The Woolpack, Ipswich

The frontage dates from the 18th century, but behind it lies one of Ipswich’s most ancient inns – one of only 24 public houses listed in a town assessment of 1689 though built a century or more earlier.

Once an old smuggler’s haunt, this Georgian public house is well known to be one of the most haunted pubs in the UK, if not the world. This is down to the number of ghosts that have been reported there. One of the more well known is that of Admiral Edward Vernon who died in 1757 after a controversial career which saw him move from a Naval Captain to politician. Other reported spirits include a persecuted monk, a drowned sailor and a disgruntled bar owner named George. The most active of the spirits though is that of the Admiral Vernon whose nicknamed Grog after his legislation on the watering down of rum on navy ships. That didn’t go down too well with the sailors as you can imagine, and as a result he was the target of hate by generations of thirsty sailors.

Grog’s spirit has often been seen wearing 18th Century Naval officer attire. Regulars who laughed off the sighting and deemed it a hoax were to witness an act of anger by Grog as he ripped a firmly fixed sign off the wall and violently threw it to the ground.

Apart from that, an very pleasant pub serving excellent beer.