The Ancient Ram Inn

With a reputation as one of the UK’s most haunted locations it was with excitement that the NSPG got to visit the Ancient Rams Inn in Wooten under Edge on the 24th March 2007. With reports of numerous paranormal activity including physical attacks on visitors and manifestations there was no doubt that we had high hopes for this location, and we were not to be disappointed.

Normally the NSPG would not pay to investigate or visit a location due to the numerous owners of “haunted properties” who are simply fraudsters engaging in skulduggery for self promotion and monetary gain. However, as the NSPG were offered a fantastic opportunity to investigate the Ram’s Inn we agreed on a fixed fee with the owner on the basis that our donation would be used for the restoration of the building.
The owner of the Ram Inn is one John Humphries, an elderly man who has owned and lived at the property since 1968. Prior to our investigation we had read reports of a certain amount of showmanship exhibited by Mr Humphries in order to give his captive audience what they wanted. This came in the guise of getting people to have their cameras ready, then knocking hard and opening doors fast to stir up dust, as well as brushing up against curtains and upholstery in order to achieve the same result.

A rather darker aspect that we had read about prior to visiting was that of Mr Humphries habit of changing the terms of a visit when people are through the door, usually trying to extort additional money before allowing people to continue. Having agreed both verbally and in writing the terms of our visit, we were very upset to discover that having driven the three and a half hours to get there, that Mr Humphries was going to pull the same trick on us, in quite an aggressive manner.
This was to result in a total charge of 3 times that of the original agreement.

Any other teams that choose to investigate the Ancient Ram Inn should be aware of this. We read about it before going and wrongly assumed that these comments were the result of a few people who hadn’t enjoyed their visit, had not agreed terms prior to visiting, or simply had a grudge against Mr Humphries. We were wrong. Please be prepared to have to deal with this kind of situation.

After 30 minutes of careful negotiation we had decided to leave. It was only when somebody suggested making a final offer of an extra £20 to the initially agreed amount that reluctantly, Mr Humphries agreed.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The building looks fantastic on the outside however on the inside it’s quite literally a mess. Every room is cluttered with horded ‘stuff’, some old, and some new. There are stuffed animal heads, religious artefacts, children’s toys, old photo’s and paintings as well as all manner of other trinkets scattered about the house. In some areas, piled high. We were amused to spot an old style lantern sporting an Ikea label in one of the upstairs rooms. Some team members felt that some of the rooms had indeed been staged with props in order to add to the eeriness of the property. Some of the items had been placed in very clever locations within the house and could in our opinion subconsciously influenced visitors, causing their mind to play tricks on them. One could argue that this all plays to the showman ship of the property and the excitement of the night. However, to the true paranormal investigators the general atmosphere is oppressive as a result of the state of the interior. The other immediately obvious characteristic of the property is the cold temperature and breezes inside the building. This appears to be due to the state of repair of the building instead of any paranormal reason.

         

However, having said all of this as our night in the Ram’s Inn progressed there was no doubt in all of our teams mind that there is something very strange and unexplainable going on in this property. It is just a shame that this building can not be presented by it’s owner for what it is, a truly intriguing and historical building that needs no further showmanship that it’s own unique character and hidden depths.

HISTORY & FOLKLORE

The Rams Inn building is thought to date from around 1145, and is the oldest building in the village of Wooton Under Edge. It has been suggested that the workmen who built the parish church opposite were lodged here. It served for a time as a priest's house before converting to an inn and it is claimed to be one of the stop off points for the Pilgrim Fathers, on their way to the Mayflower moored at Plymouth. Highwaymen were thought to have stayed and hidden out there. Its last pint was pulled in 1968, before being taken over as a private residence by John Humphries.

The Ancient Ram is believed to have witnessed ritual child sacrifice, black magic, suicide and to have been the hideout of highwaymen. It is also rumoured that the Rams Inn is built upon a pagan burial site. The Bishop's Room is considered to be one of the most spiritually active rooms in the UK, with untold stories of orbs, apparitions, noises, a ghostly cat and possession. An area of note in investigations carried out by other groups is the lack of documented reports of any haunting in the property prior to Mr Humphries purchasing the property.

THE TEAM

Present on this investigation were David Willey, David Witchell. Jill. Dave, Steve, Jenni, Paul, Lorraine and Jess. This was a larger than normal team that actually worked out very well and as soon as we started to set up, the challenges of our earlier difficulties with Mr Humphries were slowly pushed away.

We commenced the setup with half of the team laying cables, connecting cameras and placing wireless devices. The other half of the team (Lorraine, Jess and Jenni) joined Jill as she tuned in and conducted some preliminary tests.

The Hub was located in the Old Bar area of the property, which allowed us to all be seated in a supposedly active area all night as well as monitor all the other areas at the same time. Below shows the set up used during the investigation:

EQUIPMENT OVERVIEW