With lots of the UK’s public houses dating back centuries and taking pride of place in many a historic building, a countless number of the nation’s local watering holes are rife with creepy tales and ghastly ghost stories, which makes them the perfect place for visiting during spooky season.
Pub company and brewer Greene King reveals its top five most haunted pubs across the UK, perfect for a spooktacular visit.
YE OLDE TRIP TO JERUSALEM, NOTTINGHAM
Not only is Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, said to be England’s oldest inn, it’s also tipped to be Nottingham’s most haunted. The ancient 1189 pub is nestled into the rocks under Nottingham Castle above a network of caves, once used by King Richard the Lionheart during the Crusades in Jerusalem.
The pub is also home to The Cursed Galleon, a tiny wooden ship that hasn’t been cleaned in centuries which according to the legend, was offered as payment for a bar tab but those who went to clean it would get sick and die. It is now safely stowed away behind glass to keep curious patrons and the curse away!
THE EAGLE, CAMBRIDGE
A window above the beer garden at the Eagle in Cambridge is permanently fixed open, and it is written in the lease that the window must remain so. Around three hundred years ago, three children were unable to escape from the building during a fire and continue to haunt the pub today. The open window allows these young ghosts to leave the pub as they wish, and it is reported that strange things have happened in the past when the window was shut. One account has said that should anyone dare to try and close the window, everybody inside the pub will experience a powerful feeling of suffocation.
YE OLDE STARRE INNE, YORK
Dating back to at least 1644, Ye Olde Starre Inne is the oldest and best loved pub in York, known for its many ghostly goings on, such as lights turning on, chairs moving by themselves, and strange noises that keep the landlord awake at night.
Not only was the cellar commandeered by Royalist troops to serve as a makeshift hospital and morgue during the English Civil War but bloodcurdling screams of dying soldiers can still be heard echoing throughout the pub.
Not 300 years later a World War I soldier wrote to his sweetheart, promising to meet her at Ye Olde Starre Inne, where he sadly never showed, and it is said that the two star-crossed lovers have been seen roaming the bar, looking for one another for eternity.
To top it off, two black cats are often seen running from room to room playing, linked to the custom of entombing two live cats inside a building to protect it from fire and bad luck. Dogs visiting the pub growl and snarl at the spot the cats were walled in, with one dog even throwing itself at the spot and knocking itself out! Visitors have also been seen to bend to stroke one of the cats only to find nothing there.
PROSPECT OF WHITBY, WAPPING
Once known as the Devil’s Tavern, The Prospect of Whitby is London’s oldest riverside pub with records dating back to the 1520s. Legend says that criminals would be tied up at low tide and left to drown on the banks and local ghost, ‘Hanging’ Judge Jeffreys is often seen drinking at this former local.
DRUIDS HEAD, BRIGHTON
Once a private house, before coming a pub in 1830, this 500-year-old building is said to be home for four ghosts. One of a man who died in one of the nearby tunnels, and the others are two children and a woman. There has been reported poltergeist activity by both staff and visitors, with bottles and glasses flying around and mirrors suddenly misting over, plus staff members seeing a woman in red waiting to be served, who merely glances at them when spoken to before disappearing.
Other similarly haunted pubs include:
YE OLDE COCK TAVERN, TEMPLE – home to the smiling dismembered ‘Goldsmith’s Ghost’
THE COACH AND HORSES, MAYFAIR – a stopping point for a ghoulish 18th-century coach pulled along by four white horses and driven by a headless horseman
PLUMBERS ARMS, VICTORIA – where Lady Lucan fled to safety after being attacked by her husband, Lord Lucan, suspected murderer of the family nanny, who disappeared without a trace
THE GOLDEN LION, ST JAMES – haunted by a ghostly barmaid, who was murdered by a former landlady who stalks its stairs
Andrew Gallagher, Marketing Director, Greene King Pubs, said: “Having some of the UK’s oldest and most historical buildings in our repertoire, means that we can offer guests the perfect combination of a modern and contemporary setting with tradition and character. A lot of our historical pubs are often considered ‘spooky’, which is especially appealing at this time of year.
“Give our top five spookiest pubs a visit to see for yourself! While we can’t guarantee you a ghost or ghoul, we can guarantee a good time at a beautiful historical venue.”
