Ancient Ram Inn, Gloucester

As one of England's most notorious haunted houses, The Ancient Ram certainly looks the part. Shrouded in autumnal mist, the centuries-old former hostelry squats half-submerged beside the road, a mass of uneven stone walls and decaying, darkened windows. Owner John Humphries said he doesn't sleep well, and given what he believes he shares his home with, it's hardly surprising: two lustful demons (an incubus and a succubus), a ghostly witch, strange glowing lights...almost every conceivable type of spook, in fact. Dressed in biker jacket, tight blue jeans, and bearing a more-than-passing resemblance to the late Rod Hull, John appears every bit as unconventional as his unusual home. He helpfully recounted some of the numerous sinister tales attached to the inn, working through a large pile of yellowing newspaper cuttings and photocopies. The Ancient Ram is believed to have witnessed ritual child sacrifice, black magic rituals, suicide and to have been the hideout of highwaymen. John recalled a local clergyman's visit: "When he arrived he said, 'I'm not going in there, what you've got in there is very, very evil.'" Weird Whatever your stance on ghosts and the paranormal, it's difficult to imagine anyone not finding a visit to The Ancient Ram unnerving, or at least very odd. The dim, chilly rooms heave with eerie antiques, memorabilia, and menacing stuffed animals. Entering the "witches' room", John points out the stain where her spectral cat urinates on the bed. From here we cross the landing into the "Bishop's room", which he describes as "the most haunted room in the world". The low-ceilinged, crimson-curtained bedroom certainly has an oppressive, unpleasant ambience. "Eight people who've slept here have had to be exorcised," said John, nonchalantly. A night in here is not an inviting prospect. A snarling foxes' head adorns the wall, alongside a series of ominous portraits and a dressing table lined with religious ephemera. John banged on the door in an attempt to "stir things up a bit". To my relief, he was unsuccessful. Orbs Throughout our tour, John has me clicking away on my digital camera in the hope of capturing 'orbs' - glowing spheres frequently photographed at haunted sites. Some paranormal devotees believe orbs to be the souls or life force of the dead - sceptics claim they are lens flare or dust. John said that it was in the barn that orbs were most frequently spotted. Using the flash, I took several shot of the dark, cluttered room, which failed to yield anything unusual. John stepped in, believing that his presence in the room may encourage them to appear. Did they? Check out the photo gallery and decide for yourself...

As I signed the guest book before leaving, I noticed that the preceding entries were by the team from Living TV show Most Haunted, who had recently completed a shoot at The Ram. "Never been to a scarier place," wrote one of the crew. Whether it's the finesse with which John recounts his weird tales, the inherent spookiness the building or the presence of something truly supernatural, I'd have to agree. Public Comments: We have just recently visited the ram inn and firstly found john to be a great host ,full of information and very welcoming.After giving us a brief history of the building he left us to our own devices to investigate.firstly we looked around the ancient grave and the mens kitchen and had cold breezes constantly coming through ,we had a cat screech at us at the top of the stairs by the attic,my light on my camcorder went off and came back on when i asked it too on several occasions,also we used a spirit board left in the mens kitchen by n.p.r.t and spoke to a 62 yr old male called osckar who said he was a miner and was murdered in 1402 by a man nicknamed red . Sarah  I dislike most haunted they spoil things for others we have been to see john at the ARI i was a bit disappoited to start with then by the time we had finished the cameras were dead batteries drained we had an oppresive feeling through out the whole vist we picked up a spirit of a man in the barn some of our group could not go in the barn nausea was a problem for one of a group and a pounding headache we tried the door after knocking each one or us 5 altogether knocked and we couldnt get in we turned away went into another room and one of our team tried again and it opened up she had hardly touched it we had pushed pulled and shook the door before hand (i think the walls moved more than the door) we picked up a lady there she was gentle kind in fact one of our group said she was motherly i must admit the house was difficult to get through but even so it was a pleasure to visit and we are hoping we can do an all night vidual there. Daniel Ramett I spent the night at Nottinghams "Ye Olde Slautation", a 700 plus year old public house. We were guided through the sub terrainian passages that, quite frankly, I don't think the people in the bar drinking and enjoying rock music, were even aware of! The group we booked with, simply called UK Ghost nights were simply brilliant. We enjoyed several hours of hard to explain phenomena, stones thrown, strange smells, odd light anomolies and other oddness. There were 20 people in our group altogether and we all experienced a stone being thrown, apparently from nowhere, yes - twenty people - we can't all be wrong can we? None of us could explain where it came from. Upstairs on the first floor, we carried out some Table Tipping - an incredible concept - it seemed that the table was actually moving in response to questions asked of spirits. It is clearly possible that those people around the table were moving it, albeit subconsciously. All in all, we had a great time with the team from UK Ghost Nights. I for one am now leaning towards the "Believer" side of the fence! Teresa Bristol I have been to the a.r.i. twice now it is not a very nice place very cold I didn't see anything but felt it in the bar downstairs it was very cold where i was standing. Then john the owner said there was a river underneath me we did get a few orbs. Look for yourself apart from that i would like to go again but to scared to go UK Paranormal Events  Sue Miles We went there tonight and we have seen orbs I have photos that we took and we saw them. We've never been so scared in our lives! We have been round there inside and seen. The night we went there we sat outside in the car turned all engine off and lights etc. 10 mins later after we heard noices went to turn the car on , the car was dead. We managed to jump start it, it was weird how we got back to gloucester and had no problems with the car since. When we were standing in the ram inn, it was cold and full of nasty smells. Bob I saw ghost hunters last night and it has to be one of the best ones i have ever seen i would love to go there for my self one day but not just yet though. Derek After filming the show (most haunted) I have to say that I have never felt so sure about the reality of what I witnessed that night. Reading some of the stories above only confirms what i already thought, there are believers and those that doubt, take a visit to the ram and see for yourselves. Claire I have to say that the Ram Inn is one of the best venues I have attended. I went with Haunted Happenings and I can only say that this was one I would never forget. There were many sightings of orbs and a sense of being watched. At one stage I was so scared I had to leave the building, I had feelings of being pushed and scratched I would recommend the Ram to anyone. Sandra