THE SUPERNATURAL SHIRES - Beds,Bucks & Herts
THE ANCIENT RAM
Wooton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire
 
OCTOBER 2011
 
It's difficult to not do any prior research on The Ancient Ram. It's one of the most well documented 'haunted' venues in Great Britain. Anyone interested in ghosts or P.I may well have read, seen or heard about the place - it regularly features in publication and on television.
 
We had all heard about the Ancient Ram, but, as always, we limited our research until after we had been there so we could draw our own conclusions from the evidence we obtained on the night rather than prior knowledge.
 
As always, this is an abbreviated report on our findings.
 
When we finally arrived at The Ancient Ram an hour late (we broke down on the way there :-0) we found a building that perfectly fitted the visual idea of a 'haunted' house. - It is exactly as it looks in any pictures you may have seen - as though time has stood still.
 
It was once a Pub, although it is difficult to see this  now as over time the place has changed inside considerably. We identified the room which may have been the original bar area, although all traces of its former glory have long gone. The building looks sad and neglected now, and although filled with various items in every nook and cranny it seems unlived in and cold.
 
CONTROL ROOM
We located our Control room in one of the first-floor bedrooms - from here we could set up infra-red  cameras  to monitor each floor as we investigated it. Using the CCTV system also meant that the controller could watch events in 'real time' and keep a more detailed report of findings.  
 
THE BISHOPS ROOM
The Ancient Ram lays claim to a wide variety of ghosts, and one of the most haunted locations is reported to be the Bishops Room. We did a silent vigil in this room, and unfortunately we didn't come into contact with any of the recorded ghosts there - we did experience a very sharp drop in temperature near the fireplace, but it must be remembered that the Ram has no heating, old walls and it was the end of October! - We really couldn't attribute  this  drop in temperature to Paranormal phenomena given the circumstances.  Both CCTV and Digital cameras recorded 'orbs' but again, this was easily attributed to dust, as can be seen in the pictures below.
 
Photo 1 - taken just after sitting down       Photo 2 - taken just after pic 1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We were told that most activity took place in the Bishops Room at around 1:00am, so we returned but again we found no evidence of  physical paranormal activity during our time in there.
 
PSYCHIC FINDINGS
Although we didn't experience any physical paranormal activity, the more 'sensitive' and 'psychic' members of our group did have some success in the Bishops Room. The overwhelming feeling that there were children** trying to make contact seemed to be felt by more than one member of the group, and that these children were scared to talk. This was unerving for those who experienced it at the time, but something we were eager to find out more about, expecially as those who felt it had been proved uncannily right in other investigations. The Barn was the area identified as one area these 'children' were, so it was decided to hold a seance in the barn next.
 
** It is recorded that human bones were found inside the Ancient Ram many years ago while structural work was being carried out, and that police were called in to investigate this, it is claimed they were childrens bones, and that they may have been sacrificed. However, our research since hasn't found any solid evidence of these claims to be true, with one report contradicting the original claim and that bones were found, but they were of animals. 
 
THE BARN
The Barn is located on the Ground Floor of The Ram, and was the only place in the building where some members felt uncomfortable going into. There was definately a change in atmosphere in this area, but it could be due to the fact that it looks unerving when you enter it. If you've never been to The Ram then the picture below gives an idea of what you see first on entering the barn.
 
All of the original pub furniture seems to have been stored in the barn, and to the left of the picture it is piled quite high against the wall.
 
The Fireplace is located at the furthest end of the barn, and can just be seen in the picture. We decided to use the table and chairs located in front of the fireplace for our seance.
 
We had one CCTV camera to record, as well as a static video camera and voice recorder.
 
The board session lasted almost an hour, and the results were jumbled.  Unlike all our other seances we seemed to have difficulty in getting any coherent answers. At one stage the glass literally went round and round in circles almost out of control.
 
We had more success with questions that could be answered 'Yes or No' - although again this was very  hit and miss as the glass seemed to 'jump' rather than move smoothly across the board.
 
Again, the overwhelming thought of children, and the harm they may have come to in the history of  The Ram, was one the group felt most, with one member feeling physically sick at one point, but it was like they (the children) couldn't answer our questions, and as we couldn't get any answers 'spelt' out we couldn't continue the session.
 
SEANCE 2 - THE CONTROL ROOM
 
We had tried most P.I. techniques and equipment in The Ram with little success, so it was decided to hold a second seance in the 'Honeymoon Room' (aka our Control Room for the night) as until this time it was the room we hadn't investigated at all.
At the same time one group member decided to try some EVP in the Barn alone to try and contact 'the children' with hopefully more success.
 
The seance this time was more successful, but again it seemed to be centred around children, and the longer it continued the more people 'felt' - it is difficult without being there to explain how strong these physical feelings were - half the group were men who wouldn't say they ever experienced anything of a 'Psychic' or 'sensitive' nature, and they would certainly want physical proof of the paranormal, rather than a 'psychic' interpritation,.
 In  laymans terms, if they didn't experience it personally, then they wouldn't believe it happened without total proof! but they all experienced this feeling, and even after the evening they said it was the only thing about the Ram that genuinely disturbed them. 
 
The EVP session in the barn lasted for around 30 minutes, and the findings analysed after the investigation.
 
E.V.P
A week after the Investigation while going through our evidence, a few things were found during various voice recordings taken by different members at different times.
On a voice recording, taken in the Barn after the seance a voice is heard to say 'help me' .
The recording of the lone vigil in the barn by a group member which should have lasted 30 minutes suddenly stops after only 2 minutes - at the point where they ask if there are any children there who would like to talk to them. - The same recorder had been used before and after this with no problems on the night, and the batteries were still working a week later with no problems.
During the first Seance in the Barn, a voice is again heard to say 'help' during the seance. This wasn't heard at the time, and it wasn't any of the group members voices. Also during this session a loud bang is heard, and the sound of what seems like a large group can be heard while the glass was spinning round the board - at the time there were only 4 group members participating in the seance. Again these noises weren't heard at the time of the seance.
 
CONCLUSION
 
We spent several hours within The Ram, and unfortunately we didn't seem to find any evidence of the myriad of resident ghosts or demons that are supposed to be there. All our CCTV filming showed dust 'orbs' as did our digital photography. We had no response during vigils, or with tapping or any techniques involving anything physical.
The only evidence we did get was the overwhelming feelings regarding children and some EVP recordings which may or may not support these feelings, but childrens ghost have never been as well documented at The Ram as other spirits that have become synonymous with the building such as the Poltergeist, Bishop, Witch and Incubus which are supposedly regular occurences...
 
We had expected an overwhelming ammount of activity, but this was not the case for us, and to be honest this was dissapointing in a place with so much reported (and well documented) paranormal activity.
The Ancient Ram, in our opinion is not as haunted as some other places we have Investgated, but of course, this is subjective, as is any 'evidence' we may or may not find - we only go on our findings, and the proof we obtain as a group, and we only report the facts - as honestly as we find them....
 
We certainly wouldn't rule out a return visit at some point, as we do like to try and investigate each venue twice - to compare findings, try new techniques, or, with The Ram itself, to find out more about the 'children' and what might have happened to them- because if what we felt is correct, then that really  is a haunting thought..... 
 
PICTURES
A Selection of pictures taken during the Investigation.