A haunted pub in England, which bills itself as the “most haunted” in the city of York, has suffered a most extraordinary loss. The replica skull of a frequent visitor to the Golden Fleece, who was hanged in 1800, was removed from a display case between January 2 and 3, 2022, and was stolen!
Sharing their sadness at “Elizabeth” being removed from her rightful resting place, pub owners posted an appeal on social networks, Mail Online reported:
“Need help. Unfortunately, during last night/today someone took it upon themselves to remove Elizabeth from her resting place. We cannot understand why someone would want to capture her and us.” I sincerely hope the perpetrator made an error of judgment and will return her to us as soon as possible.”
The Golden Fleece in York is said to be a haunted pub. (The Golden Fleece)
Haunted Pub: Ghosts of the Golden Fleece
Located in the city of York in North Yorkshire, the Golden Fleece, which started as an inn, is 518 years old. It prides itself on being the most haunted pub in the city and if the paranormal phenomena reported by its owners and staff are considered true, then it will probably rank among the most haunted places in the world. Most haunted in England.
According to Metro, there have been 15 sightings of ghosts wandering around buildings. Clearly the ghosts belong to different historical periods. One is attributed to Lady Alice Peckett, whose husband John Peckett owned the pub when he was mayor of York in the early 1700s.
Another is a 16th to 17th century red jacket—a British Army soldier—called One Eyed Jack. The spirit of a Canadian World War II pilot is also said to haunt the area. Even the ghosts of Roman soldiers, who should have preceded the tavern, have been seen in its basements.
In 2015, a group of ghost hunters, led by supernatural expert Susanne Taggart, claimed to have captured an apparition of a haunted pub owner who had hanged himself. Taggart said: “It was very dark and there was clearly the lurking figure of a large person whose head and shoulders you could see, but the only person in the picture was the girl behind the bar and you could see her. It’s on the left.”
She continued: “There is a kitchen door behind the figure but it is completely hidden by this shadow. “None of us could believe it. Quite a few people in our group were shocked by the photo and we felt very uneasy.” Meanwhile, bar staff said they felt their necks tighten while working behind the bar at the haunted pub and had seen glasses being swept off shelves for unknown reasons.
Photo of the replica of the stolen skull before it was stolen from the haunted pub. (The Golden Fleece)
Why was Elizabeth kept in a haunted tavern?
As an inn in the late 18th to early 19th centuries, the Golden Fleece enjoyed the customs of a certain Elizabeth Johnson. The woman was executed for passing a counterfeit £1 note and two counterfeit half-guineas at Knavesmire on August 23, 1800, the Examiner reported. Today, 1 pound is equivalent to 89 pounds (about 120 USD). Add to that the act of “intending to defraud the Bank of England” and her crime was said to be worthy of being hanged!
Elizabeth’s hanging is believed to have been the last execution at Knavesmire, less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from the Golden Fleece. The replica was commissioned at the time and donated to the haunted pub where she used to be a regular.
Golden Fleece clarified that the skull is a replica and not the real thing after social media owners expressed their disgust at the creepy display of human remains at the haunted pub. They emphasized: “This is clearly not Elizabeth’s real skull.” “We believe that she frequented the Fleece when it was an inn and that it was made and given to the owner at the time, although the full story is not yet fully known.”
The skull replica was stolen from a display case before being stolen from the haunted pub. (The Golden Fleece)
The skull theft and the social media storm
The owners of the Golden Fleece hope that their urgent appeal on social media will reunite them with their lost property. But in case that wasn’t enough, they threatened to hand over the CCTV footage, which apparently yielded a positive identification of the thief, to the police: “If we don’t get Elizabeth back in the next few days then this will happen.” will be handed over to the police. This is not something we wanted to do as we hope this was just a silly mistake and error of judgment, and hope the perpetrator will return her safely to us,” Metro reported. believe .
Golden Fleece’s post about the stolen skull created a real storm on social networks, it was shared more than 600 times and attracted nearly 200 comments from outraged Facebook users. These comments range from skepticism to the dire wish that Elizabeth haunt the thief. However, it is hoped that Elizabeth will return to her worthy resting place and not add to the legion of “restless” spirits of the haunted pub.
