Said to be the most haunted Inn in Britain, this place has both history and spirits!
The Ancient Ram Inn can trace its roots back to the year 900 AD and is reported to be built on the site of a pagan burial ground. This makes for a very spooky and intriguing ambiance.
The old inn is a Grade II* listed building and also a former pub located in Wotton-under-Edge, a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England.
This inn was owned by a local Church when it was first built.
As the sign indicates, the inn’s original purpose was to house the masons and other builders employed to construct the neighboring church. It was later the dwelling of the local vicar.
Eventually, it became an official inn and was named the Ancient Ram Inn.
One of the most distinctive exterior features of the inn is the now bowing, nay bulging, timber-framed dormer section of the building. Even in historic photos, the un-plumb wall is obvious.
The deeds to The Ram Inn are mostly written in Norman French and are kept at the Gloucester Records Office. They read: “The Ancient Ram Inn dates to Time Immemorial”.
Haunt of highwaymen – chilling!
Apart from being exorbitantly old, what makes this place so haunted?
Well… over the centuries, there have been several gruesome findings unearthed beneath the inn, including the discovery of children’s bones and ceremonial daggers!
There are also legends of murders and mysterious deaths that took place here so the Ancient Ram Inn is a mecca for paranormal investigators.
This is the backside of the building:
Just as creepy and olde world as the street side!
Have a look inside…
Not surprisingly, the interior is dark, heavy, and foreboding.
Fascinating relics and bric-à-brac are plentiful here – some hinting of the occult.
Below is the inn’s namesake:
Who knows how old that disembodied head is!
One of the infamously haunted rooms of the inn is known as “the Men’s Kitchen.” This room reputedly stands on the actual site of the pagan burial ground.
There are no babies here, but visitors often report hearing the cries of an infant in this room.
Also on the first floor is The Ram’s most haunted room, “the Bishop’s Room”. The atmosphere inside is said to be highly disturbing.
Many visitors report seeing a similar apparition: a human form materializing around the dressing table and then walking through a nearby wall.
Two ghostly monks have also been seen in one corner. And witnesses have reported hearing the horrific screams of a man who was said to have been murdered here.
But why the stuffed gorillas on the pillows?
Other guest rooms also sport an array of plushy stuffed animals.
Perhaps they are supposed to appease the spirits of the children who may have perished here?
*shivers*
There are also reports that guests going up the steep staircase have been thrown or pushed up the stairs by unseen hands.
Climbing into the attic and crouching beneath the roof timbers in the damp stone rooms is said to bring on a feeling of intense oppression.
Another legend tells of an innkeeper’s daughter who was murdered in this roof space in the early 1500s. People staying below in the Bishop’s Room often hear the sound of something being dragged across the floor above their heads.
But the cellar has got to be the creepiest area of the building. Down here is where the juvenile bones and ritualistic daggers were found.
One visitor left the following review of the Ancient Ram Inn:
“The atmosphere was awful, I can only describe it as pure filth’dark and heavy.”
Only at a wickedly old place like this, would that be considered a compliment!
Sources:
http://www.ancientraminn.co.uk
https://www.haunted-britain.com/ancient-ram-inn.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Ram_Inn
https://www.ladbible.com/news/sex-demon-pub-owner-forced-out-20221009
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