The Ram Inn, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire
The Ram Inn, a former Whitbread site and now a privately-owned, Grade II-listed house, is one of the spookiest in the whole country. When Living TV's television show Most Haunted visited, one of the presenters claimed it was "the most possessed place they had visited on the history of the show".
According to a Daily Mail article, it is haunted by a murdered child and a ‘sex demon’. The owners claim that it was a place of pagan worship and sacrifice. It is built on two ley lines which connect with Stonehenge – always a sign of spiritual ‘activity’, according to those in the know about these kinds of things.
Apparently a former innkeeper called Elizabeth was murdered in the attic and a diviner told the owner that another murder had also taken place at the pub.
Despite the scary history, people seem to be falling over themselves to visit. Apparently, the most haunted room in the most haunted former inn is the Bishop’s Room.
The Skirrid Mountain Inn, near Abergavenny, Wales
Popular for ghost sightings, the Skirrid Inn also has the scariest actual visual element on this list – a noose hanging from a stairwell.
This is due to its history as a courthouse, and venue for 180 hangings. One sickening detail is that markings made by the rope can still be seen today.
Legend has it that ‘The Hanging Judge’, Lord Jeffreys, infamous for his harsh sentencing, pronounced judgments at the inn.
One of the oldest pubs in all of Wales, dating back an incredible 900 years, it was inevitable that ghosts would become attached to it, and the inn has featured in Most Haunted.
It is also worth noting one of the ghosts is a former licensee, Fanny Price, who died of tuberculosis.
The Grenadier, Belgravia, & the Ten Bells, Spitalfields, London
There are so many ‘haunted’ pubs in London that you can do tours of the venues, and several pubcos make a big play of ghosts across their estates in the capital.
But if you’re looking for the most spooky pub, Taylor Walker’s the Grenadier in Belgravia is up there. According to the pubco’s website the supernatural activity always kicks off in September, apparently the time the grenadier the pub is named after was killed in a savage beating.
It says: “A solemn, silent phantom – dubbed Cedric the ghost – has been witnessed crawling slowly across the ceilings of the pub, as well as creepy occurrences taking place such as objects disappearing or moving without explanation. Footsteps have been heard pacing anxiously around empty rooms, and every so often a low sighing moan has been heard coming from the depths of the cellar.
“On one occasion a Chief Superintendent from New Scotland Yard was having a drink in the pub, when wisps of smoke began to waft around him. As he reached towards the smoke, it is said that an invisible cigarette burnt his hand!
“For the past 100 years, visitors have attempted to pay off Cedric’s debt by attaching money to the ceiling. However, his presence still remains.”
The Ten Bells is less spooky for ghosts than the scary reason that it was undoubtedly Jack The Ripper’s local, as two of his victims, Annie Chapman and Mary Kelly, frequented the pub.
Nowadays, due its location in a hip part of town, it has no need to sell itself as the Ripper’s pub, and there is little within the venue to illustrate its infamous history – apart from some scrawled handwriting in the toilets.
Situated next to Hawksmoor’s Christ Church, it has a real sense of history attached to it, and is an excellent site to visit for those interested in the scarier side of London life.
Mermaid Inn, Rye, East Sussex
Situated near to 1066 Country, and in an area steeped in history with numerous historical listed buildings, this is another pub like the Ram Inn, apparently with a ghost in practically every room.
One room is haunted by a lady in white, another has a man who walks through a bathroom wall, another includes two duelling men. Other rooms and spaces have the ghost of a maid, a smuggler, and a 'gentleman in old-fashioned clothes'.
One suite, the Kingsmill, is apparently so haunted the cleaners will only go into it in pairs.
Frightened
Judith Blincow, who owns the inn and has worked there since 1980, has previously said: "Although I have not personally seen ghosts, I certainly have met some very convinced and frightened guests."
However, the inn's website doesn’t make a big play of being haunted, and one of the main images on the homepage is of a wedding, so clearly it isn’t too much of a spooky venue.
Jamaica Inn, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall
Infamous as the site of the Daphne Du Maurier novel and the Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name, Jamaica Inn is not only a spooky site, but one of the most famous pubs in the UK.
Set on the edge of Bodmin Moor, the inn has a long history of murder and intrigue. One such incident includes a stranger who left his half-finished ale on the bar, and then stepped out into the night. This was the last time he was seen alive, and his body was then found on the moor. Now, when the sound of footsteps approaching the bar is heard, it is said they are those of the man returning to the bar to finish his pint.
The story got particularly spooky in 1911, when there were numerous sightings of a man sitting outside the inn on a stone wall who did not respond to greetings and stayed remarkably still. Apparently, he looked very similar to the stranger who was killed.
Sounds
Additionally, the sounds of horses' hoofs have been heard outside the inn, even when no animals were there.
The pub's website says: "During the early 1900s the inn was used as a temperance house, but there have always been spirits of a different kind at Jamaica Inn. Previous managers have heard conversations uttered in a foreign tongue. Some have suggested this ‘foreign’ language could in fact be old Cornish.
"On a moonlit night, when all is still, the sound of horses' hooves and the metal rims of wheels turning on the rough cobbles can be heard in the courtyard. Yet there is nothing to be seen! Who can explain the uneasy footsteps heard pacing the corridors in the dead of night? Who is the strange man in a tricorne hat and cloak who appears and then walks through solid doors?"
- Do you own a haunted pub? Tweet @morningad or visit facebook.co.uk/morningadvertiser
