BLACK SWAN HOTEL

The Black Swan hotel in Devizes, Wiltshire is a traditional Coaching Inn; it was built back in 1732. The Black Swans cellars date back to the 1600s, when a previous pub known as the Nags Head stood on this site. It was owned by a notorious horse dealer and suspected highwayman, Ambrose Saintsbury.
The Black Swan hotel is set in the town square in front of where the town's gallows once stood. It is thought the present-day function room was once a court of judgement, and a meeting place for local freemasons and traders.
Room Four at the Black Swan Hotel is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the most haunted bedrooms in the country. In 2004 Living TV's Most Haunted visited the hotel their findings suggested that the hotel is haunted by several different ghosts.
In room 4, guests and staff members have witnessed the ghost of a young woman wearing a long flowing dress. Her ghost is said to appear through the walls of the room, she then sits down for a second or two and stares out of the window, before leaving the room again through the opposite wall! Several sightings have forced the guests to vacate the room in sheer fright at what they had witnessed.
Before taking over the Black Swan Hotel in March 2010 new owners Mike and Yvonne Wright were sceptical about ghosts and the paranormal, but now they are not so sure after a series of strange events at the pub.
Yvonne had an experience at the Black Swan even before the family moved in. While staying at the hotel one night Mrs Wright woke up to find herself trying to get out of a non-existent door in the wall of room 12. Initially she did not think too much of it until she watched a YouTube clip of Most Haunted and saw medium Derek Acorah filming at the Black Swan in room 12 and saying that he could feel a door there, that had been sealed up.
During an organised ghost hunt at the Black Swan one of the girls in the group said she could feel a presence next to her whilst in room 4. When she reached out her hand to the spot, she had the sensation of it feeling very hot. The girl became distressed when the lights were turned on her hand was dripping with sweat. A thermometer was placed in the spot and the temperature was seen to rise up from 17 to 27.6 degrees Celsius as the group watched.
Room 4's reputation has not discouraged others from staying there; Mr and Mrs Wright are now inundated with requests for bookings for it.
Several ghosts have been reported in and around the cellar area. The cellars have five chambers which lead off from a central passage. The rear of the cellar has been bricked up, blocking access to what is believed some extra 100 feet or so of underground tunnel, which runs under the Black Swans yard. In 1999, John Girven removed some bricks whilst investigating the suspected tunnel. This act allegedly marked the start of the severe haunting of the cellar area.
Ambrose Saintsbury a suspected highwayman was reputed to keep his horses stabled in the cellar tunnels along with a change of clothing. During a recent investigation, a man in a three cornered hat was seen in the basement. Reported paranormal activity includes hot and cold spots, people being tickled, shadowy figures and outlines, light anomalies, and tapping noises heard.