Death with a View (The Town House Hotel)

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The Town House Hotel. Norwich.

Table 15. River view.

You turn to your dinner companion with a smile that suddenly freezes on your face when the glass you were about to drink from is thrown from the table by an invisible hand.

You stay the night and someone or something opens your bedroom door. You go to the washroom and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as you feel the presence that no one can explain. Oh - and the other thing about this hotel……the reported ghost of a feared and iconic figure from 1960s London who died in room 4. Disrespect is not an option.

Twice we have held public paranormal investigations at this picturesque riverside hotel in Norwich, situated on a side water of the river Wensum and overlooking a small island. With superb views over the South West edge of the Norfolk broads it’s difficult to imagine that death (and a famous death at that) could mar this idyllic setting. There have been other deaths in the past, just as famous in their day but not in our era.

The site dates back to 1720 and was once a row of cottages which were later combined into one. It has been a hotel since 1930 but prior to that in 1841 it was owned by Edmund Cotman.

It is believed that he bought the house in an attempt to provide some relief to his ailing son John Sell Cotman (1782-1842) a famous son of Norwich and a member of the Norwich School of Painters. The view from the hotel formed the basis of his last painting (From my Father's House at Thorpe. 1842)

Our recent investigation uncovered a number of anomalies, from temperature fluctuations of up to 25 degrees F in room 4 where we used the Planchette, to unaccountable EMF meter readings and contact with a number of Spirits in room 19 and the corridors. Three separate groups picked up a young girl called Sarah with blonde hair who drowned in the river.

The Table Tipping in the bar area was a bit hit and miss, some groups got nothing at all and others had lots of movement, in particular when the name of the person who died in room 4 was mentioned.

The Glass moving on table 15 was more active, maybe because of the energy that has been known to move the drinking glasses of unsuspecting diners; however when the special name was mentioned the glass almost flew off the table and had to be caught to prevent it smashing onto the floor.

Coincidence? We don't know for sure.

All we do know is we had to be very careful not to be disrespectful of any of the resident Spirits just in case one of them was the man who, not too long ago, died in room 4.

The late Mr Reggie Kray.

5 / 5 Review by expert member John Blythe