoners had their babies with them until they were about six months old.

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During the night our camera man Andrew was getting some footage of the Suicide Watch Cells; cells one, two and three. He felt a presence behind him and quickly turned around but no one was there. We actually saw him quickly exit cell one and go outside while monitoring the CCTV screen so we look forward to reviewing this. The last death at Napier Prison happened in cell two a couple of weeks before the prison was closed in 1993. A man named Wayne hung himself from the window grating in his cell by using his sheets. Wayne was a gang prospect and only 19 years of age. He was in for committing murder but he may have taken the wrap for someone in the gang as he was a prospect. Some feel he was scared to be transferred to a new prison and this is why he committed suicide. His last words that he wrote on a message board in his cell are still visible today. There was also a suicide in cell one but not much is reported on this death apart from that it was also in 1993.

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There is a Graveyard in the corner of the back courtyard and those buried here are in a standing position so their souls can not rest. There is only one headstone and this was made by the inmates for Roland H Edwards.

We ended our active investigation at 4.30am and retired to our cells for the rest of the night. At 7am we got up and packed our equipment away as we were been "released" at 8am.

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The night was exciting and informative but very cold when in our cells. It was a real eye opener. The windows just had a grate over them so the cold air blows right into them.

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We look forward to returning in the future and investigating more including some spirit box sessions.

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Napier Prison is known for housing the following inmates:

Te Koote, Kereopa Te Rau, Terry Clark, Makoare Te Waata, Roland H Edwards and Haira Te Piri.

Through the 1900's four Hangings were carried out at the prison. They were:

Kereopa Te Rau, 5 January 1872

Rowland Herbert Edwards, 15 July 1884

Haira Te Piri, 13 May 1889

Makoare Te Waata, 28 September 1889

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A big thank you to Napier Prison, Thomas and Basil for having us.