Old Queen’s Head is said to be the most haunted pub in Sheffield
Ghosts? Spirits? Haunted and peculiar history? This pub has them all. And we went for a Christmas Eve pint there.
The Old Queen’s Head was built around the mid-to-late 1400s by George Talbot, the fourth Earl of Shrewsbury, as a hunting lodge for Sheffield Castle. It is the oldest surviving domestic building in Sheffield, and now serves delicious hand-pulled ales to punters in the city centre. It is also said to be haunted.
Landlord Stuart Croker, 48, told YorkshireLive that several ghosts are said to have frequented the pub, particularly in the oldest room of the boozer towards the back. He said there is an older gentleman and a young boy who are known to live in the room. There is also a woman in a maid’s outfit, and a young boy called Pierre, who is said to be quite mischievous and sometimes opens the ladies’ toilets.
Stuart also said a former landlord would often find a beer on the bar or table after he got up each morning. One day, he tried this beer, and it was not even one that was sold at the pub. Stuart said one night, the landlord left out a pint for this mystery ghost. By the morning, it had been drunk and no spooky pint was ever left the morning after again.
Me and my pint in the Old Queen’s Head(Image: Andrew Dowdeswell / YorkshireLive)
Whether these ghost stories are true, I will leave up to your imagination, but sitting in the old room, full of history, with a nice, smooth pint of Belgian Blue was an eerie and comforting experience. The history of the building, evident in its aged timber and wonderfully slanted exterior, is clear to see.
Stuart points out various faces carved into the timber stanchions throughout the building. There is even a queen who, he says, no one knows who she is meant to be.
The building also used to have a series of tunnels, which some think may have linked up to the old Sheffield Castle and Cathedral. It was said Mary Queen of Scots, who was imprisoned at Manor Lodge for several years, used these tunnels to get around. The pub may even have been named after the former Queen of Scotland, although Stuart says that has not been confirmed.
Landlord Stuart Croker, outside the Old Queen’s Head(Image: Andrew Dowdeswell / YorkshireLive)
Whatever the truth is, the history is bursting out of every nook and cranny of this building. What a wonderful part of Sheffield history, and a great place to have a pint.
Get all the latest What’s On news straight to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter here.