Regular readers of Mystic Realm Blog may recognise the name Stephen Hack. Stephen previously appeared on the blog where he shared his journey into paranormal investigation and his passion for exploring haunted locations across the UK. You can read that interview here: Haunted Berkshire with Paranormal Investigator Stephen.
Now he’s back – this time with a new chapter in his paranormal journey.
Since relocating to Somerset, Stephen has been spending a lot of time investigating the infamous Shepton Mallet Prison, one of the most historic and mysterious locations in Britain. With parts of the prison dating back to the 1600s, it holds centuries of intense human history, tragedy, and emotion. For many paranormal investigators, locations like this are believed to carry strong residual energy from the events that once took place there.
Shepton Mallet Prison has long held a reputation as one of the UK’s most intriguing haunted locations. Over the years investigators have reported shadow figures, unexplained voices, sudden temperature changes, and intelligent responses to paranormal equipment.
I caught up with Stephen again to talk about his experiences inside the prison walls, the evidence he has captured, and why this location has become such an important part of his investigations.
Below, Stephen shares his experiences in his own words.
Q&A with Paranormal Investigator Stephen Hack
What drew you to Shepton Mallet Prison, and how does it compare to locations you investigated in Berkshire?
I was investigating as a member of local group, Berkshire Paranormal back in 2018 when a former colleague, who I also had a paranormal partnership with, and wasn’t a member of the group I was in, decided to take themselves off to Shepton Mallet Prison instead. After we exchanged notes on our respective investigations, it was decided that we’d go to the prison as a team so I got to experience the location as well. My first time there was with a company called Haunted Happenings and they were doing an Optional Sleepover event so guests could stay in the prison with the hosts after the main event finished at 3am. We were 2 out of 5 that stayed after 3 o’clock. At first it was quiet. It was after 3am that the prison came alive. I was leaning on the railings in A Wing, overhanging the safety net when my EMF meter started spiking up to orange and red. Then I felt the railings shudder beneath my arms. It was almost like a spirit had come up and shook it as if to say “stop slouching”. After that I started getting hooked. I began reading up on The Krays, who spent time at Shepton Mallet Prison in the early 50’s. I began to watch the classic 70’s sitcom Porridge a lot more. That’s when I found out my family had a connection to the late, great Ronnie Barker. He moved to Oxford when he was young, literally a few doors away from where my Great Nan lived. Her daughter, my nan, Joyce, was friends with Ronnie’s sister, Vera. Compared to locations I left behind in Berkshire, Shepton Mallet Prison is a lot bigger so there’s room for investigative teams to spread out to avoid any noise contamination. I would have loved to investigate the prison in Reading, where Oscar Wilde wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol, but sadly it’s not open to paranormal groups.
For those who may not know, can you give us a bit of history about the prison and why it has such a reputation?
Shepton Mallet Prison, even though no longer a working prison, is the oldest prison in England with areas dating back to the 1600s. There are at least 7 known bodies buried within the prison walls. These people would have been executed after they were convicted of murder, which still carried the death penalty. During the Second World War the prison became occupied by the American military and housed vital British documents such as the Magna Carta, The Doomsday Book, Guy Fawkes confession and Nelson’s logs from HMS Victory, to name a few. Like many other prisons across the country, Shepton Mallet was decommissioned, and closed its doors as a working prison before reopening in 2017 as a tourist attraction. In 2023 it was announced that in early 2024 the prison would close as a tourist attraction, but a last minute deal was struck and the prison was able to remain open well into 2024 before finally being saved in August 2024.
Have you personally experienced anything unexplained there? If so, what stands out the most?
In the decade that I’ve been investigating I’ve had more experiences at Shepton Mallet Prison than anywhere else. I’ve caught the sound of a disembodied voice on audio, I’ve heard disembodied footsteps. I’ve seen 2 shadow figures on 2 separate occasions. The first time I was on my own. The second time I followed a shadow into a cell after I watched it creeping, back against the wall, before disappearing into a cell. Once inside the cell I took a few photos then got a temperature warning on my phone which wouldn’t budge until my phone had cooled down so I decided to switch it off and switch on again. The battery suddenly went from 67% to 20%. Randomly my phone decided to restart again all by itself. This time it lost another 10%. My phone then died completely. Whilst all this was going on I felt a pain on the top of my head. Could the spirit have attacked me for invading their space?
Is there a particular area inside the prison that feels more active or intense than others?
There’s been occasions when A Wing has felt a bit intense. This probably wasn’t helped by the fact that A Wing only has cells on one side and a flat wall opposite. This is because on the other side of the wall is the street outside, but there have been times when I’ve gone into A Wing and it’s been quite light, but the darkness did seem to close in which really gave a foreboding feeling like something was about to happen. It certainly made me feel a bit uneasy. The same can be said for the top of the old Gatekeeper’s Lodge. The ceiling is low, it’s stuffy, but can also get very warm up there. The staircase up to the top floor is narrow so you have to be careful going up and down. It’s also said to be home to a spirit who doesn’t like people going into their area. That was certainly true after the last time when I reached the top I felt a blow down the right hand side of my body as though I’d been winded. That wasn’t pleasant and in such a confined space!
Have you captured any compelling evidence at Shepton Mallet?
The best evidence I’ve managed to catch on my equipment are disembodied footsteps in the infirmary and I seemed to pick up a disembodied voice saying “redemption” in C Wing. Both of these I caught on my voice recorder and used them in short videos which I’ve posted on both my Instagram and YouTube channel. I’m pretty sure I also experienced the phantom nightwatchman who is said to patrol the prison. It was mid vigil around 2:10 in the morning so there was no reason for anyone to be waving a bright white light around outside the offices below the infirmary. I checked with the rest of our team who had been in the infirmary while myself and my former team mate were in the offices, and checked to see if any prison staff had been wandering around but both confirmed no one had been walking around or had left the vigil upstairs. I’ve also had some peculiar activity involving intelligent responses using my EMF Meter where a spirit seemed to be on the ground floor (the ones) in C Wing but wanted to go up to the middle landing but there seemed to be a spirit up there they didn’t like and only seemed happy to go up with me and the EMF Meter spiked each step we climbed. It took some time, but I got the spirit up there and as I returned to the ones my EMF Meter didn’t record one single spike!
How does the atmosphere of a prison differ from other haunted locations?
I’m a firm believer that energy can embed itself into a building and in prisons you get so many emotions, all that energy has to go somewhere if energy never dies. Prison life can also throw up many different emotions. I’ve also been to 30 East Drive and the Ancient Ram Inn on my travels and despite being branded some of the Most Haunted locations in the UK, turned out to be 2 of the quietest locations I’ve investigated. 30 East Drive is meant to have a really negative energy, but with help of the neighbours, this has been majorly hyped up. The Ancient Ram Inn, even with talk of witches, an incubus and succubus, proved to be less active, but this could also be down to the guests on the investigation and how much energy they put in.
Do you think the activity there is residual or intelligent?
Prisons are emotive places. Prisoners would have felt the joy of seeing a loved one on visiting day. Exhaustion working the treadwheel for hard labour. Death by illness, hanging or firing squad. Heartache at losing a loved one while serving time. Anger at being rubbed up the wrong way by a fellow prisoner. All that energy leaves its mark in the fabric of a building, but from personal experience there is definitely residual energy and intelligent spirits within the prison walls.
Just make sure that any negative energy doesn’t attach itself to you. It’s not a pleasant experience. Driving home one evening from Somerset with my former team mate, I was less chatty than normal. I wasn’t singing along to the music I put on in the car like I always did. I didn’t feel right at all. I felt like my wrists and legs were strapped in as if I were tied to a chair and I wanted to thrash around in an attempt to break free. We stopped off at some services which seemed to calm me down as I walked around. We drove on a bit further and stopped at another service station. By now it was dark after walking around for a bit I was drawn to an outside light so I sat beneath it. I can’t explain the feeling of relief I felt as I felt this energy being drawn out of me through the top of my head and into the light. After sitting for a while and shedding some tears I finally felt ready to finish the journey home.
Advice for investigators visiting Shepton Mallet Prison
Like any location Shepton Mallet Prison can have its quiet moments and I have encountered that. No two investigations are the same. So as always I recommend going in with an open mind. Wrap up warm, especially in the winter months, as the prison gets very cold and there are lots of steps so best to wear sensible footwear. Be respectful. Don’t antagonise the spirits in the prison. Remember there’s likely to be negative entities there and speaking from experience, it wouldn’t be nice to come away with an attachment. Also spirits feed off energy as they need it to try any attempts to manifest so make sure you keep your enthusiasm and energy levels way up high. Keep your expectations low as well as no paranormal activity is guaranteed. Don’t read all these experiences and think it’ll happen to you straight away, it’ll take time for the spirits to get used to you.
Since relocating to Somerset, has your approach to investigating changed at all?
Since moving to Somerset I haven’t taken part in any nighttime investigations as of yet, but going to the prison during the day it can be nice and quiet, unless there’s an educational trip or, in C Wing, an escape room taking place, so sometimes it’s nice to pretty much have free reign in the prison so I can do vigils as I go around. One thing I’ve done since relocating is have a video call with my friend, former colleague and medium, Natalie from Bracknell. She’s always wanted to investigate the prison and is looking forward to coming down to visit, but during the video call Natalie picked up on things and names that I hadn’t mentioned before as she doesn’t like to know any details before going to locations so that was an interesting experience and a different way of investigating. Despite getting myself a new video camera, I’ve still been filming on my mobile, but what I do now is dual record so Instagram followers get to view in front and behind. I’m also aiming to reach 1,000 Instagram followers so I’ll be able to do Live videos.
What’s next for you — any upcoming investigations or projects we should keep an eye on?
I haven’t got any investigations booked at the moment as finding work in order to pay to attend investigations has proved to be tougher than anticipated. However, there might be something exciting happening at the prison real soon so keep an eye on my Instagram account for that as I’m hoping there’s some good news on the horizon. With the prison round the corner from where I live I’ve already put in quite a few appearances during the prison’s opening hours as one of the first things I did was purchase a prison membership so I can go in as many times as I like for just £35 a year. Self-guided tours are £15 so I’ve already got my money’s worth out of my membership. I always take some form of equipment with me as I still conduct vigils during the day. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I can go Live on Instagram. Since 2019 I’ve been making episodes for a YouTube series Tracks Into The Unknown, an idea I initially came up with during my time at college, combining my love of the paranormal with my love of the railways. I’ve been out and about locally grabbing footage for an episode involving a location in Shepton Mallet. I shall begin editing that soon. Episodes 1-6 are currently on YouTube. This will probably be one of the last episodes I make as I don’t drive so getting to the locations all over the country will be difficult and this will also be the first episode in 2 years. I’ve also been looking back over my last decade as a paranormal investigator and since early December 2023 after it was revealed the prison would close, I’ve been writing about my experiences and hope to get my first book published.
Final Thoughts
It’s always fascinating hearing the experiences of investigators who have spent years exploring the paranormal, and Stephen’s encounters inside Shepton Mallet Prison highlight just how unpredictable investigations can be.
Locations like this carry centuries of history and emotion, and whether the activity is residual energy or intelligent spirits, it’s clear that Shepton Mallet continues to captivate investigators and visitors alike.
Stephen continues to document his investigations and share evidence through his Instagram, YouTube channel, and his series Tracks Into The Unknown. With new projects, possible investigations on the horizon, and even a book about his paranormal experiences in the works, there’s plenty more to come from Stephen’s journey.
Here at Mystic Realm Blog, we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on where Stephen’s investigations lead next.
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