The modern Ferry Inn was not built until 1955 and stands on the site of a much older inn of the same name that was destroyed when it received a direct hit from a German bomb on 26th April, 1941. 22 people were killed in the attack as they stood drinking at the bar.

The Ferry Inn, Horning.

The Ferry Inn was built in the 1840's on the site of a monks' mead house which belonged to the old abbey many centuries ago. It is from this period of time that we find the origins of the ghost of the inn, a ghost who haunts in a 20 year cycle.

Many centuries ago a group of monks were sitting outside the mead house one hot summer's day, drinking. A pretty young local girl was walking by along the riverbank and the brothers dragged her inside the house and raped her. So brutal were they that she died as a result of her ordeal and to hide the evidence of their outrage, the brothers dragged her body outside and threw it into the river.

Since that time, the ghost of the girl has been making her appearances every 20 years at the site of her tragic end, but in modern times the phenomena has been restricted to a sudden and inexplicable drop in temperature during the night.

However, on 25th September, 1936, her ghost was seen in a passageway of the Ferry Inn by the then landlord, who was waiting up for the return of one of his guests. He had been dozing in a chair and woke up to hear the rustling of a dress. Looking up, he saw the figure of a girl in her early 20's who was wearing a greenish dress. What struck the landlord most was the girl's face, which was beautiful but deathly-white, and had that painful look of suffering.

The landlord tried to speak to her but she glided away from him and vanished through the front door. He followed, and on opening the door, saw the wraith disappearing into the river near the ferry.

The guest, who the landlord had been waiting up for, was returning from taking a stroll before retiring to bed and heard the landlord crying out. He also saw the figure of the girl walking down the pathway from the inn towards the river, where she disappeared into the water.

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