MEET the people setting out to investigate possible paranormal activity in Woking.

The Knaphill Hauntings Project wants people who feel they have experienced a strange incident or potential supernatural incident, either in their homes or around the local area, to contact them.

Despite the more popular scary perceptions of haunted houses and ghosts that exist in TV shows and movies, the group say what could be termed “hauntings” are actually a lot less frightening.

“I think what people don’t quite realise is it’s a haunting, but it’s not evil and nasty. It’s an energy that’s stuck, so they make the homeowner aware they’re there, in the hope of getting some help,” said Sunny Angel, a founder member of the group. “The spirit energies are nothing to be frightened of, they just get your attention so they can be helped to be reunited with their families in the light.”

Sunny is a Reiki Grandmaster – a form of alternative medicine that involves energy healing – who describes herself as a spirit rescue medium.

“It’s something that I’ve been doing for years,” she said. “Walking around the area, I can feel the energy change – like cold dips and goosebumps – the feeling that there’s someone there.

“Spirits show themselves in different forms, to different people. Many young children under five can see them clear as day as though they are living. Animals like cats and dogs will see spirit. Many adults will sense something is different but not quite see it, but feel it.

“People were telling me about dark shadows, like a presence. And then people were telling me about things they’d seen in their own home,” said Sunny. “Things that go bump in the night – they could hear footsteps and cupboards opening and closing.

“I’ve done a lot of house cleansings, and because it was just way too much for me to handle on my own, the project just grew bigger and bigger.”

Raglan Road, in Knaphill, has been a key focus for the Hauntings Project. While now a residential development, the road and surrounding area was once the location of a major prison. In 1858 the Home Office bought more than 60 acres of land from the London Necropolis Company, and built the Woking Invalid Convict Prison for physically disabled prisoners and those suffering from mental illness. A female prison was also built, which opened in 1869. 

Group member Michelle Morley, who works as a psychic medium, says she has sensed various phenomena when walking through the area.

“One of the things I definitely picked up on was the spirit figure of an old Victorian lady at the window of one of the houses, and a sense of heaviness and sadness in the area,” she said.

“There’s quite a lot of activity. Quite a lot of souls who are trapped, some that have been taken too fast or too quick. Some of the spirits, it was a sense of not being treated properly. Therefore, not being able to say their peace to allow them to go up to the light.”

James Perry, a spiritual medium, said the group has been an opportunity for him to develop ways to help people.

“I was part of another Facebook group and saw when Sunny advertised Knaphill Hauntings [on the social media platform],” he said. “I’ve been a medium, but I wanted to work on spiritual clearance, when people have ghosts in their house.

“We can go along, pick up on what’s there and move the energy along. That’s something I wanted to get into.”

Michelle added that paranormal occurrences can sometimes be deceased family members trying to connect with their loved ones.

“It could be loved ones, let’s not forget. Nans, grandads, children, mums, dads. They come in when they need us the most. They will come in and touch and be around us as well. There’s a difference between a loved one coming and a negative entity being in the home. You’re noticing your moods are different, you’re not sleeping, children are being disturbed.”

The Knaphill Hauntings Project – other members are spiritualist medium Mark Deville, and Crystal, a psychic healer – say they wanted people to have somewhere to turn if they feel they are encountering any kind of paranormal experience.

“We just want to provide awareness. We don’t want to scare anyone, just to make people who need us aware that they can come to us and we can help.”

To find out more, or to contact the group, visit https://www.facebook.com/HauntingsKnaphill