Haunted pub where the lights will not switch off until you say two creepy words

29 May 2023 , 18:42

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Juliet was buried in the unhallowed ground close to the Inn (Image: Cambridge News)

This is the haunted pub where the lights won't turn off until you say two creepy words.

The Old Ferry Boat Inn looks like your traditional charming country boozer, complete with spectacular views of the river, standout Sunday roasts and a fabulous beer garden.

But the pub in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, boasts a haunting story, and it's creepy enough to keep ghost hunters coming back, report Cambridgeshire Live.

What's scarier is that both staff and customers have reported strange goings on - from lights refusing to be switched off in the evening to things going bump in the night.

The creepy pub in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, looks like your traditional charming country boozer, but it boasts a haunting past (The Old Ferry Boat)

In fact, the boozer is widely reputed as one of the 'most haunted' in Cambridgeshire.

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And it's easy to see why once you here the truly terrifying tale of the tavern.

After a heartbreaking tale of unrequited love, the ghost of Juliet Tewsley is rumoured to rise every year on the anniversary of her death and cause sleepless nights for guests at the Inn.

After a heartbreaking tale of unrequited love, the ghost of Juliet Tewsley is rumoured to rise every year (Cambridge News)

A previous manager at the pub has told his paranormal experiences, including tales of things that go bump in the night.

On March 17, 1050, a local girl who was only aged 17 at the time, fell in love with a forester called Tom Zoul.

Over the years the pub has been developed and extended, with the grave slab becoming part of the interior (Cambridge News)

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. Another version of the story said that 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, her grave was marked only with a plain stone slab.

Over the years the pub has been developed and extended, with the grave slab becoming part of the interior.

The pub is complete with spectacular views of the river, standout Sunday roasts and a fabulous beer garden (Cambridge News)

It can be seen in the bar, and there is a rumour 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.

One said the lights won't go out unless you say 'Goodnight Juliet' and you can hear bangs and noises of doors opening.

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Matthew Senior