South Bucks' most haunted pubs

A violin-playing former landlord, the ghost of an executed drummer boy and a mischevious presence in a cellar are just some of the spooky happenings in these watering holes.

We’ve put together a round up of the most haunted pubs in the area and the chilling ghost stories that have come out of them.

King George V, High Wycombe

Picture: Google Maps

Shadows are rumoured to have been seen at this London Road pub in the early 2000s. Briefly appearing on the walls, they had no physical counterparts.

Soft voices were also reportedly heard when everyone went home for the evening.

White Hart, Chalfont St Peter

Picture: Google Maps

A former landlord can sometimes be heard playing a ghostly instrument, believed to be a violin, deep inside the building. Phantom footsteps have also been reported.

Landlady Lesley Barker-Smith told the Bucks Free Press: “I’ve never come across anything myself, but others have.

“The previous landlady said she heard things. My partner said he’s also felt something. He has heard someone walking past and he thought it was me but there was no one there.

“There have also been strange things like glasses smashing on their own for no apparent reason.

“They say a former landlord used to see people out of the pub by playing the fiddle. He seems very friendly though as he has never caused us any trouble.”

The Royal Standard of England, Forty Green, near Beaconsfield

The pub known to be the oldest freehouse in England is bound to have some colourful history – and hauntings.

According to its website, there is occasionally the sound of a drum beating in the car park. The noise beats through the pub sounding the alarm of the young drummer boy, killed by the Roundheads in 1643.

The drummer boy was one of 12 cavaliers executed outside the pub.

There is also a ghost who walks through walls. A shadowy male figure has been spotted striding across the bar and then disappearing in the wall next to Edmund Burkes old fireplace in the Candle Room.

Some say it is an executed cavalier and others believe it is a traveller accidentally killed by the notorious Earl of Barrymore in 1788.

He belonged to a club called the Four Horse Club, whose members would pay unsuspecting coachman to give them the reins and then drive at breakneck speed. The traveller in question is rumoured to have been crushed outside the pub by a speeding coach and four.

Boot & Slipper, Amersham

Picture: Google Maps

Staff at the Rickmansworth Road pub in 2001 told the Bucks Free Press they were too scared to go into the cellar after they felt a ghostly presence walk past them.

One worker said he even felt a phantom hand grasp his shoulder.

The Crooked Billet, Little Marlow

Picture: Google Maps

The Crooked Billet was built in the 16th Century as two cottages, then changed in 1850 to a cider house.

Among the hauntings of this country pub is a highwayman who was hanged from a nearby oak tree, who terrorised the area. His ghost is reputed to walk about the area from time to time.

Chequers pub, Amersham

Picture: Google Maps

Built in 1450, this pub saw years of Protestant and Catholic confrontations.

Authoritative figures believed these troublemakers should be burned at the state and were done so by Queen Mary’s troops.

Witnesses have seen not one, but nine ghosts throughout the years at the pub including one named Auden by a passing medium. The figure, dressed in white, is thought to be older than the pub itself.

A hooded figure was reportedly seen in an upstairs bedroom, while the ghost of a chimney sweep is also said to haunt the building.

Have you had a paranormal experience at your local pub or in your area? Share your spooky tales in the comments below or email shruti.sheth@newsquest.co.uk.

Information from 'Haunted Places of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire' by Rupert Matthews, www.paranormaldatabase.com/buckinghamshire/buckdata.php, www.thecrookedbillet.com and rsoe.co.uk.