The Ancient Ram Inn is a Grade II listed property that has existed for more than 850 years. Located in Wotton-under-Edge, a small market town in Gloucestershire, England. The property has been used in a number of different ways over the centuries it has been standing.
The History Of The Ancient Ram Inn
Before the construction of the building that is now known as the Ancient Ram Inn took place in 1145, the site was believed to be a Pagan burial ground. The building that was constructed on the site was first used to house masons, slaves, and other workers who were building the nearby St. Mary’s Church.
The deeds to the property are mostly in Norman French and are still held at Gloucester Records Office. They read, “The Ancient Ram Inn dates to time Immemorial.”
In 1154, after the workers and slaves had moved out of the building, it became home to the first recorded vicar in the town, Gerinus.
However, no other records of vicars or reverends living in the property exist, so it is believed that after Gerinus the local vicar lived in the town vicarage, which was built just a few years later.
Records of ownership after Gerinus are hard to find, if not entirely lost; however, in 1350, almost 200 years after Gerinus, the property was owned by Maurice de Bathe.
Maurice leased the property to tenants; this included Peter Le Couk and his wife Margaret, who lived there for some time. The building stayed in the ‘de Bathe’ name for the next 171 years before eventually finding new owners.
Between 1421 and 1820, the property changed hands many times, and the building’s main use also changed several times. The building would later become known to locals as “Tan House” or “The Tan House.”
At one time, the building also went by the name “The Old Sun”; then, in 1820, the property was purchased by the brewery, which is when it got its name, the ‘Ram Inn.’ The Ram Inn lasted for 148 years before finally closing its doors in 1968.
The Ram Inn as it looked during the 1950s.
The John Humphries Years
After the pub closed its doors in 1968, it was purchased by John Humphries for £2,600. Humphries moved into the property with his wife and three daughters before reopening the property as a B&B guesthouse.
However, it wasn’t long before the eccentric John Humphries started telling stories of the Ancient Ram Inn being haunted.
John Humphries after purchasing the Ancient Ram Inn.
This was when the property changed from being a typical guesthouse to a place where ghost hunters and paranormal researchers would visit.
Locals believed it was just a way for Humphries to make money, nothing more than a conman, while others believed there was some truth to it, going all the way back to the Pagan burial grounds the property was built on.
Either way, it wasn’t long before the various ghosts were given identities, including a 15th-century woman who was sentenced to death for witchcraft, the ghost of a young girl, and that of a 500-year-old cat.
During the renovation of the inn’s basement, Mr. Humphries accidentally dug up the grave of several children at the bottom of the staircase. It was believed that the children were victims of a ritual sacrifice as they were found with daggers buried with them.
An archaeological report on the daggers confirmed that they were ‘of a great age.’ However, in 2014, the daggers were stolen from a glass cabinet while John was showing a group of visitors around; they have never been recovered.
With all the strange goings on, the Ancient Ram Inn soon became known as ‘England’s most haunted house,’ drawing in more ghost hunters and paranormal investigators than ever before.
Mike Driscoll, from the group UK Paranormal, even reported being shoved down the stairs by a poltergeist on more than one occasion.
In December 2017, after almost fifty years at the property, John Humphries passed away, and the property was passed to his daughter Caroline.
The Ancient Ram Inn Today
Since Caroline took over the Ancient Ram Inn at the beginning of 2018, she regularly holds open days for people to come and visit the building and learn about its history. She has also regularly hosted film crews who have come to film ‘England’s most haunted house.’
John’s daughter Caroline now runs the Ancient Ram Inn.
In the future, she would like to reopen the building as a pub or restaurant. However, the costs of keeping such an old property from literally falling down are massive, with every penny she makes from open days going straight back into keeping the property standing.
Visitors to the Ancient Ram Inn who aren’t interested in ghosts will still be able to see some very interesting things at the property; this includes Britain’s oldest wooden frame window and the earliest surviving board for the game ‘Nine Men’s Morris,’ which was carved into a stone inglenook dating back to 1540.
If you like the Ancient Ram Inn, check out Villa de Vecchi and Borley Rectory, two other properties that are said to be haunted.