Haunted England
The Mermaid Inn
Haunted Places
RESIDENCE – The Mermaid Inn
Location: Mermaid St, Rye TN31 7EY, UK
Small Description:
The Mermaid Inn is found in the medieval town of Rye. The original building no longer stands, but the current one is over 600 years old. Back in the days it was used as an inn until smugglers took over and it went out of business. Later down the track it was used as a house for Charles Poile in 1987. By 1913 the building became a club owned by May Aldington, who is the mother of the novelist. Today the inn is owned by Judith Blincow and Robert Pinwill, who bought it in 1993. There is 31 rooms in this lovely inn. The beds have a wooden carved artistic style and most rooms have a stone fireplace. If you decide to stay here, you can enjoy a drink beside the Giant’s Fireplace Bar or if you have a rumbling tummy, you can find food at the Linen Fold Panelled Restaurant, the Dr Syn Lounge or the Boardroom, which is a private dining room. Also there are many surrounding bars found nearby on the cobble stoned paths weaving through the township of Rye.
Ghost Story:
There are so many ghost stories documented at The Mermaid Inn that it will be hard to mention them all. It is definitely a renowned paranormal location.
A couple were sleeping in one of the 31 rooms available. One of the couple woke up at a point to something happening at the end of the bed. After wiping his eyes a few times, he realised he was seeing two people having a sword fight. The people were transparent. After a while one of the gentleman killed the other and the body disappeared through the floor. The other swordsman vanished not long after.
There has been many cases where people haven’t stayed the entire night in their room. One is when the current owner, Judith Blincow, came downstairs one morning to find some of her guests sleeping on the sofa in the lounge. At the time she thought it was quite weird and was worried that the guests didn’t like the room. After asking why they were in the lounge, they said they had seen ghostly figures walk through the walls in the room. They actually refused to return to the room and had their luggage brought out to them.
If you decide to stay, ask for Room 17. This room is said to be haunted by wife of the founder of the Hawkhurst Gang, George Gray. She sits on the rocking chair in the room. Guests say they wake up in the night to see the chair rocking on its own. No windows open, no breeze. The room would also be icy cold at the time of the chair rocking. Owners finally removed the chair because of the amount of complaints. Personally I wish they kept it in the room.
You have to wonder, these are just a few stories from the past 20 years. How many actual hauntings has there been at The Mermaid Inn over the 600+ years. Even before it was rebuilt in the 1400’s, was the building before haunted?
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I would like to thank History Goes Bump for the creepy podcast and which gave me the idea to do this profile.
Photo References: David E Smith and The Mermaid Inn
Accomodation Review
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