The Old Bell Hotel

Sometimes dismissed by staff here as a tale to frighten off children, a melancholy "Grey Lady" was purported to be seen on the main staircase, in the corridors, backyard and street outside this hotel, but especially in the James Ody Room. The ghost was also seen to walk through a hedge, and that area always died no matter how many times it was replanted. If she is real, she may be connected with the skeleton of a young lady found during 19th century renovation- the hotel is right next to the burial ground, but this body had unusually been buried in a standing position (some versions say that the part of the hotel most associated with paranormal phenomena is the eastern wing, built on part of the churchyard). The legend is that she was jilted at the nearby Abbey but was coaxed back to the hotel where she continued to wait for her lover to turn up. In the Danvers Room, items have been seen to levitate before being hurled at the wall, guests bags have been emptied and bedclothes yanked off during the night. Odd sounds, items levitating and cold spots have been reported near the salon bar at night. In addition, guests tried to access the Foe [Faux] Room only to find that the door would not open. Staff had to acquire a ladder and climb in through the window - and found that a wardrobe had been moved in front of the door!

More information was provided by author Ruth Roper Wylde: a chambermaid in the late 1990s recalled hearing breathing from an invisible person behind her. Furniture would move overnight in one specific room, and a cleaner saw a second shadow next to hers. There have been incidents of doors slamming shut, and in the space of a few seconds when she briefly left the conference room, a drawer had been removed and its contents spilled out onto the floor. A housekeeper who went to service room 19 found that the door would not open even though the key would unlock it. The door was budged open and it was found that a wardrobe had been pushed in front of it and the windows in the room were too small to allow anyone to climb in or out (I am not sure if this is "The Foe Room" as mentioned above). There have also been footsteps on one of the staircase.

The Weird Wiltshire website published more details in a March 2024 blog; "Most activity occurs in the east wing of the building. This sits over the former abbey churchyard, and it’s suspected a sarcophagus is still buried under the bar. Also, down below the ground floor, a passage was found in 1889. Inside the passage was an upright female skeleton, a couple of stone coffins and a pair of 16th-century spurs in a box ... In the room known as the library is a portrait of a lady who is thought to be [The Grey Lady], but no one knows who she is. Some books say she was a lady forced into an unhappy marriage and hung herself in the James Ody Room [No.15]. I found, in a book, the same story, but a different painting, said to be this ghostly grey lady too. Just recently, a couple of guests staying [in the James Ody Room], and totally unaware of the hotel’s reputation, checked out suddenly at 2am and left without any explanation ... a hanging black figure has been seen swinging from one of the wooden beams in front of the window." A local tale says that if you say 'grey lady, grey lady, grey lady’ three times in a row in the room, she will appear.

Mark Alan Dricsoll, a member of the Facebook Uncanny forums tells us that Robbie, a night porter for 19 years, informed him in early 2026 that he had seen the Grey Lady twice in public areas, and that she looks like the lady whose portrait (wearing a black dress) hangs in the building. She has also appeared on CCTV. She is said to have been jilted at the altar and returns to her room (today numbered 15).

Update: 24/2/20: Christophe Dumeige, the general manager replied to my email, saying that, "I can confirm that nothing has been spotted for decades."

Link: Swindon Advertiser

Link: Weird Wiltshire

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