The Royal Oak, East Lavant
The 18th century Royal Oak public house and restaurant in East Lavant had a reputation of being haunted in the 1950’s. It has been suggested that the apparition of a bearded man has been seen in the back rooms and heard climbing the stairs during the evening.
Wilfred Miles moved to The Royal Oak as the licensee in the 1950’s and quickly encountered the apparition of a man with a thin beard, as did his two sons, who saw the man sat on their bed on night. According to The Haunted Pub Guide (1985) by Guy Lyon Playfair, this bedroom had a reputation of being haunted by a male figure prior to the Miles family moving in.
Re: The Royal Oak, East Lavant
I rather hate to spoil this story but here goes. During the late 1940’s my Grandparents James and Lillian Pafford were landlord and landlady and my Mother Marjorie lived there also. There were a couple of other public houses in the vicinity and there was something of a rivalry between them. Now ghosts are always good for business and so my Mother made some up. A grey man and a woman in a white dress who stood at the foot of my Mother’s bed. The story spread and others claimed to have seen them or knew someone who had done so. She always told me the stories as if they were true and only confessed when she was quite old.