The Ancient Ram Inn
A 12th-century coaching inn claimed to sit on a pagan burial ground — alleged child sacrifices, a witch, and a portal.
Case File No. 055
FILE 01 The Legend
Built around 1145 on a route used by pilgrims, the Ram is claimed by its former owner John Humphries to sit atop an ancient pagan site where children were sacrificed. He claimed to have found child bones and a 'sacrificial stone' under the floorboards. The inn's alleged residents include a witch burned at the stake in the 1500s (she took refuge in a room now named for her), a monk, and two 'demon children'.
FILE 02 The Sightings Log
Humphries reported being dragged from his bed by an unseen hand on his first night as owner in 1968. Visitors describe equipment failure in the Witch's Room and a 'monastic' figure on the stairs. Ghost-adventure TV crews have filmed there repeatedly, claiming bangs and moving objects.
FILE 03 The Skeptic’s File
The inn's lurid origin story — pagan altar, sacrificed children — has no documentary support; local records show a mundane timber-framed building. Skeptics note the haunting narrative grew alongside its ghost-tour business. Humphries was a genuine character and believer, but 'sacrificial stone' identifications are common folk-etymology for old building stone.