Ram Inn, Potters Pond, Wotton under Edge - geograph

The Ancient Ram Inn is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and a former pub located in

Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058, Wotton is ab ...

, a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

within the

Stroud district Stroud District is a district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. The district covers many outlying towns and villages. The towns forming the district are Dursley, Minchinhampton, Nailsworth, Painswick, Stonehouse, ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. The inn has been owned by many people since 1145 and was in the private ownership of John Humphries until his death in December 2017. This inn was said to have also been owned by the local St. Mary's Church when first built. The pub is reputed to be haunted.

Original uses

The inn's original use was to house the

mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

s and other builders employed to construct the neighbouring church. It was later - 1154 - taken up as the dwelling of the first recorded

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

; Gerinus. There are no later records of vicars or reverends living in the inn, so it is believed that the local town vicarage was built in the late 1100s.

Televised paranormal investigations

The Ancient Ram Inn has been investigated by many paranormal researchers, particularly for television shows like ''

Ghost Adventures ''Ghost Adventures'' is an American paranormal and reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2008, on the Travel Channel before moving to Discovery+ in 2021. An independent film of the same name originally aired on the Sci-Fi Chann ...

'' and ''

Most Haunted ''Most Haunted'' is a British paranormal reality television series. Following complaints, the broadcast regulator, Ofcom, ruled that it was an entertainment show, not a legitimate investigation into the paranormal, and "should not be taken seri ...

''. The inn was featured on ''

Great British Ghosts ''Great British Ghosts'' is a paranormal series that recounts stories of reported ghost sightings from some of the "most haunted" locations in the United Kingdom. It is presented by Michaela Strachan and was first aired on 18 August 2011. The firs ...

'' and was also investigated by a UK Paranormal Study group led by Kieron Butler, which consisted of seven people, including photographers and mediums/spiritual advisors.

The Ghost Club The Ghost Club is a paranormal investigation and research organization, founded in London in 1862. It is believed to be the oldest such organization in the world, though its history has not been continuous. The club still investigates mainly gho ...

(the oldest paranormal research organisation in the world) investigated the inn in 2003 but didn't register anything paranormal. Horror actor

Nathan Head Nathan Head (born 8 October 1980) is a British actor, known for his work in the independent horror film Andrew Jones (filmmaker), ''Theatre Of Fear'' as well as the Netflix Robert_(doll), Robert The Doll series. He trained in Manchester, where h ...

discussed the Ancient Ram Inn in an episode of the Canadian television show ''Aberration: Into the Unknown''. The Danish paranormal research team DPA (Dansk Parapsykologisk Aspekt) has also been there with a TV crew, shooting an episode for a Danish ghost-hunter TV show. The Swedish YouTubers Jocke & Jonna investigated the inn on their ghost-hunt show ''Spökjakt'' with a medium, TV crew and LaxTon Ghost Sweden.

References

External links

Official websiteGuardian Top ten haunted places in the UK
{{coord, 51.63797, -2.34805, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in Gloucestershire Wotton-under-Edge Reportedly haunted locations in South West England Former pubs in England