By Tim Binnall
A newly unearthed email from a British hospice reveals how the facility's chaplain reached out to an exorcist about staff concerns over paranormal activity. The surprising message was sent in August of 2023 and came to light this week via a Freedom of Information request from The Telegraph newspaper. In the email, the chaplain for the Priscilla Bacon Lodge hospice in Norwich wrote to a representative from the Church of England regarding the facility's impending move to a new building. After detailing the "concluding ceremonies and preparation" for leaving the location, the writer requests "your prayer" concerning a rather unusual issue that had arisen at the site.
"It's been a difficult time," the chaplain explained, "I am currently awaiting advice/support from the deliverance team regarding some 'paranormal' incidents which have been really upsetting staff." Although the specific nature of the strange events was not revealed in the email, anonymous individuals at the facility indicated to The Telegraph that many workers believe the building is haunted by the ghost of a little girl in a red dress. The 'deliverance team' mentioned in the message is a group of Church of England ministers tasked with performing rituals to exorcise spirits from possessed people or places.
Alas, the church official's response to the email was not released in the FOI request, leaving one to speculate as to how they reacted to the odd situation. That said, a subsequent update penned by the chaplain indicated that "I am in conversation with a member of the deliverance team, which is aiding the care and ministry I'm offering." To that end, the circumstances surrounding the timing of the messages might indicate that staff members were concerned about what would become of the site's resident spirit once they moved to a new building and, as such, wanted someone from the church to help the ghost cross over to the 'other side' rather than being left all alone.