Windsor Castle in Smithfield will become a happy, if also somewhat spooky hunting ground on Friday the 13th.

Paranormal investigators RTL Paranormal will host a fun seminar and ghost hunt at the farm, from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Folks will learn how to find and document paranormal activity, understand the nature of energy patterns and successfully conduct a paranormal investigation, according to a news release.

Jennifer England, Isle of Wight County Museum director, said the event is a fundraiser. Tickets were selling for $20 per person, but England said Monday they had sold out.

However, “We are taking down names for a waiting list for another date in the future,” she said.

The roughly 159 acres now comprising Windsor Castle Farm was originally part of a 1,450-acre parcel patented in 1637 by Arthur Smith.

The construction date of the existing dwelling is in question, but there was a house thought to be the existing dwelling on the property by 1750.

That’s when Arthur Smith IV was granted permission from the General Assembly to subdivide the land on the bluff above the Pagan River into four streets and 72 lots, which became Smithfield.
While portions of Windsor Castle Farm have been sold over time, the core of the property has been owned by only three families since the 17^th century: the Smiths, the Jordans and the Johnson-Belts.
Windsor Castle Farm is on the National Register of Historic Places. The manor house and surrounding 200-plus acres are a public park owned by the town of Smithfield.

England said there has never been any suggestion Windsor Castle is haunted. “We don’t have any documentation or stories from folks,” she said.

According to its website, RTL visited Windsor Castle on Jan. 9 for a pre-event investigation, coming away with eight electronic voice phenomenon recordings.

The recordings will be presented to guests during Friday’s event. According to the website, the recordings are so faint, headphones are needed to hear them.

England said folks would learn to use paranormal investigative equipment, before breaking into groups for the actual hunt.

For more information, contact the Isle of Wight County Museum at 356-1223 or visit www.historicisleofwight.com.