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In brief
Bursting with character and charm and a smuggler's past. The eerie sound of a ghostly piano playing, a phantom seafarer, and a giggling spectral woman who roams the second floor are just some of the haunted happenings at this fabulous old coaching inn.
Category
About
Fanatics of all things ghostly can really do no better than pay a visit to the supremely haunted Angel and Blue Pig on the edge of the New Forest. Situated on the busy high street of the quaint coastal town of Lymington, the inn perfectly honours its fascinating past and heartily blends its beautiful, original historic features with modern-day comfort, indulgence, and warmth.
Serving its clientele with 14 sumptuous and elegantly styled rooms, the hotel is well-recognised for its friendly and welcoming service and for guest reviews that note that “nothing was too much trouble.”
The Angel and Blue Pig truly excels in its delivery of a perfectly relaxed stay for drinkers, diners, and hotel guests alike. Patrons can expect a relaxed ambience, a menu of hearty home-cooked meals, carefully selected local ales, and a wealth of frequently reported ghostly activity. This time-honoured hostelry is pure gold for impassioned ghost hunters looking to spend time at a haunted spot without compromising on comfort.
History
The warm and friendly Angel and Blue Pig inn has existed since at least the 1600’s. First called The George Inn and renamed The Angel in 1756, the old coaching inn was the focal point for Lymington’s various town businesses. This included a venue for court hearings for deciding on fines for minor offences, church warden meetings, and stables for fire brigade horses, which were housed in the inn’s cobbled courtyard.
Like many coastal towns in the 17th and 18th centuries, smuggling was rife in the New Forest area, allowing the free entry of goods by way of the unguarded coastline. The importation of tea, cloth, wine, and spirits had been heavily taxed by successive governments to generate income to fund the increasing cost of wars in Europe. The practice became lucrative as the townsfolk welcomed the opportunity to buy goods at cheaper prices.
The smuggling gangs of up to 50-100 men gradually became more lawless and violent, keen to preserve their illicit practices and compete with rival gangs.
Given the Angel’s prominence as the town’s mainstay coaching inn and its reputation for having secret underground passages, it is unsurprising that local legend claims the inn provided the perfect meeting place and secret depository for local pirate and smuggling gangs and their contraband.
Ghostly activity
- The ghost of a former coachman has been frequently seen in the hotel kitchen, rather terrifyingly described as having his nose pressed up against the kitchen window. It has been suggested that he is waiting for a supper meal as he once did centuries ago.
- The figure of a tall, bearded man dressed in a heavy-looking, old seafarer’s coat with shiny brass buttons has been spotted walking around the building on many occasions.
- Purposeful, heavy footsteps have been heard in many parts of the hotel.
- Both staff and visitors have reported seeing the apparition of a pretty, young woman with long blonde hair on the second floor of the hotel. She is often described as laughing before disappearing. The disembodied sound of excitable or nervous-type laughter is also heard on the second floor.
- The sound of a piano being played forcefully in the early hours of the night has often disturbed guests, despite there being no piano on the premises.
- The apparition of a naval officer has been witnessed roaming around the hotel. It is said that the desperate commander committed suicide in one of the hotel rooms to escape a court martial for some wrongdoing he was involved with.
- The ghost of a young girl in a long, flowing white dress has been seen sitting in a chair.
- Many guests have told staff that they were woken in the night to the sounds of a lively party or celebration going on with music and laughter until the early hours when there are no functions or parties taking place at the hotel.
Features
Location
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High St, Lymington SO41 9AP, UK
Access
Please note that the bar and restaurant areas are accessible to wheelchair users, but that all guest rooms are situated on the upper floors, which can only be reached by stairs.
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