{"id":267,"date":"2025-10-26T19:47:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T19:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/?p=267"},"modified":"2025-10-26T19:47:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T19:47:26","slug":"i-spent-the-night-in-britains-most-haunted-pub-i-was-being-watched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/?p=267","title":{"rendered":"I spent the night in Britain\u2019s \u2018most haunted\u2019 pub \u2014 I was being watched"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

This impossibly ancient structure was a strange place to bed down for the night (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whether you\u2019re a believer or not, if presented with an opportunity to spend a night in what is reputedly the \u2018most haunted\u2019 pub in the UK, would you do it?<\/p>\n

Well, I did.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s located in\u00a0York<\/a>, in\u00a0England<\/a>\u2019s northeast. Founded more than two millennia ago, this is a city soaked in history \u2014 from ancient Romans and\u00a0Vikings<\/a>, to Guy Fawkes and marauding Scots.<\/p>\n

These days, its 13th-century walls enclose a labyrinth of narrow medieval streets, and precariously balanced Tudor and Elizabethan houses.<\/p>\n

And one of these impossibly ancient structures is the Golden Fleece pub.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hello mate (Picture: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Smack bang in the heart of the city centre, the watering hole dates back to at least 1503. And given that York was hailed as the \u2018most haunted city in\u00a0Europe<\/a>\u2019 by the International Ghost Research Foundation, the Fleece is, by proxy, the most\u00a0haunted pub\u00a0<\/a>in the country.<\/p>\n

Yes, according to countless reports, the spirits present in this bar aren\u2019t only of the alcoholic variety.<\/p>\n

Regular hauntings have led ghost hunters to conclude that there are 15 different restless spectres here, including \u2018One Eyed Jack\u2019 \u2014 a 17th century red coat seen carrying a pistol; a young Victorian boy who was trampled to death by horses in the yard; former landlady, Alice Peckett, who stalks the corridors late at night; and a Canadian airman who fell to his death from one of the upper windows during World War II.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Maybe we\u2019d end up like this guy (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The wealth of paranormal activity even led to an investigation by hit TV show, Most Haunted, back in 2005, which brings us nicely to my pre-check in preparation.<\/p>\n

Coercing an old mate, Becky, into being my companion for the night, I \u2018warm us up\u2019 by watching said episode on YouTube ahead of our arrival.<\/p>\n

Chuckling in the daylight in the knowledge that, whatever happens, we\u2019d be sharing a room, our bravado quickly falters upon check-in when we discover that, due to the four other guest rooms being unoccupied, we\u2019ve been \u2018upgraded\u2019 from a shared room to a bedchamber each. Gulp.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The historic spot in York has numerous restless spectres (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Returning in the evening from an afternoon exploring, I reluctantly bid goodnight to my friend and bed down for the night.<\/p>\n

Closing the door behind me, every step I make on the uneven floor prompts an eerie \u2018creak\u2019 that sends shivers down my spine.<\/p>\n

Brushing my teeth, I feel like someone \u2013 or something \u2013 is looking at me, and the hairs on my neck stand to attention.<\/p>\n

Midnight, the witching hour, and I sit bolt upright, awoken from a troubled sleep. The dark, doorless corridor opposite the bed gives me the creeps. Perhaps due to fatigue, I see shadows that appear to move.<\/p>\n

Pondering whether to release my inner ghost hunter and ask: \u2018Is anybody there?\u2019 I instead firmly shut my eyes and cover my head with the duvet.<\/p>\n

Later, I\u2019m woken again by the sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor below.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I had a feeling I was being watched (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Looking at the clock on my phone, it\u2019s around 5am.\u00a0 \u2018Ah,\u2019 I think to myself, \u2018it\u2019s the cleaners moving the bar furniture,\u2019 and once again nod off.<\/p>\n

Emerging in the morning for breakfast, with dark circles under my eyes coupled with a severe case of bedhead, I see that Becky hasn\u2019t fared much better.<\/p>\n

Over our fry-up breakfast, we dissect our respective evenings.<\/p>\n

She also had the feeling of \u2018being watched\u2019 and we both cursed the early bird cleaners for our rude morning awakening.<\/p>\n

Checking out later, the friendly barmaid asks about our stay.<\/p>\n

Turns out, you guessed it, there were no cleaners at 5am.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This impossibly ancient structure was a strange place to bed down for the night (Picture: Getty Images) Whether you\u2019re a believer or not, if presented […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273,"href":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions\/273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/50statefeed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}