Ye Olde Kings Head: Chester's most haunted pub

Chester is a city built on layers of history, and few places wear that as visibly as Ye Olde Kings Head. Tucked inside the Roman walls at 48-50 Lower Bridge Street, the Grade II* listed Tudor timber-framed building has been taking in visitors for centuries. Its foundations go back to around 1208, when it was the home of town clerk Peter the Clerk, administrator of Chester Castle, and the timber-framed facade you see today dates to 1622. It has been a pub and hotel since at least 1714, and the name comes from King Charles staying at the nearby Gamul House during the English Civil War.

It is widely reckoned to be one of the most haunted pubs in the country, with up to thirteen resident spirits said to wander the place. Three of them carry the most weight. The Man in Black is the most famous, tied to Room 6; a well-known account from New Year's Eve 1982 describes a guest seeing him standing at the foot of her bed. Then there is the Playful Child in Room 4, where giggles, footsteps and poltergeist activity are said to be most common on Sundays. The third is the Lady in Grey, spotted on the staircases and corridors. Beyond those three, there is the sadder tale of two children, Billy and Sarah, whose spirits are believed to be searching for their parents, and a tall, dark shadow figure reported in the cellar, bedrooms and corridors, with sightings recorded as recently as 2014.

That history is not just in the stories. During a 1930s renovation, a sword was found hidden under the floorboards of bedroom 4, and it now hangs above the bar. In the middle floor, you can still see the original support pillars from the Chester Rows that once ran right through the building. The pub has been restored twice, once in 1935 and again in the 1960s, and in 1622 it was known as The Randle Holme Manor, where Lord Randle Holme hosted merchants and townspeople.

If you would rather experience it than read about it, the upper floors have been turned into My Haunted Hotel, a ghost-hunting experience with more than sixteen night-vision cameras recording live. You sleep in a room equipped with a walkie-talkie while a control team monitors the footage, and the project has been featured on Most Haunted UK and Sky's Pick's Paranormal. Co-host Daniel Moss has investigated the building many times and claims to have captured evidence that sceptics cannot disprove; the whole thing has also been the subject of an Amazon Prime Video series.

For a night there, it is adults only, and you are asked to bring your own sleeping bag and towels. Check-in is at 8:30pm, check-out at noon the next day, and booking needs to be made at least 24 hours in advance. There is no alcohol during the investigation, no WiFi in the rooms, and no breakfast, as the pub downstairs does not open until the afternoon. Free teas and coffees are provided, and there is a shower in every room. Parking is not on site, so the Little Roode car park, about a ten-minute walk away, is the one to aim for. The pub sits five minutes from Chester Racecourse and the River Dee, so it is an easy place to reach for a drink, whether you are staying for the ghosts or just the beer.