The Old Ferry Boat Inn Reflections in Great Ouse 760bws1-1
Holywell, Huntingdonshire
Overlooking the Great Ouse river, The Old Ferry Boat is reputedly England's oldest inn. Located in the hamlet of Holywell, the thatched roof and white stonework have remained for many years, This ancient pub has a rich history.
The Old Ferry Boat Inn boasts a haunting story, which becomes immediately apparent when you spot the grave under the bar. Staff and customers have reported strange goings on at the pub from lights refusing to switch off to things going bump in the night.
The lovely pub is widely reputed as one of the 'most haunted' in Cambridgeshire, alongside The Eagle in Cambridge.
On March 17, 1050, a local girl who was only 17 at the time, fell passionately in love with a forester called Tom Zoul. Sadly, Tom didn't return her love and heartbroken Juliet hung herself from a tree near the Inn so that Tom would see her body on his way to work. In another version of the story, Juliet drowned herself in the River Ouse, instead of hanging herself.
But whatever the cause of her untimely death, Juliet was buried in the unhallowed ground close to the Inn. Because of the stigma attached to suicide in the 11th century, and her grave was marked only with a plain stone slab.
Over the years the pub has been developed and extended, and Juliet's grave slab has become part of the interior. The slab can be seen in the bar today, and rumor has it that Juliet's ghostly form rises from the river at midnight on March 17, every year, and glides towards her grave.
Many people claim to have seen the heartbroken phantom, while others have commented on the eerie feeling associated with the ancient pub.
For hundreds of years a ferry crossed the river at this point. One famous passenger, Hereward the Wake. used it to escape from the Norman invaders.
The Old Ferry Boat Inn Reflections in Great Ouse 760bws1-1
Holywell, Huntingdonshire
Overlooking the Great Ouse river, The Old Ferry Boat is reputedly England's oldest inn. Located in the hamlet of Holywell, the thatched roof and white stonework have remained for many years, This ancient pub has a rich history.
The Old Ferry Boat Inn boasts a haunting story, which becomes immediately apparent when you spot the grave under the bar. Staff and customers have reported strange goings on at the pub from lights refusing to switch off to things going bump in the night.
The lovely pub is widely reputed as one of the 'most haunted' in Cambridgeshire, alongside The Eagle in Cambridge.
On March 17, 1050, a local girl who was only 17 at the time, fell passionately in love with a forester called Tom Zoul. Sadly, Tom didn't return her love and heartbroken Juliet hung herself from a tree near the Inn so that Tom would see her body on his way to work. In another version of the story, Juliet drowned herself in the River Ouse, instead of hanging herself.
But whatever the cause of her untimely death, Juliet was buried in the unhallowed ground close to the Inn. Because of the stigma attached to suicide in the 11th century, and her grave was marked only with a plain stone slab.
Over the years the pub has been developed and extended, and Juliet's grave slab has become part of the interior. The slab can be seen in the bar today, and rumor has it that Juliet's ghostly form rises from the river at midnight on March 17, every year, and glides towards her grave.
Many people claim to have seen the heartbroken phantom, while others have commented on the eerie feeling associated with the ancient pub.
For hundreds of years a ferry crossed the river at this point. One famous passenger, Hereward the Wake. used it to escape from the Norman invaders.