Southern Paranormal - Investigations
The Ancient Ram Inn
Saturday 5th May 2007, 9.00pm - 4.30am
Attending Investigators :Dorset & Hampshire Members - Julie Harwood, Maria Street, Alison Blyth, Sandy Rutter, Abbie Holding, Simon Steadman, Rachel Bettany, David Ireland, Ed Ashton, Ross Richardson, Di Moore, Rab Gardner, Wayne Blyth, Mark Pettet. London & Essex Members - Kerry Price, Selina Dean, Lee Barrows, Louise Williams, Val Butler, Alan Hall, Laura Brown, Ken Taylor.
John Humphries (Host) & Clare (Guest Investigator)
Introduction
The Ancient Ram Inn in Potters Pond just outside the beautiful town of Wotton under Edge needs little introduction to anyone with an interest in the paranormal. Known as one of the UK's (if not the worlds) most paranormally active buildings, it was no surprise the sign up for this investigation was quick. It is somewhere I know a lot of members have wanted to investigate since they joined the group and finally we were able to book a date with John the Rams long suffering owner.
Wotton Under Edge is a now a Cotswold Market Town however it also has standing stones near proving its habitation since at least the Bronze Age. The Inn stands on a ley lines running between Ley Farm and Hetty Peglar's Tump, a late Stone Age burial mound, which runs directly through the Witch's Room, the Church and Stonehenge. John owns a piece of timber from the grounds (a wooden post), which has been apparently dated at 7,000 years old. The Ram itself is believed to have been built on top of a pagan burial ground, where human sacrifices were performed and the victims buried in a henge construction on the site.
The Inn is believed to have been built in 1145, the year when William FitzRobert, son of the first Lord Berkeley, was appointed as the first recorded Rector of Wotton. As one of the more substantial buildings in the area it served as The Priests House and a church alehouse (the social heart of the parish). Unlike other properties the Inn survived the fire which destroyed most of the town in the reign of King John. In the former stable on the ground floor it has what is believed to be the oldest surviving wooden window frame in Britain. Old plans show it to have been much larger previously, but despite that and its present dilapidation, it has earned a Grade II listing.
By 1965, the Ram was losing its customers and early 1967 marked the last pint to be pulled in the bar. By 1968 it was suffering from death watch beetle, the dry stone walls were falling apart and it was due for demolition as part of a road-widening scheme when Whitbread sold it to John Humphries, a former train driver. John moved his wife and three young daughters into what was by then, a near derelict building without running water. Living in the Ram under those conditions, and with the ghostly occurrences, which were reported from the start, cost him his marriage, his money and for many years close contact with his children.
The fact the Ram is still standing to this day is thanks to John Humphries determination to not to let his beloved home be brought to the ground.
Recorded Paranormal Sightings
Grounded Spirits
- Edward - The most powerful and dominant spirit. A very tall strong man with dark features, sideburns and a hat. Often holds a staff. When he is around everything else in the house (spirit wise) remains quiet.
- Michael - A very nasty man. Brother of Edward. Responsible for many murders, he likes to strangle people who sit in the chair to the left of the fireplace in the Bishops room. He rapes, and then strangles women and children. He killed his own son James who is also grounded there.
- Richard - Michael's son. He is desperate to do 2 things. 1) Kill his father - Michael. 2) Move over into the light, which he is scared of doing while Michael is there. Richard has a sister there in spirit but her name is unknown.
- Mary-Anne - A old lady who sits in the chair to the right of the fireplace in the Bishops room watching over visitors. She tries to protect them from the other evil spirits around. She has actually pushed a paranormal team member out the way of a flying object in 2004. She does not like anyone sitting in her chair!
- George - Mary-Anne's husband. A very quiet man described as looking like a "proper country farmer" he is slight build with a bushy beard and a wide brimmed hat. He likes to sit opposite her in the other chair. He doesn't talk to people, just hangs around watching though he is believed to move from room to room. It is believed Edward killed him by hitting him on the back of his head with a staff thus pushing him down the stairs.
- Elspeth Grant - Witch. Many encounters with her but no one can get any information from her. We believe she assists Edward along with Michael in getting visitors to go to the barn where someone (maybe Edward) physically attacks people. She also tries to separate visitors so they or Edward can attack them. 1 of the 2 cats here belongs to her, it might be the drab dark big rugged cat often seen upstairs and heard to hiss in and around the Witches room.
- Alice - Witch - Not much known about Alice, except she is not very nice, wants to harm all visitors that enter what she sees as her domain. Incubus - In medieval European folklore, the incubus is a male demon (or evil spirit) who visits women in their sleep to lie with them in ghostly sexual intercourse. The woman who falls victim to an incubus will not awaken for the attack, although may experience it in a dream. It is said that should she get pregnant the child will grow inside her as any normal child, except that it will possess supernatural capabilities. Usually the child grows into a person of evil intent or a powerful wizard. Legend has it that the magician Merlin was the result of the union of an incubus and a nun. A Succubus is the female variety, and she concentrates herself on men. According to one legend, the incubus and the succubus were fallen angels. The word incubus is Latin for "nightmare". Succubus - In medieval European folklore, a female demon (or evil spirit) who visits men in their sleep to lie with them in ghostly sexual intercourse. The man who falls victim to a succubus will not awaken, although may experience it in a dream.In perspective - There is evidence of many people in the Ram having had an experience with one of the above. Regardless of your beliefs, the incubus is not quite as fanciful or demonic as described. A nasty person in real life who raped, murdered and even abused children may pass on but not move to the next level (be it heaven or somewhere else) They stay on our plane as a spirit with the same personality as they had in life.
- Cats x 2 - Elspeth's cat, a drab dark big rugged cat resided mostly upstairs. The other cat, not sure if it's Alice's cat or just a random cat. A Big Ginger Tom of average temperament that roams everywhere but is often seen in the lounge area by teams setting up their equipment.
- Dog - Recently on investigation guest team White Rose Paranormal had a few encounters with a dog. Descriptions were medium/large and dark by both witnesses, one said possibly Doberman and another said possibly rottweiler. Johns Daughter said the family pet Hagar (who passed away some years ago) fits the description.
- Countless Children - There are a number of children who frequent the Bishops room hiding under and between the beds from the nasty spirits there. There are a huge number who frequent the ground floor area, mainly the bar area who may be from either the Pagan era or perhaps from ritual sacrifice within the last millennium.
Visiting spirits
- 2 or more Highwaymen - 2 hide in the weaver's attic. One has been contacted by other paranormal teams but they didn't get much information. Maybe one is William Crew a highwayman seen walking from the roses, across the car park into the ram through a wall by the stairs.
- The Blue Lady - Elizabeth was murdered and buried beneath the bar area. Sometimes, a puddle appears where she was buried. She often appears above this spot on the 1st floor landing.
- The Cavalier - Similar story of the Blue Lady. He too was murdered then buried in a hidden chamber beneath the bar. He has been spotted a few times but one guest was staying in the Bishops room, got out of bed and walked towards the basin when a Cavalier came through the wall turned round and returned back through the wall again. You can imagine the effect it had on the guest.
- Rufus Morley - he has been encountered stood in the Bishops room After some research, it was discovered he might have been the last Innkeeper who pulled his last pint in 1967.
- Kyle - a recent addition to the Ram spirit clan. He recently died in a motorcycle accident. He was a regular visitor to the Ram and he often warns visitors of danger through an Ouija board. It is not yet clarified if Kyle is his real or nickname.
The Investigation
Vigil Teams
Team 1
Julie
Kerry
Alison
Abbie
Selina
Lee
Sandy
Rachel
Simon
David
Team 2
Maria
Ken
Alan
Rab
Ed
Val
Ross
Louise
Clare
Di
Laura
Conducting sound experiments (and floating between vigils) - Wayne & Mark
Each team had the following equipment to use -
At least 2 night vision camcorders
2 x Temp gun
2 x Emf meter
Dictaphone
Walkie Talkies
Trigger Object Experiments - Set by Rachel Bettany & Simon Steadman
Tarot Cards on furthest bed in Bishops Room
Candles on fireplace in Beaufort (Witches) Room
Up turned dish on the table in the Beaufort (Witches) Room
Wooden Cross in Mayflower Barn
Motion Sensors
2 sets (4 units) were set around the open grave on the ground floor
Vigil Plan
The plan for the night was very simple. For the first vigil team 1 investigated the barn & the grounds while team 2 investigated the inside of the building. For the second vigil the teams swapped round so team 2 were now outside and team 1 were inside.
Everyone had different ideas about what they wanted to do on the investigation (plus it was getting colder outside) so after the first 2 vigils the teams split into 1 team upstairs and 1 team downstairs. They then divided into smaller groups once in their areas.
Vigil Areas
Outside - The well, the cross, the flowerbeds (in front of the well), grounds to the side of the building, the car park
Inside Ground Floor - The Lounge, The Bar Area, The Mayflower Barn
Inside Upstairs - The Beaufort (Witches Room), The Bishops room and adjoining areas.
Top Floor - The Weavers Attic room
Baseline Tests - Completed by Alison, Ed, Laura & Val
Men's Kitchen Temp: 9.5- 10, EMF 00.1 - 00.2, no fluctuations. Traffic on road can be seen through window.
Base Area (Main Lounge): Temp 13 - 14, EMF 00.1 - 00.2, no fluctuations. Heater on in this room. Couple of the team feel sick in here while setting up and conducting baselines.
Small Room between base & bar: Temp 10 - 11, EMF 00.1 - 00.2, no fluctuations. Couple of members feel dizzy in this area.
Bar: Temp 9 - 10, EMF 00.1 - 00.2, no fluctuations
Electric Meter Room: Temp 9 - 9.5. EMF 00.1 - 00.2, no fluctuations. All meters off.
Beaufort (Witches) Room: Temp 10.5, EMF 00.1 - 00.2, no fluctuations
Connecting area between Beaufort room & Bishops room: Temp 10, EMF 00.1 - 00.2, no fluctuations
Bishops Room: 10 - 10.5, EMF 00.1 - 00.2, no fluctuations. NOTE - These readings had to be taken later by a male team member as when the females tried to open door they said it was locked. They were then informed by John that this door could not be locked.
Area directly opposite Bishops Room - Temp 10.5, EMF 00.1 - 00.2, no fluctuations
Weavers Attic - Temp 12.5 - 14 fluctuating, EMF 00.1 - 00.2, no fluctuations. Female team member reduced to tears while in this area (please see later reports).
Team / Vigil Notes
Ok, so this is the part where the notes of the investigation would normally go. Each team had a clipboard with notepaper on it and each team as requested took notes. At the end of the investigation these notes were gathered up by Kerry, Abbie & myself (Julie) and placed in my black kit bag (the only bag big enough to hold clipboards). The bags were then packed straight into Maria's car and were not removed from the car again until I got home.
When I opened the black case to get the notes to enable me to write the report they were not there. All that was left in their place was a sketch (in black biro) of a man called George. I have asked the group who did this and no one has admitted doing it or remembering who did it. It is unusual in the fact that sketching is not something many of our team do on investigations. The sketch is very relevant as it closely matches the description of a spirit that is supposed to be grounded at the Ram. I have considered many options - for example one being that we may have picked up a sketch that another team did that was left at the Inn but oddly the paper is the same as the paper I take on investigations. This was verified by the small SP UK that I put on the back of every piece of paper that I take to a location for this very reason. Investigators did not know this until now. Please see below -
Even stranger for me is the disappearance of the notes. This has only happened once before on an investigation and that is when we visited Coal House Forte where all the dictaphone notes went missing or on the one we did have seemed to be recorded backwards! I have spoken to John and we have not left anything at the Ram and so at this time or until the notes turn up I have no explanation. All members present have been asked to check their bags and cars as a precaution however I would find it odd if they were anywhere else as like I mentioned, I put them in my black case, myself.
Until these notes turn up we will have to reply on investigators personal reports to explain what happen on the night.
Present notes - All teams notes missing, 2 large clipboards missing!
Personal Reports
Julie Harwood
When we agreed to investigate the Ram Inn with owner John, I knew the reaction from the group would be overwhelming. I would have loved to let everyone that wanted to attend go but it was just not possible. We were planning to take the group on 2 trips (half of the group each time) but unfortunately John got a charity booking for the other date we wanted.
Pre Investigation - Leading up to the investigation I had had several dreams (or nightmares I suppose) about the investigation, something which I have never had before an investigation before. The most prevalent 2 were one where I was trapped in the barn, screaming and no one could hear me. I was surprised when I talked to Kerry after the dream, to hear that she had had exactly the same dream on the same night. Coincidence? The most disturbing one for me, as the Group Manager was one I told Selina about a couple of days before the investigation and that was people disappearing while in the Inn. One minute there would be all the right people, then I would look again and 1 would be missing. Then I would look away and look back at the people and another couple had disappeared. I was unable to tell who had vanished but I just knew there were fewer people than when we started. This carried on until Kerry and myself were the only ones left and I wondered who was going to go next and of course how we would explain it to people's families. I woke up before either Kerry or myself vanished.
The trip up from home to the investigation was not easy either. At times it seemed like something was trying desperately to stop us getting there. Before we set off Maria's can of coke exploded in her suitcase. The sat nav then got us incredible lost and appeared for a while to be taking us in the complete opposite direction. On the motorway I realised we were following a car with the registration number HEX, on a country lane we pulled up right behind a large white Van which caught fire (Maria backed up pretty hastily from that one), we could not find a cashpoint that would accept my cards (even though I knew there was ample credit on them), and we found it near impossible to find anywhere to get anything to eat or to buy cigarettes. The list goes on but eventually we made it (odds feeling like they were against us) after a trip of 4 ½ hours (which should have only taken 2 max) to the Ram Inn. I apologise to everyone that we were so late.
Investigation - Prior to the actual investigation starting and during the baseline tests some strange things had happened including women not being able to get into the bishops room, Simon's camera vanishing only to turn up in the place everyone had been looking for it etc. This had put a lot of the team on edge and some people were not coping as well as they normally would. I decided before starting the vigils to call everyone outside and to ask everyone to take 10 minutes to relax, chill out and compose themselves. I noticed some people just sitting quietly to do this and others laughed and joked about non-group things. Whatever people did, it seemed to work and the teams that went back into the investigation seemed a little less on edge.
Trying to recall the events of the night is really hard for me. Especially the first hour or two. It seems so hazy. I know when we arrived and went inside that I felt fine in the first room and also in the bar area however when we walked towards the mayflower barn under the stairs (I was with Kerry at the time) I felt very sick and could smell baby milk / sick. It very nearly made me retch.
Also while the rest of the team had a chat with John, Kerry and myself were in the little lounge and I was stood by the window. I swear that someone was stood behind me and touched my elbow as if they wanted to squeeze past however when I looked no one was there. It was then Kerry said she was sure she had seen a little man/person behind me.
My first vigil was with Selina, David, Sandy and Abbie in the garden. I was looking forward to this as just before a large group of people had been in the car park and had all witnessed a load of stones being thrown which landed on the cars. Unfortunately I did not witness this so I will leave it to other people to describe. Selina, David and Sandy went one side of the cross and Abbie and I remained on the Inn side of the cross. We could hear lots of taps when we called out however there were big moths about and they were banging on the windows at the lights inside so we found it difficult to distinguish what was what. I kept looking over at Selina as I could only see the top of her head above the plants (as she was sat on the right hand side of the bench). I saw her head move but then she spoke and the voice did not come from where I was looking. I asked Selina how long she had been sat where she was and she said that she had not moved and Sandy and David vouched for that. She was no where near the place I was looking at. Looking back to where I thought she was the head had now gone. Sandy and David are both tall and were also stood up so it could not have been them. I know no one else from the team was with us in the garden so I am not sure what I saw. Minutes after this I saw someone stood between the 2 furthest cars in the car park, right in front of the tree that leans in. I immediately got up to investigate to see if someone was hiding there as I expected to see a teenager messing around, but no one was there. It was then that Selina told me Alan and also (having now read Kerry's report) Kerry had seen someone there earlier.
We then wandered around the back of the Inn towards the well and surrounding area but I did not like it here and said I felt like I was in a graveyard treading on peoples graves. I felt very disrespectful. David did think he saw something run across in front of us here. I heard some movement but did not see anything.
Our next vigil was in the witches' room. This for me was the most frightening vigil of the whole night. Alison, Abbie, Selina and I made our way in and immediately we all sat down the furthest we could from the bed. I sat in the chair on the left of the fireplace (as you are looking at it) and we all commented how we felt there was women in the room with us over by the curtains and the bed where we were capturing orbs and hearing movement. We called out and Abbie (who was sat in front on my on the stool) and I did not want to look to our right. The room was so dark that the thing I found the scariest was that I felt something wanted to rush at us but obviously I could not see it. It was not long after this that the chair I was sitting in started to vibrate. I can honestly say I have never been so scared in all my life. It was doing it so hard that in the end I jumped up and ran to the door. I literally was terrified, as I could not stop the chair shaking. Alison tried to calm me done and I thank her for that. She swapped chairs with my so now I was sat on the right hand side of the fireplace. David, Kerry and Lee then joined us in the room as they were having a quiet time in the Bishops room. They settle in (Lee and Kerry on the floor and David at the table opposite Selina) and immediately Kerry picked up on the 3 women in the room and pointed to exactly where Alison had sensed them. David sensed a man in the room too and when he sat in Alison's chair Kerry and Alison said they felt the man was now stood behind David, however I did not feel like there was a male in the room (apart from Lee and David of course) the room to me felt totally dominated by women. Kerry then felt a strong presence rush towards her and psychically shuffled back on the floor while asking it to step away from her. Alison was very very aggressive in this vigil as was David. I can vouch for both of these investigators and the way they were acting was not the way they normally act on investigations. I believe if they had stayed in that room much longer they would have literally started psychically fighting. Wayne then joined us in the room and we all heard the squeak of a spring like someone had sat on the bed. The last straw for me was when Kerry saw someone stood behind myself and Selina and then something shoved Selina's chair, which made it jump forward and knock my leg. I was glad to leave the vigil but when we did leave we noticed the trigger object candles on the fireplace had all moved out their circles and so had the dish on the table.
After a break Lee, Kerry, Abbie, Alison, Wayne and I tried a Ouija board in the lounge downstairs. There were little results so I suggested we just try doing it séance style. Almost immediately we could all hear what sounded like someone about to come into the room from the bar area. We heard creaking, footsteps etc so we called out (and Wayne checked) and there was no one there. The group seemed to then get really giggling however myself and Lee commented how we did not feel like this at all and actually felt a little p****d off. This carried on and it was about then I went into a little world of my own. My first thought is to blame this on tiredness but I must admit this is not something I normally suffer with on investigations. I was having really random thoughts and completely cut out what the rest of the group was doing. When I read Kerry's report I was surprised what they came up with when I was in my daze because all I could think about was things like big purple plane, red car, big white fluffy clouds, green trees, yellow sun. The kind of thing you see in childrens books so they can make colour associations. When the group finished the vigil I heard Kerry calling me and this snapped me out of my daydream. They asked me what I was thinking and I really did not know what to say and I remember just staring at Alison for a couple of seconds before just deciding to tell them the truth however stupid I sounded.
Our last vigil of the night was in the Bishops room and by the time we got there I felt absolutely fine. Wayne laid on the first bed in the room, Selina on the chair next to the bed and Lee and I on the chairs either side of the fireplace. I experienced nothing out of the ordinary in this room. I was drawn to the old spinning wheel at the far end but only because old pieces of equipment like that fascinate me. Lee was feeling abnormally sleepy in this room and Wayne felt a pressure on his chest while lying on the bed. Lee then did feel (while sat on the chair on the right of the fireplace - as you look at it) that he was sat in someone else's chair and his breathing was becoming a bit laboured, I could hear that. We also noticed that the bed clothes on the centre bed had become ruffled yet we did not remember if it was like this when we came into the room. Hopefully we will be able to look back on the footage on Lee's camcorder to see if it was or not. All in all a quiet room for me and Selina but a bit more active for Lee and Wayne. The only other odd thing of the night was the fact that the motion sensors placed over the grave on the lower floor kept going off. Some of the time this was when a group was observing it so hopefully we should have this on film.
Post Investigation - I have to make an apology to Di, Maria & Abbie as I was travelling with them. After the investigation on our way back to the hotel, I was in the most foul mood I have been in for a very long time. I was snappy, bad tempered and when we stopped to get a drink at the services I proceeded to bite and snap at Di while talking to her. I have to say until the minute I went to sleep in the hotel I was seeing red for no reason whatsoever. I have done 50+ of these investigations and so to blame it on tiredness would be lame as it has never affected me before. I went to bed at 5.25am and woke up again at 7.15am. I was still so cross at something that I could not sleep anymore. This wore off as the day went on however I was very embarrassed about my behaviour until I heard that other members (Wayne & Simon - I am sure they will not mind me mentioning them as it is in their personal reports) seemed to be affected the same as I was.
In conclusion a fantastic night! Would I go back? Most definitely and now I understand why so many groups book return visits to the Ram over and over again. Thank you so much to John Humphries who made us so welcome and spent so much of his time showing us around and making us feel at home in his home! We hope to see him again very very soon.
Kerry Price
When I found out that Southern Paranormal were investigating this site I agreed with some trepidation to go. The Ram Inn is one of those places that has so many reports of people fainting, being thrown across the room etc that to be honest I was dreading going. Luckily for us it turned out to be a good night with no major injuries to the group.
As there were so many of us attending we turned up separately and so had to wait a half hour or so for everyone to turn up. What I noticed 1st was the proximity to the church and how the property was directly opposite the church path, I wondered if this was of any relevance to the Inn's past.
The second thing noted was where we had parked up was a deep puddle which had disappeared by the time everyone had arrived. Where did the water go?
Many locals seemed interested in what we were doing there saying things like 'you don't want to go in there'. Everyone had a tale to tell about the Inn.
On entering the Ram and going through the door into the living quarters it felt like someone pushed me in. No one was behind me so I know it wasn't a human hand. The first room, John's living room had a very odd atmosphere indeed. I instantly felt like I was intruding and knew that there was a male spirit presence watching us. The room which led off this felt ok but still as though there was someone there, however the next room which seemed to be the old Inn saloon bar had a very odd atmosphere indeed. It wasn't until I looked to my left that I noticed that there was an ancient grave in this space which could account for the weird feeling the room gave off. It is strange to note that when I looked at the grave I thought of native American's, I have no idea why I thought this.
I also felt like this room was like the hull of a boat. The semi circular benches around the fire made me very dizzy when I leaned on the one nearest the staircase, I didn't feel drunk but as though I had been hit. The fireplace was very interesting. In front of the fire place there seemed to be a drop down through a grate. I have no idea what this was used for as I missed out on the tour of the building. I did not venture into the barn however I did linger around the bottom of the staircase. It felt very sad here and felt like a graveyard. Also to me this felt like the oldest part of the current building. I did not venture around the rest of the building until the vigils started.
As I have already stated, I didn't go on the tour of the building. I stayed in the living room helping unpack the equipment. At one point Julie was standing by the window. When I looked up I could see a very short man standing behind Julie. He had short bowl cut greasy hair which I took to be fair or mousy blonde. I did not notice what he was wearing as the image did not linger but I knew that he was not looking at us. He had his head down and his hands in front of him. To be honest he looked as though he had been laid out for burial.
Before our vigils started we had a quick break at the front of the property. This is where the weirdest thing of the night happened for me. Some of us were standing outside and all of a sudden I heard a whooshing noise which seemed to come from the barn. At that moment a shower of stones rained down on the garden, hitting the cars parked there. We were quite shocked seeing as the stones seemed to come from above. If someone had done this then they would have had to have been strong as there were more than a handful, I would say a bucket full and also they came from high up. Also, we checked and we could not see anyone in the vicinity nor anywhere to hide. I also saw someone the height of a child moving between the cars, I knew no-one was there as the angle I was at I had a clear view of the ground outside and the entrance. I did check just in case. I would say from the height that the child was no older than 7 years old. Alan also saw this image later on and also checked and could find no-one.
As many things were happening to the group (I will let them tell their own stories), we decided that we should only split into 2 groups, the original groups 1 and 2 merging and the same for 3 and 4.
Vigil 1 was in the barn. I am glad that I got this part out of the way first as I had a nightmare that I was in the barn and couldn't get out, nor could anyone hear me screaming.
I entered first and made my way to the end near the fireplace, followed by Alison, Lee, Rachel and then Simon. Although the ground was full of pot holes and the boards gave us all a disorientated feeling I felt as though the ground had been under water at some point in the history of it as though the ground was reclaimed marsh. This was not helped by the overwhelming feeling of damp in the barn.
We took turns in calling out and had some response. We heard a few taps and had orbs in response to calling out. I was fine as I was filming and I could see everything however when I turned the camcorder off and just stood in the darkness the barn took on a very different feeling altogether. The main thing that seemed to happen here was that something kept playing with Alison's feet and lower legs. Most of the knocks seemed to be coming from Alison's left and opposite Lee. Rachel and Simon were also having some success near the entrance to the barn with shadows being spotted. To me whatever was there was sitting in the rafters watching us and was definitely a male adult.
My next vigil was in the Bishop's room with Lee and David. Earlier while conducting the baseline tests a couple of the women could not open the door to this room. John the owner pointed out that only men could open the door and they had to knock three times before entering. I was quite apprehensive about entering this room but luckily it didn't feel intimidating at all.
As we got to the top of the staircase I heard a loud meow coming from the witch's bedroom, I expected to see a cat but there wasn't one. A similar thing happened later when I was outside, I saw a short haired black cat by my leg and bent down to stroke it but there wasn't one there. The cat in the witch's room I took to be a big ginger tom.
We took turns in calling out in the Bishop's room but to no success. There is an oil painting in this room above a table lamp which had me fascinated. Every time I looked at the picture it seemed to give a lop-sided grin. I filmed it so if this did happen it will be caught on camcorder. I gave the camcorder to Lee and asked him to film the picture he also said that the man in the picture looked as though it kept grinning. I didn't like the picture and thought that whatever haunted this room liked to hide and jump out and not answer to anyone especially a woman. As we had little success in this room we went to join the rest of the group in the witch's bedroom. To me, this was my favourite vigil and most active.
When we got in there the group seemed more than a little flustered. I sat down on the floor and was amazed to spot 2 spirit females by the window. I voiced this and it was confirmed by the rest of the group. As soon as I started speaking I felt one of the presence's make a rush for me and had to keep my wits about me to keep it at a distant. I did not like this sensation but knew that I had sufficient protection to keep it at bay and it was just trying to dishevel me. I must say it did a great job. This spirit hung back slightly but kept trying to take advantage when there was a lull in concentration and kept trying to come forward. I must say it was quite petrifying and if I was in a smaller group I would probably have left the room. While I sat and tried to take the room in I was informed that there were more spirits in the room that were lingering at the back of the room where Julie, Abbie and Selina were and they were feeling more than a bit uncomfortable. I sat for a time in front of Abbie as there were blasts of cold emanating from the area she was in which to I meant lots of spirit movement and I could see that she was uncomfortable. All the time I was facing where I had seen the spirits as I did not want to be taken by surprise. I was more than a little dumbfounded to see that one of the spirits kept trying to come forward into our space without permission. I assumed that this was the strongest spirit and was the witch. She kept crouching on the floor and looked like she was preparing something and then without warning she would spring up and travel at great speed towards us. It is strange to note that Lee and I kept getting watery, stinging eyes. The other female spirits in the room seemed to be part and parcel of what had happened in this room and were familiar with it, however I did not find them so threatening as the strongest spirit presence. At one point all I could see was a foot on the floor which seemed to glow white, I asked Alison if she could see it. When she pointed to the same area I knew that she could also see it which is unusual for Alison, as she doesn't usually get visuals.
David swapped seats with Alison who now sat at the table area with Selina, Abbie and Julie with me and Lee sat in front of the table, with David to our right. I stood behind the table as they were all feeling uncomfortable and I wanted to witness the feeling for myself. By this time Wayne had joined us to film. I thought that activity would cease when Wayne came in but it was not so.
At one point a cat was spotted on the bed. The strongest female seemed to disappear and then pop back again, this time with a man in tow. Alison and I could see a male spirit behind David, He didn't make his presence known to us but to me this man was a highwayman or smuggler. I couldn't get a full picture of him but I knew that he had died for something that he did and thought that it was unjust as he never killed anyone. All I could see him do was look in the mirror and I think that his was the disembodied foot that I had seen. The female spirits were still present to a degree in the room. At one point we all heard a weird loud rumbling noise and we captured many orbs in response to calling out. When I stood behind the table I kept getting cold blasts of air and at one point I felt one of my stud earrings being unscrewed, when I checked it was just about to fall out of my ear. I could have spent the whole investigation in this room.
Our next vigil was in the living room. We tried to conduct Ouija but there was very little movement. We did have a lot of activity in this vigil though. Abbie felt as though someone was trying to sexually violate her, which obviously made her feel very uncomfortable. I could see a man whom I believed to be named Peter. He seemed fairly young (anywhere between 28-40) had collar length blonde hair was wearing oxford bag type trousers and a tight short green jumper. I thought that he was an army man but was in civilian clothing. Through out this vigil we heard footsteps, taps and thuds coming from the next room in response to calling out. We all thought that whoever the spirit was it was a very young child. Julie reacted very strangely to this vigil she just seemed to drift off into a world of her own. When questioned she said that she was just thinking disembodied thoughts, a purple car, green trees, yellow sun etc. To me she was picking up the thoughts of the child who was far too young to make itself known. Young children seem to pick things up by shape and colour when they are of toddler age, it seemed quite upsetting that this child was very young and was obviously trying to get through to us. I think that the child was male and no older than 2 years of age. It felt very sad in there and I believe that this child did not die of natural causes. The whole place felt full of bodies and I am certain that there are many more there that have not yet been uncovered. A very sad vigil indeed.
My last vigil was to be with Abbie and Alison in the attic as I had not yet been in this part of the building. It was quite a task getting up there as the stairs are so rickety. On entering the bedroom to the right of the staircase the first thought that popped into my head was that some kind of pornographic material had been filmed or photographed here. It made me feel a little uncomfortable so I didn't say anything. It seemed odd also that Alison had been so upset by this room earlier. When we were in the attic she told me that she didn't like this area as she felt as though a young woman/girl had been held here and that she had been ritually and regularly abused and thought that the girl's brother was responsible.
Abbie felt very uncomfortable here. She felt as though she was a very young girl who was locked in this space and felt compelled to pick up the cuddly toy that was sat on the armchair and stroke/hold it for comfort. This she did for our entire stay up here and it made me feel sad as she looked completely withdrawn and vacant.
While we were standing outside before the investigation Alison and I kept looking up to a dormer window which seemed to fascinate us. We just felt that a face had been seen here. Alison pointed out that the window was in the attic. It was in a very precarious place above the staircase. At least one of the pains had been broken and had polythene taped over it. I don't know if the next thing was just a trick of the light. As I stared at the window the polythene seemed to transform into a girl's legs and I got the distinct impression of a girl dead hanging half out of the window. I assume that she had died with injuries to the stomach and this was across the window pain. Alison had been having feelings that someone died by being slit across the stomach and I believe this is where it emanated from. I could not give a time for this incident however Alison thought 18th century. I thought that this incident happened much later however thinking back I believe that at least two girls or young women had been subjected to sexual abuse in this space throughout the buildings history.
I also felt that a girl had been dragged backwards into the far left corner of the attic and had been abused to the point that she had been ripped to pieces.
There is a wall in the attic, which does not seem to have a use. I thought it could have been a chimney breast however it seemed to be resting on boards. It was in an odd place and when we shined a torch in there it looked as though it had been back filled. There was already a fire place at the far end of the attic, so what was this? As I looked in it I kept getting the word poppet come into my head. I know this word has many connotations. It was a word for a type of voodoo doll used by witches, it was also later used to describe a doll as a play thing and has also been used as an affectionate term. I believed that a doll of some description had been found in this area or indeed it was still there. I just had the impression of a young girl sitting in the walled up area with a doll. At this we ended the vigil as their just seemed to be sad feelings in this space.
This was a thoroughly weird place to investigate. I have never been to an investigation where the main feeling for me had been death. It was like investigating a grave yard. There seemed to be as many sad as menacing spirits in this building which gave off a really sad air. I think that the strong spirits are the more prevalent which keep the sad spirits in the background. Other things that I picked up were a fight going on in the saloon bar between what appeared to be cavaliers or at least some were present, which ended in murder. I get the feeling that a sword fight has been heard and on occasion gun shots. I also feel to some extent that the activity in the barn area is related to this. Also many cries were heard and sobbing and when I was with Julie we could both smell something around the area of the bottom of the staircase which Julie identified as baby sick. We also heard many taps when we were in the area of the ancient grave. I also kept seeing a head appear in the garden to the left of the cross, again the hair was blonde but I did not see enough to describe if it was male or female. Most spirits that I could see in my minds eye were blonde, which is odd. Were they part of the same family? Was it just coincidence?
Many of us felt knocks to the back of the legs and I had what felt to be a cigarette burn on the back of my right leg which hurt for about 10 minutes before fading.
The place reminded me in some way of Jamaica Inn where one knew that a very strong (physically as well as mentally) male presence had ruled the roost and everyone was scared of him. He got up to no good and everyone accepted it.
The atmospheres at this site just seemed to get stripped back until one could almost feel the original essence of the site. This must have been a place of great importance as the ritual feeling that the building gives off is so strong that it cannot be ignored.
A great investigation.
Maria Street
I never in a million years thought I would be writing a report on The Ancient Ram Inn. It's a location that tends to be spoken of in hushed tones or high excitement. There was certainly a lot of expectation, which was very hard to shake off. We all try to go in to an investigation with an objective frame of mind. We try to wipe the slate clean as regards any reputation that the location holds, but on this occasion, this was proving extremely difficult, if not nigh on impossible. This was compounded by unforeseen delays in getting to our hotel. I was travelling down with Di, Julie and Abbie and I had arranged to pick them up at 1.30pm. I'd had to take my daughter for her swimming lesson first, but as she finished at 11.30 this seemed reasonable. Unfortunately, somebody locked her out of her cubicle, which made her 10 minutes later than usual. I didn't think this was too bad and decided to take the car for a jet wash, as the screen wash doesn't work properly. There was only a van being washed so I bought my token and drove round only to find another car had beaten me to it. It was another 25 mins before I drove out of the garage. The people in front of me had had a super duper wash! Once home, I quickly grabbed my suitcase and stood it up to grab hold of my video camera, only for my suitcase to fall over, causing the plug of my charger to puncture a coke can that was nestled amongst my clothes. This caused yet another delay and my blood pressure was slowly rising as I made my way to my car. Between my house and Di's there are 10 sets of traffic lights and I managed to get stuck at every one of them. I finally reached Di's at around 2.15, nearly an hour after I had arranged. I set the sat nav and we drove off, not realising that the sat nav had crashed and we were going a little out of our way. I reset it and we were off! The traffic was great considering it was Mayday weekend and we thought we should make it in good time. Unfortunately the sat nav seemed to be taking us the long way round and it was when we followed a car with a number plate which spelt HEX, we decided that maybe something really didn't want us at the Ram. Well that was just their too bad, because NOTHING was going to stop us from getting there! We had fifteen miles to go and were starting to breathe a sigh of relief when, as we rounded a bend, we spotted a van just ahead that was belching smoke. It really was far too dangerous to try to pass it, so we had no alternative but to do a U turn and find another way. Luckily we had a spare sat nav called Abbie who got us on to the right roads! We finally reached the hotel at around 5pm. We settled in with a cuppa, but, ever mindful of the time, a sleep was out of the question, so we decided to drive to the nearest village to get something to eat and to find an ATM. We ended up in a little place called Dursley which made me laugh as this is the name of Harry Potter's aunt and uncle, which seemed suitably magical. It was then that I realised that the address of the Ram was Potter's Pond and we could only marvel at all the signs we seemed to be getting that day…..and our evening hadn't even started! What sort of a night were we in for?
After a lovely pub meal, we set off for the Ram. Some of the members were already there and were ringing us to find out where we were. I personally, couldn't wait for that first glimpse of the place, and I wasn't to be disappointed. The whole building seemed to be screaming at us to Go Away, only not so politely. I really felt as if it or it's inhabitants did not want us there. I was still really determined to not be put off though and shrugged the feeling off. I just couldn't wait to get started. We stood outside whilst baselines were being conducted and then made our way indoors to set up the team room. It was immediately that I set foot in to the front room that I felt extremely woozy and light headed. I could only liken it to being on board ship and I was starting to feel quite nauseous. I have heard since that this is what can happen when there is an unusual amount of activity taking place and the energies make you feel this way. I wasn't the only one however, as Lee also complained of feeling the same way. I felt so bad that I accompanied Simon and Rachel whilst they were setting up the trigger objects, as I needed to get out of that atmosphere. Don't think I was much help though as I just felt really rough. I just took the 'before' photos for them!
We all converged in the kitchen after this for a meeting with John, the owner, who was keen to show us photographic evidence of previous investigations and to just welcome us to his home.
I was in Team 3 with Rab, Alan, Val, Ross and Ed. It was decided that teams should pair up and I teamed up with Team 4, Ken's team. Alan, Di, Ed and I made our way up to the attic whilst the others all went to the Bishops Room. I settled on to a chair by the window, and, for a while, we just waited. I was still feeling a little woozy, but nowhere near as bad as before. After about 5 mins I called out but had little response, so Di tried and it seemed that the EMF meter spiked in answer to her questions. We established that we were talking to a female who was accused of being a witch. I got the name 'Marion' at the exact same time that Di did and Alan got the name 'Mary'. Alan had a go with the divining rods and a question and answer session ensued and it was whilst this was going on that I felt my chair move. I swapped places with Alan to see if he could feel it too, but he couldn't. Our next vigil was out in the grounds and it was starting to get a little chilly with the threat of rain, so we all wrapped up warm. This time we were accompanied by the rest of the team. I wanted to get some outside shots of the front of the Ram, so walked out to the road with Di to take some photos. There wasn't anything spectacular that showed up but a couple of orbs were caught round the back. I didn't really feel anything outside although I did feel a little uneasy around the back of the flower bed but it was darker here than anywhere else so that could explain that! It also has to be noted that earlier on in the evening a shower of stones was witnessed by some of our members in the grounds. What struck me as funny is that on hearing that we were more concerned for our cars. The spirits could throw as many stones as they liked as long as they missed our cars! Just goes to show it will take a lot more than that to frighten us off!
After a welcome drink we started our next vigil which was to be the most exciting of the lot for our team. This time I was accompanied by Alan, Ken, Rab, Di, Ross and Ed and we were in the barn. This was piled high with old furniture and belongings of John and the floor was very uneven and quite precarious, so it was with some care that we made our way to the back. It started off uneventfully enough so we started to call out. Amazingly enough, (and contrary to what some would have you believe, a very rare phenomena occurred). We started to get taps in response to our questions. Rab got the name William, but drew no response and Alan got the name James which also drew no response. From out of nowhere the name Thomas popped into my head, so I asked Ken to suggest that. He did and immediately two taps were heard. Di started to feel threatened and said that she wanted to get out and at this point Ken asked Thomas to move something. I asked Rab and Ross to check the trigger object but it hadn't moved and it was at this moment that we heard a commotion only to find Alan slumped up against the furniture. Something had pushed him. We immediately left the area, concerned for Alan's welfare, and stopped for a break. Alan felt ok to carry on after this so we went up to the Bishops Room and conducted a Ouija experiment, but we felt nothing in here, so we made our way downstairs to the front room but again didn't really feel anything, so we went once again into the barn. This time I stood where Alan had stood but didn't realise this until I started to feel extremely threatened. I wasn't scared and if it hadn't have been for the heavy objects that surrounded me I would have stayed but I really felt that I had to get out of there, so I did. Not long after the others joined me as once again, Alan started to feel freezing cold and was not going to hang around for another shove! We settled in to the old Bar area which was very cold. Unfortunately we didn't get much in here so we made our way into the front room where the others were conducting a Ouija board experiment. We joined in but the planchette remained still. This ended our investigation at the Ram and I enjoyed it immensely. Definitely a place to revisit! I would like to thank John very much for his kind hospitality and for allowing us in to what is, indeed, his home.
Selina Dean
I had been looking forward to this investigation for weeks and had butterflies about it for days! Alan and myself arrived at the Ram Inn around 8.30 and we were in awe of the building that greeted us. We met up with the rest of the team members and were introduced to John the owner. John showed us inside and gave us a short talk about the building, showing us some artefacts that had been found there and photos of alleged ghostly sightings.
My team started our investigation in the garden where earlier in the evening stones had been thrown. As we were sitting in the garden Abbie & Julie both saw what they thought was a man crouching beside me. I never actually saw anything but I did feel a lot colder that side but put it down to the weather. About ten minutes after this Julie saw someone by the cars but when we checked there was no one there.
After a short break we made our way top the witches room. This for me was the most active room of the night. Alison and Kerry saw 3 women in the room and experienced a choking sensation, as did Abbie. Myself and Julie both saw a flash of light by one of the chairs and we both felt something push the back of my chair very hard. Throughout our vigil in this room we all felt the presence of these women walking around us. At one point we all heard what sounded like someone sitting on the bed.
After another break our next vigil was in the barn. We never really experienced anything apart from some tapping sounds on a box close to where we were standing.
My final vigil was in the bishop's room. I found this room to be quite disappointing as it is supposed to be the most haunted room. Apart from Wayne feeling a pressure on his chest while laid on the bed, for most of the time were in this room nothing else really happened. Sadly we were at the end of the investigation and it was time to leave. I loved this building but I was a little disappointed that not too much happened after hearing so much about its reputation. Hopefully I will get a chance to return at a later date.
Alison Blyth
On first arrival, I felt the place was a quaint country home as the garden was welcoming and inviting with the climbing wisteria in full bloom draping itself across the building but my first impressions were soon to be changed. We all met up in the car park and was greeted by John the owner.
To be honest I was shocked by the amount of clutter within the building and the uneven floorboards gave me the sense of dizziness like being on a ship, but the building fascinated me .
I was chosen to do the baseline tests with Laura, Val and Ed before commencing our investigation. I felt sick, but fine on the lower floors and carried out our business but on reaching the upper floors I was to experience a few problems. On entering the witches room I felt physically weak and felt uneasy as if I was being 'checked out' so to speak. This worsened the deeper we went into the building and I was definitely being followed and felt cold breezes on my neck For some reason both Val and I could not open the door to the bishops room so assumed it was locked. Because of this we decided to do the tests upstairs in the attic. Val and Laura wandered up first, then when they had come down Ed and I ventured up there. Once I reached the attic I couldn't contain myself and burst into tears. I felt totally overwhelmed by emotion there and felt it had a connection with children but felt unable to stay up there long enough to find out a reason for this outburst.
We finished our baselines and I felt I had to go outside to calm myself as i still felt uneasy and emotional. I explained to Di how it made me feel and felt that child abuse was rife in the history of the place which upset me greatly. I also Said to Kerry that I felt that the walls held secrets and that I wouldn't be surprised if bodies had been hidden within them. As we were speaking some stones were thrown in the car park which were clearly heard as they hit our cars. I ran up the drive to see if this could have been done by the locals but I couldn't see anyone, but I can't rule out that someone passing could have done that.
Or first vigil was in the barn. The floors were very uneven so finding our feet was extremely difficult. Personally I felt uneasy in this area as there were so many objects which could have fallen onto us. The thing that did strike me as very strange was the fact that on several occasions my feet were touched and I was prodded behind my knees . We all felt cold spots and a few taps, but I cannot rule out rodent activity in this area.
Our next vigil was in the Beaufort Room. Instantly upon entering I felt that we were being watched almost scrutinised. We noticed at this point that trigger objects had moved so photos were taken to verify the movement before putting them back into place. I do not know why but I said it only takes three to make a coven as I felt there were two women with us. I was sat in the armchair next to the fire and Julie was to my right with Abbie sat at her feet, Selina was next to me. I instantly felt that there was a woman at the window in front of me and orbs were captured one appearing to be blue in colour. The trouble we had with this room was that every movement made the floor move dramatically so we stayed as still as we could. At this point I was given an image of someone close to me which I later felt was used to lure me into a false sense of security by gaining my trust . Julie felt that the chair she was sat in was moving so much she had to move from it and swapped places with me. Whilst sat in this chair I was given the word ' Hag' so said it out aloud. Hissing sounds and growls were heard and on a few occasions I was told clearly to f off by this women as everything I said tended to agitate her. David, Lee and Kerry joined us and at one point David advised me that he wanted to punch me. At this point I could see it was David but wanted to say 'Come on Edward do your worse'. This puzzles me as I could see it was David but felt it wasn't him .With that whatever was in this room with us became aggressive as knocks were heard and a clear feeling of unease was felt by all. I was touched on the arm initially and on two occasions felt like someone stroked the side of my face then placed their thumb into my neck with force. I asked for them to stop as I felt that whatever was with us was coming too close and invading my space. All in all the room felt very aggressive filled with very dominant females bickering and shouting who seemed to me felt threatened by us being there as despite their best efforts we did not succumb to their threats and actions. Their attempts to pick us off one by one failed which seemed to annoy them greatly. The whole group seemed to be effected and felt extremely threatened by this room. No names were given unfortunately .
Our next vigil was in the lower floor in the living room. I did catch a few orbs in this area and I did notice how the groups' mood had lifted from aggression to laughter which was quite extreme. A few loud bangs were heard from the adjoining room , but due to noise travelling so easily in this building it couldn't be ruled out that it wasn't another group. I did feel that a small boy would play in the area next to us and I called to him a few times to join us. I felt he was no older than a toddler barely crawling. I felt that he had been trapped and had lost his life at a very early age bearly having a chance to experience life at all.
Our final vigil was in the attic. I wanted to go there as whatever was there had caused me distress earlier and I wanted to establish what had made me feel that way. As soon as we entered the area I felt that my stomach had been slit open which made me hold my stomach almost feeling I had to do so to stop the pain. I felt what could only be described as a mixture of sadness , disgust and suicidal thoughts. I sensed a young woman aged between 16 and 17 years old. She was incarcerated here and was used as what could only be described as a sex toy. She was abused by a close relative which I believe could have been a brother , but he was not the only abuser. She gave the impression of having a feeling of apathy which indicated to me that she had been abused from an early age and knew no other life so accepted her fate as such. I couldn't work out whether she actually committed suicide or was pushed but the window seemed to have been the area where she met her fate and both Kerry and I felt that she bled to death after having her stomach slit on the window frame. She gave me the impression that she had not received a proper burial and her body was dumped like a piece of rubbish which is why she feels inclined to stay despite it holding painful memories for her. What struck me a strange was Abbie's reaction to this area as she was totally withdrawn and sat like a child on the floor with a soft toy in her arms stroking it like a cat. She was totally in her own world and had to be told twice to leave the area when our vigil time had expired .I was given the name f what sounded to me like Mary Anne but felt this wasn't the girls name more the name of a woman who sneaked in to her and gave her food and comfort despite not being able to help her . I was also given a date of 1784 but I couldn't connect that with anything as no further information was given to me.
All in all an interesting night filled with a mixture of emotions. Thank you John for welcoming us into your home
Alan Hall
Myself and Selina arrived at this wonderful place at approximately 8.30pm and we were both taken aback by it's awesome presence. I immediately started to go around the outside of the building to take some photographs whilst it was still light. One I took of the door at the front immediately took my attention as there was mist in the picture and through the mist a figure can clearly be seen. I knew then it was to be a great night. Whilst waiting for the investigation to start I clearly saw someone walk through the cars parked in the car park, but there was no-one else present. I believe other people also saw a figure in the same location at different intervals.
Upon meeting John and getting a brief history of the place, the investigation started which took our team up into the attic. Although nothing notable happened, I did pick up movement of orbs on the camcorder and notice fluctuations in the temperature. Most of these phenomena was present throughout the house/pub and was regularly caught on camera throughout the night. My own personal demons came true though within the old barn. I was constantly saying I had a presence of a man stood to my left whilst Ken was calling out. The temperature fell dramatically for about 5 minutes and then I was forcibly pushed off my feet into the contents of the barn. I was very shook up for about an hour afterwards. Immediately after this, I wanted to go to my car, so I went to get my keys from my bag. They were not there. 2 independent people opened and emptied the contents of my bag but no keys could be found. Upon a 3rd attempt, my keys appeared in the bag, which had previously been emptied. Also my equipment had moved location which was also witnessed by Wayne. This I cannot explain, but it does sum up the atmosphere of the building.
Later on in the night we returned to the barn, where Maria had the same feelings I had earlier, she left and I began to experience the feelings again. We immediately left as we all thought something sinister was about to happen.
In the witches' room, I came up with the name Mary/Mary-Anne or Marion, and talking to another member after the investigation, the same name/s were also gathered by themselves in the same room.
All in all it was a superb evening, however, I feel that the group was too large and if it had have been smaller/fewer numbers I feel that a much greater result would have been gathered. I would love to return someday.
Lee Barrows
Ah, the infamous Ram Inn. What a fantastic building in a fantastic location! Even standing outside when we first arrived, it was impossible not to be awe struck by this building. It actually looks like an old haunted house like you would expect to see in a movie! That fact, combined with the building's infamous history, expectations (and concerns) were running quite high and it was not without a sense of trepidation that I began the investigation.
The outbuilding
The outbuilding was a cold and very dark barn like structure on the side of the Inn. It had quite a lot of old furniture and debris stored in there, giving us a small path up the middle of the building in which to move. There was a sense of presence and movement around the edge of the room, with some of us seeing odd movements in the shadows and hearing tapping and clicking noises and the EMF meter decided, quite early on to just stop working at all, despite it having new batteries in it. It is quite possible that some of the movement noises we were hearing could have been rodents, although we didn't see any, it is a distinct possibility that there were some in there with us. Cold spots were felt in various places in the room and despite the body temperature of five people in there, the temperature dropped around us. Alison felt something touching her ankles and lower legs and at one point it felt as if something had squeezed my knee cap. I'm not sure if it was due to this or not, but shortly after this I started to feel really uncomfortable in this building. We asked out and invited any thing present with us to try and move the large chandelier-like light fitting above us, now it was quite difficult to tell in the dark and shadow but it seemed to be as if there was a slight movement, not so much a back and forth movement but more of a twisting, but certainly nothing definite.
The inside upstairs - The Bishop's room
This was supposed to be a very active part of the building, however we did not find anything to occur in this room. The only odd thing we found was that it looked like, to both Kerry and I, that the mouth of a man in a painting was twitching slightly! This could well have been an optical illusion and it will be interesting to see what it looks like on camera. Apart from that, there was a possible disturbance to the bed covers on one of the beds, but that too needs to be checked on camera to see it's original state upon us entering the room.
The inside upstairs - The Witch's room
Giving up on the Bishop's room, Kerry, David and I joined the rest of our team in the Witch's room down the corridor, where they seemed to be having more luck than we'd had and were apparently in communication with a group of women. I caught several quite light anomolies on the video camera that seemed to tie in with the location and movement of the spirit women as described by some of the others in the room. Also, interestingly, despite lots of people mentioning the fact that they were feeling cold, my face and neck were burning hot.
The inside downstairs
We decided to set up a Ouija board in the first room downstairs but despite the strong feeling of presence, we got very little out of the board apart from a few vague movements. Moving on from that we started to hear clear and very definite noises in the room next to us as if someone was walking towards us! Despite us calling out and inviting them to join us, these noises continued to come from that room. Alison and Kerry picked up on it possibly being a small child. Kerry also picked up on the presence of a man possibly called Peter, standing behind us. It was during this part of the investigation, that for some reason some of the team became quite giggly for no real apparent reason. Also, at one point of this vigil, I found that my breathing was very laboured for no apparent reason and this faded during the course of the vigil.
The inside upstairs - The Bishops room (revisit).
I returned to the Bishop's room, this time with Julie, Selina and Wayne in the hope that something would happen. Again, there seemed to be a disturbance of the centre beds covers (which will again need to be checked on the footage). Upon being in the room for a little while I suddenly felt very tired and sleepy and found that if I had closed my eyes, I would have probably gone to sleep in the chair I was sitting in. Interestingly both Wayne and I felt a pressure to our chests, myself only a little bit, but Wayne, who was on one of the beds, much more so. But again, nothing really seemed to occur in this room besides this.
In conclusion, there is definitely something about the Ram's Inn that is out of the ordinary, there is no doubt about that. But for whatever reason, we did not seem to get the full effect of the building that so many have reported previously. Maybe we went with too higher expectations or maybe it was a quiet night. I would like to thank John for allowing us to take over his home for the night and maybe we'll get to go back there again one day.
Wayne Blyth
I was really looking forward to investigating this property, due to the excitement building within the group. My previous experience with The Ram Inn extended to just a TV programme vaguely remembered. I make it a point never to delve into websites and such, so I really had no idea what to expect.
For this investigation, myself and Mark were performing filming and sound recording duties, which enabled us to "float" between groups, thus we would hopefully get the best of all worlds. We first joined Maria, Di, Ed and Alan in the attic. While there, we observed the EMF meter register quite strong readings, seemingly in reply to Di's questions. Alan also attempted dowsing rod divination, with positive responses.
Next we joined Ken's team, in the Bishops room. Interestingly, both Mark and myself, heard what we would both describe as a baby's cry, although as there was a lot of noise throughout the building, we cannot put this down to anything of a paranormal nature.
We also joined Julie, Kerry, Alison, Abbie and David in the Beaufort Room, where both Kerry and Alison felt a presence to be intimidating them, even to the point of physically touching them. Mark and I then split up, with myself joining Julie et al in the downstairs "seating area". Here we were to experience several loud noises which appeared to be coming from the bar area behind the curtains. We knew there was no-one there but still the noises persisted. I would still be inclined to think that due to the age of the property and the disrepair of the floorboards etc, that the noises were just other group members moving about elsewhere.
Back in the Bishops Room, with myself, Selina, Julie and Lee, we settled down for the vigil. Everyone seemed to be wary of sitting on the beds, so I thought I would be brave and lay there myself. Almost immediately, I began to feel a pressure on my chest, which made it very hard to breathe. This was to last almost the entire vigil. I must admit to having heard brief stories about the supposed incubus and succubus, so was this being remembered sub-consciously? I only know that I consciously remembered these stories after we had left the room! Another occurrence of note, was that all during the evening and night I had been extremely warm, even outside during our breaks. However, during this vigil, I found myself to be very very cold, and even shivering.
Conclusion: Is the Ram Inn haunted? So very hard to say. I know quite a few strange things happened to team members on the evening and there are obviously numerous reports throughout the years, but, for me, anyway, this is still not enough to convince. This is definitely a place that needs a re-investigation.
Post script.
Driving home afterwards, I started to fall asleep at the wheel. This is not like me, I have driven to Scotland and back in two days many times with no tiredness shown whatsoever. I have driven to and from far off investigations, again with no problems. So what made me so tired? Paranormal?
Arriving home from the investigation, and after a few hours sleep, I had been in a foul mood, for no apparent reason. Everything seemed to be getting at me and made me snap. Anyone who knows me would tell you that I am normally "happy go lucky" (although I have my moments, as everyone does). I can only apologise to those I mistreated. Thankfully these feelings have now died down, but again, what made me that way? Did I bring something back with me? Many would argue the point.
Sandy Rutter
It was a very interesting building, very lived in. Simon, Rachel & I arrived at the Ram about 21.30. We met John the owner and he told us a few things and showed us a few pictures (by us I mean the team). Team 1 and 2 joined forces as did teams 3 and 4 and after we had had a discussion with John the owner we started our first vigil
1st vigil we split into 2 mini groups -
Julie, Sandy, David, Selina & Abbie.
We were outside. It was cold so we couldn't do a proper temp reading as it was the same all over. David Selina and I were at 1 end of the garden and Julie and Abbie were at the other end. Julie was calling is there anybody there, nothing happened. Then Julie called out again, is there anybody there and we heard something like a stone being thrown however there was a lot of bugs flying into the light. Julie thought she saw a figure by the cars in the car park. I started to smell lavender. I thought I saw a figure run from the house to the cars but didn't say anything because I thought it was the light playing tricks on my eyes. We got back to our positions where we started from and Julie asked where Selina was and she was sitting on the bench as Julie thought Selina was sitting further over to wards the well / cross.
Vigil 2
We split up again. Most of the team was in the witches room whilst me Rachel and Simon went to the highway mans room. We settled down and took a few pictures. Me and Simon both set up our camcorders. I had mine on the seat near the bed. Simon called out is there anybody there, please make a noise, throw something, touch 1 of us and do it now. When I looked back on the tape, I heard what can only be described as a cat meow. Then we heard 3 moans or growls, it was a good start. Then we went to the bishops room. It was a very colourful room as it was mostly red. Simon again called out but nothing happened the first time and the second time Simon called again and he caught a light anomalym, which was a good sign. When Rachel was taking a few pics my camcorder was filming near the first 2beds and I think I caught 2 orbs as there was nothing there the first 2 flashes and all of a sudden 2 orbs I think appeared all on film
Vigil 3
We went to the mayflower barn (we being Me Simon Rachel and Selina). This was a very cluttered place with all of John's stuff. Simon called out is there anything there. Simon caught light anomalies by the door as Simon was near the door 2 girls in the middle. I was at the back. I didn't like it 1 bit it was very creepy. I didn't see any light anomalies but I turned my head and ducked and I was really shaken up when I saw a big black shadow looking at me. That really freaked me out. I said what I saw to the team as I swore and they asked what was up.
Vigil 4
Me Simon and Rachel went to the witches room it was the most uneventful room we had gone to. We tried glass divination but nothing happened. It was dead. We took a few snaps but I never saw anything unusual but hopefully I caught something on cam .
All in all it was a very good investigation. I think as I said before I am a fairly new investigator as this was only my 4th investigation.
Val Butler
The Ancient Ram Inn what a wonderful name, it conjures up an air of mysteries and this was to be an investigation I had long awaited for. We arrived about 8.30 PM into a beautiful courtyard with flowers in abundance and a white cross in the centre of the flower garden. Then to be greeted by John Humphries the owner and host. Looking at the Inn from the outside seemed as though I had stepped back in time, I had the feelings that Saxons had been here long before us. All our cars were parked in the courtyard, Kerry, Laura and I were standing close by them when out of the blue came a shower of stones just missing us but hitting three of the cars. On inspection not one car had a stone on it or any damage, was something or someone trying to warn us of, this was the beginning. Inside the inn was a small sitting room that we made our hub for the evening, in here I felt sick and all my bottom teeth felt tight and ached. Then onto baseline tests. Alison and myself tried to open the Bishops room but we found it impossible to open and later asked if it could be unlocked, but to our amazement it was unlocked and would only open if a male person entered it first. Base line tests were done, we started our vigils. Due to odd goings on and for our own safety we doubled up in-groups and made our way to the Bishops Room. Ken felt a strong presence of a lady by the hearth who was there all the time we were in this room. I could see a cat and felt it around my legs while I was sitting on the bed, and was startled when I felt it jump up. The name of Ellen or Eleanor came to me, I didn't like the atmosphere in this room, someone was there but wouldn't come forward even after calling out several times. We made our way one by one into the attic, this was horrible and the name of Tom (Thomas) was in my head I had the feeling that he wanted me to lie down and was getting angry that I disobeyed him. I was glad to get out of there. Onto the Witches room where we held a seance and glass divination, I felt quite comfortable in here and came across the name of Elizabeth, we all had turns of calling out but no reaction. Downstairs now and into the Barn, I started to call out if there was a spirit person with us and a tap was heard by us all, I asked if it was male and another tap came, asked if his name was Thomas and yet another tap. I asked if he lived here and another tap was heard, asked if someone was murdered here and another tap, but then all went quiet. no more response to my questions. Back into the Bar area and grave I called out and felt Thomas had followed us, I sat on the bench seat in front of the window for a few moments when something flicked my ear, it was quite a painful flick and asked if they could do something else like move the bird that was hanging from the ceiling, almost immediately the bird started to move round and looked straight at me then the motion censor went off below it across the grave. again I asked if they could move the bird again and it started to go round in circles. I believe that Tom was with us. Back into the hub, we decided to do the Ouija board but nothing came through to us. In the back room we joined John Humphries who was telling us all about the Ram Inn when twice something touched the back of my leg, John had asked me if I had felt anything on the spot where I stood and I told him yes and he said I would do for below me there was a well and other people who had stood in the same place had their legs touched as well. This Inn was very dramatic and I honestly believe that there is a lot more that needs investigating here, My thanks to John for letting us roam around his home and for making us so very welcome, and to wish him well with all his unseen guests. A night I shall never forget.
Rab Gardner
Initial walk around: Louise, Clare and I had a good nose around this fascinating building. Of the many rooms, only two gave significant feedback. One was the 'Attic Room' which Louise and I felt was very calm and peaceful. The other room was the Bishop's. The door was locked (or jammed in the frame) and there were 3 chalk circles drawn at the top of the door. I placed my finger in each of the circles and on the last one there was a tremendous kick on the door from the inside - making us all jump. We called out but there was no response.
1st Vigil: Bishops room. Unaware of the history of this room I sat on the middle bed with Ken. Val was next to us and felt the presence of a cat, which John verified. Ross was standing quietly in the corner and was feeling dizzy. Ken moved to the fireplace and at that point an orb flashed from Ross across to Ken. I changed places and sat on the chair near the door. Ken was picking up on a female presence and as he stood there I could see an orb moving amongst the fireplace and landing on Ken's lower back. I could also see another orb moving between Johns LH side and the fireplace. As Ken continued to describe the woman, I got the name Marion. I tried for a surname but couldn't get one. Towards the end of the vigil I began to pick up on the presence of a young teenager, no sense of what she was wearing, but I did sense her around later in another part of the house and I was given the name Angela Cummins/Cummings.
2nd Vigil: Outside area. Tried the rods for a while, walking up and down yard but only got a response near the entrance and further up near the other door. Walking around, I became slightly queasy at a spot near a bench 30'east from the entrance. Talking to Maria, she had a similar feeling at the same spot. It was a strange experience and happened every time I stepped onto that spot. I could find no explanation for it.
Between Vigils: Around about this point, I found myself gravitating towards a particular chair near the fireplace in the old bar, desperately wanting to smoke a pipe and stretch my legs out in front of me. It seemed a good idea, so I spent my break in this chair.
3rd Vigil: In the barn. Ken began calling out and we all heard a creaking noise. As Ken continued he established that 1 creak was no and 2 creaks were yes. Ken also got the name Thomas and we recorded a temperature drop around him.
Alan began calling out in an attempt to find out more about Thomas and to try and provoke him into doing something. We began to feel something building up and very shortly Alan was pushed to the side. Thankfully Alan wasn't hurt so we had a short break and then started again. This time Maria and I were stood where Alan had just been and we were aware of another presence near us. Maria didn't feel right so she stepped out of the barn, I could feel a 'heavier' atmosphere around us but honestly felt I wouldn't come to harm because I wasn't trying to provoke anything. Then Ken felt that something bigger was building up and advised all of us to leave. Trusting Ken's judgement we all left that area.
Between Vigils: Back to the seat at the fireside for me. By this time I was getting a contented feeling, quite happy just to sit there and watch the world go by. I then got the name Ian. I asked for more and then got the surname Dewar. So that was that, I seemed to be empathising with a man called Ian Dewar and that this seat was his regular spot - brilliant, never had this sort of thing before.
4th Vigil: The old Bar. Great, back in my 'new' old chair if you see what I mean. I was expecting to get more info on Ian with a group vigil and possibly a séance. But, there was no more to be gained from him on this one. Felt he just wanted peace and quiet.
The only significant experience was an orb repeatedly appearing above Maria. Also in true Hammer House of Horror tradition, when I later said there seemed to be no more activity, the suspended dead Raven swung around to face us. That turned out to be a gentle draft and good timing - or was it?
Since we closed our vigil early, I crept upstairs to use the toilet. On the way back, I muttered an apology to the team in the Bishops room for making a noise. As I passed the door I heard a young woman's voice say 'don't close the door' to which I replied OK no problem and carried on down the stairs. It wasn't until later, when I spoke to women in that team (Julie & Selina) that I found out that no one had said anything about the door. Damn, the best audible I've ever experienced and I didn't give it a second thought.
This was a very enjoyable Investigation during which I experienced some new things. Unaware of the history of the building I approached with the usual open mind and a sense of peacefulness as well. It sounds as if I've lost the plot a bit, but at no point at all during this investigation did I feel threatened in anyway. Most of what I sensed was passive/non intrusive in nature and probably a direct result of my attitude. This is one building that I'd love to investigate again and hopefully we will.
Ed Ashton
Julie first mentioned investigating The Ancient Ram Inn way back in early 2005 when the group was in it's infancy. I can remember that after doing a bit of research into the place, my excitement was stoked and I really looked forward to visiting what many people claim as Britain's most haunted building, to find out for myself what it may have had in store for me. Little was I to know however, that it would be another 2 years before I would get the chance to investigate this venue.
So was it worth the wait? Well, yes and no! As we pulled up into the car park at the back of the building, I noticed almost immediately (with some relief) that the place looked exactly like it did in the numerous photos I had seen. And to a further extent even the inside somewhat lived up to expectations.
As a few of us went on an initial tour and did the baseline tests, the age of the building really showed in some areas, unfortunately though not in a good way in a few places. Many areas of the building felt very fragile. A lot of the floorboards and the stairs going up to the attic made me very apprehensive and filled me with uncertainty about whether to walk on them or not!
So what did the actual investigation have in store? Sadly and surprisingly very little! Although in all honesty, I have been to many places now and come away somewhat disappointed that my expectations were admittedly fairly low for this investigation, but I did hang on to a faint glimmer of hope that if something was to happen, it would surely happen in (reputedly) Britain's most haunted house! Alas, no. At least nothing that I could put my finger on and claim to be paranormal or even the slightest bit strange in anyway. The usual taps and bangs were present and correct as well as the odd 'light anomaly' picked up on night vision camera and the odd 'orb' here and there captured on digital camera. None of it really too impressive I'm afraid to say. The one thing which slightly aroused my curiosity a little was when Alan claimed he was 'pushed' during the vigil in the barn (strangely, a similar thing apparently happened to a crew member in exactly the same place when 'Most Haunted' visited years ago). As someone with an ever increasingly sceptical mind though, I have to admit that it is difficult for me to believe this had happened without first giving it a bit of rational thought. The floor in that particular part of the building was fairly uneven so I can't help but think that may have had something to do with it. Was he really 'pushed' or did he just stumble? I guess only Alan will ever know.
I'm afraid that I wouldn't be telling the truth if I was to say that I didn't expect anything at all to happen during the entire evening! With so many stories surrounding the place and so many reported sightings, I came away a little disheartened that I had visited this well known building and had departed with nothing I could claim was paranormal or even the slightest bit unexplained. I guess, being the hardened sceptic that I am, it is going to take something a lot more impressive than orbs and tapping sounds to impress me!
At the end of the day, what I think really fascinated me about the place was it's age and to think how many people (both good and bad) have passed through it's doors in the hundreds of years that the place has been standing.
Although I left slightly disappointed, I was still pleased that after all this time, we had finally visited the Ancient Ram Inn and felt privileged that I got to see the place for myself.
Abbie Holding
Vigil One
Our first vigil was conducted in the grounds of the ram in, in its car park/garden. We split ourselves up so that half of (David, Selina, Sandy) us were situated on one side of the rockery Julie and I sat on the other side. We hadn’t been sitting there long before Julie thought she could see somebody standing underneath a tree and in between two cars on the far side, yet on closer inspection she found that there was no one there and nothing that could of cast a shadow. I was feeling very uneasy, I couldn’t help but feel as though someone was watching us, and this was aided by the constant tapping noises we kept hearing from different areas. I was discussing a sound with Julie when we both looked up and over towards where we thought Selina was sitting, we could see the shape of a head and body crouched down. Our first thought was that it was Selina so we asked if she could let us know where she was and when she stood up she was about 10 feet or so away from where we had seen the shape. I was already feeling incredibly uneasy and this certainly didn’t help.
I decided to take a wonder round past where we had seen the shape and round the back of the flower bed where I discovered an open well, I walked past the well and round to the other side where I had been sitting, but no matter what I did all I could think about was the well and it terrified me as I constantly felt pulled towards it. When I say pulled towards the well I don’t mean in the sense of ‘Drawn towards it’ I mean it felt as though somebody was trying to physically pull me towards the well, so I placed as much room as possible between me and the well, it stayed in my mind for the whole period we were outside and the feeling didn’t subside It was there when we were standing outside between vigils as well.
Vigil Two
Our second vigil was in the witches’ room at the top of the stairs and I am not lying when I say this was the most terrifying hour of my life. We walked into the room and I looked around me, there was a table on my right as I walked in with chairs around, a fire place lay directly in front of me with two large chairs one at both side, and a bed to my left. I looked at all the chairs and decided that I would much rather sit on the floor, I felt uncomfortable even with the lights on and sat as close to Julie as possible. Alison called out and we heard a knock on the table so she called out again this is when Julie felt her chair shake/vibrate, after a swift exit from Julie Alison decided to sit on the chair. When the lights were switched off it was pitch black in there and although I couldn’t see anything I averted my eyes from the bed as I could sense somebody standing next to it. I sat on the floor by the fire and my right hand side was absolutely freezing, I checked to see if there was a breeze coming through but there was absolutely nothing.
We were joined by Kerry and Lee, Kerry sat on the floor in front of the table and it wasn’t long before the atmosphere in the room became electric. In front of the bed there was two white shapes moving around (I was frozen to the spot at this point) whatever was there was not nice and the room became alive with anger, especially from Kerry and Alison. I have to say in all my time with the group I have never seen Kerry and Alison so angry, it was so bizarre. My eyes were fixated at the two shapes in front of me, yet I was still aware of how amazingly cold my right hand side was considering my left side was burning. Next thing I felt something move my hair slightly off my face, (if there had been a breeze I would have put it down to that, but like I said before there was no breeze inside or out) then I feel as though there is something around my throat and I found it harder to breath and started coughing. I rubbed my throat but I couldn’t shake the feeling of slight constriction or cough. To say I was scared would be an understatement, I had pretty much had enough and I think I would have left the room earlier if it wasn’t for the fact I was far to frightened to move. I was so relieved when the hour was up. I honestly cannot explain what went on in that room.
Vigil Three
We were in the sitting room for our third vigil, after the previous vigil I was extremely keen to stay near the exit. We sat down and set up the Ouija board then started off with our protection, we had slight movement but nothing conclusive so we soon abandoned the Ouija and began to call out. Whilst we were sitting there I felt as though someone had just placed there hand on the inside of my thigh even to the point that I went to brush it away, disturbed by this sensation, realising there was nothing there, I was almost embarrassed to mention anything. I felt as though there was someone with wandering eyes near by and felt uncomfortable. Julie began to call out, and we honestly thought there was somebody in the room next door moving around yet when we asked if anyone was there, there was no response. This noise carried on for about 10 minutes with all of sitting in absolute amazement not really knowing what to do with ourselves. The sounds were so clear of footsteps and shuffling of furniture.
Vigil Four
On my last vigil I went into the attic with Alison and Kerry, as I reached the top of the stairs the feeling of complete desolation hit me like a ton of bricks it made me feel sick. I slumped onto the floor and grabbed a teddy that was sitting on the chair and hugged it as tight as I could, I have no idea what made me do this but it just felt like the right thing to do, I felt distraught, confused and tired. There was a dressing table and two beds in the room and all felt wrong up their as if they were supposed to be somewhere else. I had an image of a young blonde girl around 16/17 sitting on a chair with her head in her hands, and I felt suddenly sick in the pit of my stomach. Alison and Kerry both complained of pains in their abdomen and Kerry mentioned an image of someone trying to scramble out of the window and also hanging half out the window dead. There was also a horrible feeling of betrayal and violation and all three of us picked up on rape by a close relative like a brother. After standing up there for a while I just had an urge to drop back to the floor where I sat for about 5 minutes not able to shake of the feeling up utter desolation, and the whole time I was in the attic I didn’t let go of the teddy bear I didn’t even realise I was still holding it when I came to leave.
Ross Richardson
The Ancient Ram Inn is an amazing old building with a reputation for a lot of nasty spirits. I was expecting the place to jump alive with spirits there, but unfortunately for me personally on the night it seemed very quiet. I did not pick up much apart from the presence of something behind me while I was sitting on a chair to the right of the door in the bishops room. I moved off to the other side of the room and sat down on the bed then took a couple of pictures towards the chair which I was sitting on and one picture showed a large orb right in the middle of the chair. Our SP members moved on to other vigils around the house but still very quiet. We did a glass divination in the witches room but did not get any response and the glass did not move. We did hear which sounded like a stone being thrown in the bar area but could not see it or where it came from as not picked up on camera. I think we did have too many investigators at the ram as we could all hear each other in other rooms, which made it difficult to pick up any sounds if there was paranormal activity. Also the floorboards made a lot of noise as we walked along. Would like to investigate it again but with a smaller group as I think we would get better results. I would like to thank John for inviting us into his interesting home and giving us a nice talk of the goings on and what has been found.
Simon Steadman
The ram inn is a famous haunted location, with its obvious age and unforgettable beauty. This location was worth seeing just to appreciate its resilience to the passing of time and for its historical value. If other reports and local legends are anything to go by I feel that this building is one of the most significant and interesting locations in the country. It was a great opportunity to investigate the ram and it was a great privilege to be welcomed into such an awe-inspiring property.
When we arrived you could feel a kind of electricity in the air and you could tell that the whole team was waiting with baited breath for something to happen.
We set up the trigger objects at various points during the baseline tests these being.
A set of 6 old coins lay in the shape of a cross next to the ancient grave (with 2 sets of barrier beams)
A wooden cross on a sheet of flour dusted paper in the mayflower barn
A set of tarot cards on the bed in the attic bedroom
Another set of tarot on the bed in the bishops room
3 marbles and another small cross set on flour in the den
All trigger objects were photographed.
We started outside but even though there was a sense of apprehension all was quiet, we did possibly hear a couple of growl noises from the old well but as this was an uncontrolled area no solid proof could be given.
As we moved inside we all split up into smaller groups.
The mayflower barn
This was so black you had trouble seeing your hand in front of your face and again there was a sense that something was going to happen (like the quiet before the storm).
After calling out Alison felt that she was being touched on the ankles and the temp dropped by 5 degrees within a few seconds. A few light anomalies were caught on video but little else happened.
The attic bedroom
Again the feel of the ram was undeniably sinister and I was beginning to feel a little tense. In the attic room we got some strange clicks on the emf while it was placed on the bed we also heard a scratching sound coming from behind the bed apart from the ticking of the emf all was quiet.
Moving to the other side of the attic room, the emf began to click again and a couple of light anomalies were caught on stills cameras. During this vigil the barrier beams by the ancient grave were set off by what I dont know, but they all had new batteries and no electrical faults.
The den/bishops room
Apart from my camera taking a little stroll on its own in the den (it was later found behind one of the mattresses that were stood up in there) this small room was quiet
The bishop's room felt ok at the start but after about 15 mins I began to feel odd. The only way to describe it was that the whole thing was a waste of my time and we were all idiots to be doing such a stupid and dull thing here. This then made me feel very irritated and angry, after about 1 hour I left the room and went outside for a cigarette just to see if I could calm down. As soon as I got outside I felt fine again.
The witches room
I only spent about 5 mins in here when the feelings of anger and irritation crept back into me so I decided to try the mayflower barn again.
The mayflower barn 2
The feelings were still there but not as bad so we decided to stay.
The atmosphere was still thick with anticipation and every time we called out we expected to hear something back. We did manage to capture some light anomalies in here then some strange events happened in quick succession. The first was sandy seeing a shadow rush past him at the back of the barn. Then Selina felt a rapid temperature drop which everyone confirmed that it seemed a lot colder. On checking the temp it had risen by 5 degrees, we hadn't finished discussing this when a large red light went from the back wall roof to the fireplace (on checking the video we have caught this light quite well!) The light was too large for it to be the laser thermometer and there are no external lights it could have been (not even a passing car).
No explanation could be found.
The witches room 2
I decided to return to the witches' room and as soon as I started up the stairs the negative feelings seemed to rush into me but I held fast. We entered the room and settled in to call out. Rachel tried to do some automatic writing and got a few lines on the slate and while filming this we caught a few strange light anomalies but nothing more so we decided to do a glass divination. I was feeling incredibly angry by now and I have no explanation for it. After about 50 mins we got called to go.
Outside
We were all packing up and as my head was in the kit boxes someone said "here this is yours". When I turned round there were no other members of the team close to me. I thought nothing of it, about a week later when looking for Julie's notes, after receiving the email, I found a large brass key in my kit box. Its not mine and I have got it on good authority that it belongs to no member of the crew so who did say "this is yours" I have no clue. I have now sent the key back to John with a note to apologise, so if anyone does remember giving me a large key please let me know its you.
On the whole the ram is one of the most interesting places I have had the pleasure of visiting and on our night there it seemed uneventful but looking back through tapes and pictures I have to change my mind. This is one of the creepiest places in the country and it has given me a lot to think about, both in physical and psychological terms.
It took me about 3 days to recover from the feelings of anger irritation and depression. I'm ok now but if I did upset any member of the team please accept my apologies.
The ram is a place I will never forget and I'd love to go back again.
Rachel Bettany
The Ram inn was one place I was really looking forward to spending the night, with the many reports you hear about the place it was a definite must. When we first arrived there were the usual pleasantries amongst the team before we started, and the tension was obvious. The first vigil for my team was the infamous mayflower barn, on entering the first thing I noticed was the dark (sounds stupid ) but at no point did my eyes adjust, and it was very quiet, we waited. Kerry called out but we had no reply, so we waited, and the tension mounted, and we waited, still nothing paranormal, although Kerry felt herself becoming angry, just before we left Alison felt something touching her ankles.
After the break our usually organised level headed team seemed to slightly fall apart, and people drifted off to various rooms in there own teams. I went with Simon and Sandy to the attic bedroom, which started off quietly, we had some quiet clicks on the EMF, and a couple of orbs in the same area, on stills cameras, I also took a photo in which the light fitting at the back of the attic looks as if it is being held to the side of the roof beam (if anyone has any photos of this I would like to see them, to see if there are the same). Sandy was very quiet were as Simon seemed to get more and more angry and annoyed, a few scraping noises and growls were heard but nothing much.
After another break (were Simon returned to his normal self) the 3 of us went into the Bishops room Again quiet, a large orb was captured on a stills camera over the fire place, and again after only a short time Simon became some what angry and short tempered, we sat for roughly an hour before spending a short time in the Den, then went for another break.
We spent more time in the Mayflower barn, this time we again found it to be very dark and again no one adjusted to the light or lack of it, Sandy who was at the back of the barn saw a large shadow rush passed him, Simon again started to loose his temper, a couple of orbs were caught on the video a couple of quiet taps were heard, on the video there is a large red hazy light can been seen on the far wall its too big to be the temp gun, which was in Simons pocket anyway.
After another break we made our way to the witches room, I tried automatic writing, I only came up with a few squiggles, Simon called out sounding more and more annoyed as the time passed, a few orbs were caught on video, we tried glass divination, with no joy. This was the last vigil of the night for us.
It may sound as if little happened but just because we did not capture much it was not a bad night as other things happened, some of the most calm level headed members of the team either became over emotional or very angry (after living with Simon for over 5 years I know this was not normal for him) the normally organised team just wasn't, It was a fantastic night, I would love to go back.
A word of warning to any one who is thinking of going just because you dont see or hear anything doesn't mean nothing is happening, whether its spirits or something else, I dont know but there is something at the Ram Inn.
Di Moore
After arriving at the Ancient Ram Inn from the outside it looked liked we were in for a good night.
The frontage alone looked Spooky, the first floor peeping just above the road, this white building looked like it had two eyes and a mouth. We all said our hello's and entered inside from the back garden. I found myself wanting to say is it alright to come in. We met John the owner (very nice man) and had a walk round. After the walk round I came back to the sitting room and found myself very emotional. Julie asked if I was alright and I told her I felt like crying or was near to tears. After a few seconds I went outside with Alison, as we sat there stones fell hitting the cars and ground which made us jump there were others (about five) also in the garden. We all went over to the cars but not one stone was on any of the cars. Alison and I went round to the front of the inn to see if anyone was messing about but no one was there I walked across the road to have a look up and down the road but no one was in sight. We returned to the back garden and were discussing this incident when a stone hit my shoe, bounced off and hit the other shoe yet every one as standing still just as I was. Inside we had a talk from John and then off to investigate.
Our group started up in the attic we settled and started a séance. We had contact with a spirit which we thought was Marion or Mary. We asked questions and I think we got orbs on camera. This room was cosy and had a bed and dressing table in. After looking at my photos in which I took a photo of the mirror, it seems like the image in the mirror was not the same as the attic room. SPOOKY.
Now out into the Garden not much happened to me out there got no orbs on camera although others did.
Now to the Bishops Bedroom. I took the notes. After sitting in a chair next to the fire place, this room didn't fill scary at all .Other members did a séance on the beds. I did get a vision as I closed my eyes (I like to do this as often I see things) this time it worked and I saw about four single beds lined up with red covers and four young girls dressed in which looked like old fashion night dresses. They had long dark hair then they showed me there bruises which were from beatings. I then came out of it, it always startles me to think I've seen something.
The Barn - The barn was very cluttered, not much room to move about. We heard knocks and movement after starting a séance. We were (which seemed like a lifetime) standing there when I told Maria I needed to get out and as I said this Alan fell over or was pushed. I never saw this as I had my back to him. Speaking to Maria I know I needed to get out. Didn't like the Barn at all but we stayed a bit longer.
In all a very good night.
Ken Taylor
This investigation is one I had been looking forward to with great interest. The evening had begun with meeting our host John Humphries and a tour of this lovely old inn. I was very impressed with what I saw. We all divided into our teams and started our night's vigils.
The Barn
I felt as though someone was watching me so decided to call out nothing was heard but kept on calling if there was any spirits there when I heard knocking where it was coming from I dont know. I started to ask questions and had the name of Tom and he appeared to become agitated with me. I asked Tom not to be a coward and come out to show himself and immediately Alan was pushed to the ground.
The Bishops Room
In here I felt uncomfortable and drawn to the fireplace, I had the feeling of a lady, middle aged wearing a mop cap and apron. She was standing with her back to the fire as though warming her legs. I asked out many times for her to come forward but nothing was seen, only a few scratching noises heard coming from the right hand corner.
The Attic
Climbing the creepy stairs I was hoping that I would see or hear something in the attic but felt quite comfortable in here. Alan was calling out but unfortunately nothing was seen or heard.
The Bar
This area I found charming a real oldie world bar and fireplace and I imagined what must have gone on in here from previous years. We held a Ouija board seance of which was disappointing as nothing came through.
John our host told us all about the Ancient Ram Inn and showed us a lot of pictures and wood, thanks John it was very interesting.
All in all I feel that the Ram Inn holds many secrets of which it didn't want to share with us on the night, I am in no doubt that it needs further investigation.
Thank you John for letting me see your very interesting home and for making us all so very welcome, I hope we shall meet again one day.