The manager of a pub dubbed the 'most haunted building in England' claims to have captured the spirit of a little girl pushing a pram on CCTV. The footage, filmed on Friday August 28, shows a cleaner dusting toys in the playroom at The Ancient Ram Inn in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire.
In the video, the cleaner is seen polishing a wooden cot when the baby stroller begins slowly rolling towards her. She steps back in surprise before moving the pram back to its original position, saying: 'It's alright, I know you're there.'
Paranormal activity in 'the den'
Beth Marsh, one of the managers, believes the pram may have been pushed by the spirit of a little girl, as ancient skeletal remains of children were reportedly unearthed in the property decades before. The 27-year-old says 95% of guests who stay in the 800-year-old building claim to experience paranormal activity, with customers often hearing children running and giggling throughout the property.
Marsh claims staff have experienced other paranormal incidents in the playroom, known as 'the den', including lights flickering and doors opening on their own. She hit back at sceptics who suggested uneven floorboards caused the pram to roll, revealing she jumped around the room herself to test the buggy's stability – but it didn't budge.
Manager responds to sceptics
Marsh said: "I've experienced some weird things like doors closing on their own with no one else around. I've heard knocking above my head, things turning off on their own. I'm a bit of a sceptic, I don't know if I believe or not, but some things I don't know the answer to. I would say 95% guests have experienced something and that usually draws them into coming back."
After the pram moved, Marsh said they immediately reviewed CCTV footage and found the clip. She noted the cleaner was "a bit confused" and "a little bit concerned", but nothing else happened after that. This wasn't the first unexplained incident caught on camera – earlier in the year, YouTubers visited 'the Den' where footage showed doors mysteriously opening while filming.
Children's spirits known in the pub
Marsh says paranormal spirits of children have been witnessed throughout the pub, and believes the ghost of a little girl may have pushed the pram to alert the cleaner of her presence. She said: "No one stays in there but it's a room where there's a lot of activity and children's spirits are known to be playing around in there, which is what people think. The door to that room opens on its own all the time. You can't debunk it because the latch is basically between two pieces of wood. On the bottom floor of the Ram, they found the remains of children's bones, so there's a grave that they sort of put in place."
She added: "So people believe there are a lot of children running around. The pram could be one of those children. I've had comments from customers to say they hear children laughing and giggling and shadow figures of children running around the property. So it's very much known there are kids running around here. I wonder if [the ghost] just wanted to let the cleaner know she was there and saying hello to her. I think the spirits appreciate that people are taking care of the house, rather than doing anything else aggressive or harmful."
After sharing the video online, some sceptics discredited it, insisting the uneven floor caused the pram's movements. One person said: 'Uneven floor', another added: "Uneven, wooden floor. A buggy with wheels. Vibration from her activity, all adds up to the buggy moving." A third said: "Not sure how the pram is moving but it's not a ghost."
In response, Marsh said: "We don't have the time to set up something and fake these sorts of things. I went into that room and jumped on the floorboards and the pram didn't move. You're not always going to convince everybody."
