THE GOLDEN FLEECE, YORK

On Pavement today stands what I think is the most haunted pub in York, and, until I find another one, the most haunted place in the world. The Golden Fleece, dating from 1503, licensed from 1648. It was originally built for the Merchant Adventurers as a hostelry for other businessmen who came to York to do business with them. These were men who would buy various goods (wool mainly in York) from local farmers, they would then sell the wool to other merchants in different cities right throughout the world, these business deals would take place at the Merchant adventurers hall nearby. Originally called the Fleece it then changed its name to the Golden Hart, then the Gold Fleece. The Golden part refers to the fact that in 1667 the landlord at the time, Richard Booth, was allowed to mint his own coins, whilst the Fleece part comes from the Merchant Adventurers. In 1572 just outside the pub took place the execution of sir Thomas Percy, whose headless spectre has been seen in Holy Trinity. As he was a catholic being beheaded in a largely catholic city it was deemed by the authorities that his executioner should not come from York at all and so the Merchant Adventurers put together a competition (what this entailed Is not recorded). The winner was a man named Edward Blackwell, his prize was not only the money which he received for the execution but he was given free bed and board at the Golden Fleece, although it would appear the Merchants did not own the pub at this time. The mans nickname was Black Eddie, it was always tradition for the person to be executed to give a little bit of money to his executor just before he dealt the fatal blow, however when sir Thomas gave Edward some coins he tossed them to the crowd declaring "Die ye vile papist dog". It might be this Eddie who affected some people on a Paranormaltours event at the Fleece in 2006, not one of the punters but one of the crew. Early into the investigation he had to be physically dragged out of the back doors by five men as some kind of violent energy was making him feel aggressive, all he knew was that a spirit called Eddie had picked on him for some reason, could it be Black Eddie, because you see the man in question is Catholic, not a devout Catholic but a Catholic none the less. Further on into the same night this same spirit affected two more people, including a medium, though whether they are of the same faith as the crew member I do not know. Sadly much later I found this crew member like to fake a lot of activity and I came to not trust him, though does that mean the incident with “Eddie” was faked I do not know either. Almost every room within this public house is haunted, the front bar used to be the part where horses were brought in and kept for the night, it is said a boy was trampled to death by a large Brewers Dray Horse in the late 1800's just outside this part of the pub, and his spirit now lingers there. He could also be the pickpocket responsible for many people reaching for their wallet to find it on the floor next to their feet. This pickpocket also frequents the back bar, which today serves food, it may put you off your tuna pasta bake to know that it is haunted by a one eyed highwayman, replete with a brace of flintlock pistols, tricorn hat and red coat. Though his red coat may mark him out as a soldier as opposed to a highwayman, he has been given the name of "one eyed Jack" though through various means it may be that his real name is Robert. He could haunt the premises due to the fact that people accused of crimes (including murder) would take lodgings in the Fleece before going to court at the nearby prison. It is also in the back bar that an old landlord sadly took his own life, behind the bar there is a false ceiling, under that there is still supposed to be a hook which the publican tied some rope to and ended his own life. In a small alcove in this area a grumpy old man has been seen dressed in a grey suit, he sits drumming his fingers on the wooden table before disappearing when a member of staff comes close by. It is also thought the cellar maybe haunted, it is reputedly the place where dead bodies were kept after being killed in pavement before being dumped in unconsecrated ground or those that were hung at nearby Bale Hill before their families came to claim them. It is also thought that Roman Soldiers have been witnessed in the Cellars too, this is thought to have been the area of York where the soldiers barracks were during their occupation. In the appropriately named Lady Pecketts room upstairs is said to be the spirit of Lady Peckett herself, not only was her husband, John Peckett, the pubs landlord in 1702 but he was also Lord Mayor of York. The spirits of two children have also been reported in Lady Pecketts room, holding on to one another in terror before dissipating into nothing. As you enter Lady Pecketts room look onto the ceiling and notice the large plaster mould, this in times gone by would have had a large candelabra hanging from it, however if this was the case then you would need to be four feet tall not to hit your head on it, therefore the floor level in this room has most definitely changed over time, however the spirits in here are shown at the same level as the current floor. The Shambles room takes its name from the nearby street and of course it is haunted, Lady Peckett walks here too and it may be this room from which a tragedy took place. It has been reported a man either fell to his death or hung himself from the windows in one of the rooms, the only facts that have come out from this spirit is that he was a Canadian WW2 Airman, possibly called Geoff Monroe. In a newspaper in 1994 an interesting story came out about this spirit, it was claimed that he had followed April Keenan home after she had spent a short holiday there. She awoke one morning in her house to find she had written "Geoff Munroe died - The Golden Fleece" on a piece of paper besides her bed. Perhaps this sad spook has gone to April’s house, you can’t blame him, you see April lives in Los Angeles USA. In the bathroom I myself have been privy to a strange occurrence.

During the same Paranormaltours event in May 2006 the crew lead, Lee Murphy (someone I do trust), myself and three young ladies were conducting base line tests in the main room, one of the girls named Emma went off into the bathroom. Suddenly she came screaming out of the room saying that the lights had gone out whilst she was inside, we all went inside and were naturally stood staring at the lights above when Lee said "wouldn’t it be funny if they came back on" and at that very second they did. We eventually found the light switch outside the bathroom, nowhere near anyone at the time the lights went out or when they came back on. In another Paranormaltours investigation at the Golden Fleece in November 2006 I was re-telling this story to about twenty five people in the same bathroom in the Shambles, whilst I was telling the story the lights did indeed start to flicker, but stayed on all night after that. St. Catherine’s room is haunted by a dark shape, mostly seen as a young lady, near the windows or standing between the two beds. I have also had some kind of strange activity happen in the bathroom of St. Catherine’s. During the November investigation I locked myself into the bathroom on my own, sitting on the toilet whilst the rest of the group of six were outside. After about ten minutes I heard some kind of click noise (I also caught it on camcorder), a minute later I asked if anyone outside had just knocked, they had not, and it could not have been me because the noise came from far away from me. This bathroom was only found recently, after being boarded up for about two hundred years, why? nobody knows. The last of the four lodging rooms is the Minster Suite, it was here where Eddie made his feelings known to the people on the first investigation. It is also the room with the most Poltergeist activity, it is thought that a number of children have died in these rooms as their crying has been heard here. The bed also moves on its own, as does the bathroom door, on one occasion it hit someone in the face causing severe bruising. In the function room a lady has been seen walking through one of the walls, who she is no one knows for sure though many attest it to be Lady Peckett, who has also been seen outside in the Yard which bears her name. The last spirit to mention is that of a young girl who resides in the private family kitchen upstairs from the function room.

CJ Linton

Since writing this article in 2008 I have since stayed at the Golden Fleece on numerous occasions, fourteen in total. These have been events similar to the ones I’ve mentioned, nights where I myself have organised events and even just solo visits where I’ve done a little “asking out” on an evening in the room I’m in. I have since witnessed more paranormal activity here. In 2012 while staying in the Minster Suite I arrived in my room and went straight to the bedroom, passing the living room and bathroom, I did not see anything untoward in the living room are and the bathroom door was closed. I put my bag on a chair in the bedroom, took out my wallet and phone and went to leave the suite to explore a bit of my favourite city, passing once more the closed bathroom door and living room. On glancing into the living room now I saw (which I’m adamant wasn’t there before) a book which advertises things to do in the city, like a directory for local businesses stood on end on top of the tv with the TV remote balanced on top of that. This is classic poltergeist activity and as I moved towards the tv the floor creaked beneath my feet, I hadn’t heard it creak while I was in the bedroom, not heard anyone enter the room and leave in the minute or two I spent in the bedroom, the uneven floor and my footsteps made the tv wobble, toppling the book and remote in the process and for the next ten minutes I tried my hardest to replicate the scene but the book (more like a thick magazine) was just too unstable. That same night / early morning next day I made a visit to the bathroom and whilst sitting on the loo I heard talking coming from the living room area, the talking then became two or more children giggling and laughing and upon leaving the bathroom the noises stopped, I went and sat in the living room and despite being warm in the bedroom and bathroom (it being summer and warm in general) the living room area was cold. I sat for thirty minutes or so and heard nothing, no sounds from outside or other rooms. In 2019 I met with some French friends of mine I have known for many years, they were touring the country and we had a night in York so I took the opportunity to book us a couple of the rooms in the Fleece. We ate elsewhere (not knocking the Fleece’s food, its very good) but had a couple of drinks in the bar before leaving. Jeanette (one of the friends) went to use the ladies bathroom, when she went in a woman was in there wearing what Jeanette described as a dark blue hat with a small feather in it and a small rosette in the side, the woman looked angry and stared at her as Jeanette went into the cubicle. She didn’t hear the woman leave the bathroom and no one else came in as she didn’t hear the main door open. When Jeanette was done she opened the cubicle door and to her surprise the woman had gone, when she came out she looked into both bars to find the woman but no one looked like the lady in question. She also said she felt upset by the way the woman looked at her. That night I stayed in the Shambles Room, this room always gives me the creeps mainly because of the artwork, I have hippophobia (fear of horses) and the theme in the artwork is, yes, horses. Awakening in the middle of the night to pee I went to the bathroom, did my business and went back to bed. Laid in bed I heard footsteps on the wooden floor in the corridor leading from the front door to the bedroom, they were unmistakable and sounded like boots that maybe had hobnails to scratch the floor, at this time the bed faced differently to the way it is set up now and I could look down the corridor from the bed, there was no one there but I got a massive whiff of pipe tobacco. I immediately looked out of the window (which was open) thinking someone walking past could have been smoking a pipe, but could not see anyone, as I was leaning out the window to try and see the street below I heard footsteps once more, but not from the street below, from behind me in the room, I even heard what sounded like someone sitting on furniture, there is furniture in the room but couldn’t see anything so I was unsure of which bit of furniture it was. Because of the street lighting etc the room wasn’t pitch black, so I could still see the entire room. For some reason I said “I’m going to bed now” and I heard nothing more that night.