Nottingham ghost stories: Why the ‘Cursed Galleon’ must never be moved from this Nottingham pub

Here in the UK, we love a good ghost story. 

We might be a few months away from Halloween, but there’s always time to hear a spooky tale or two - particularly those with local links. 

All major cities across the country boast hundreds, if not thousands of ghost stories and Nottingham is no different. 

In fact, the Original Nottingham Ghost walk is one of the city’s main regular events, sharing spine-chilling stories right the way through the year. 

The ghost walk starts at the iconic Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, which is widely considered as one of the most haunted buildings in Nottinghamshire. 

Established in 1189, it’s unsurprising that the pub's nearly 1,000 years of history has produced some truly terrifying tales. 

The pub’s most infamous ghost story is unusual in the sense that the subject is seen by people every day - even if they don’t know exactly what they’re looking at. 

On the first floor, in a room called the Rock Lounge, visitors will find a small bar decorated with all manner of intriguing objects. 

Atop the bar sits a wooden ship, housed within a glass case. 

At first glance, the ship, covered with years of thick dust, simply looks like another feature used to maintain the pub’s olde-worlde style. 

But those who take a closer look will notice three words inscribed on the bottom-left corner of the case. 

They read: ‘The Cursed Galleon’. 

One version of the story states that the model galleon was given to the pub by a visiting sailor. 

Another suggests that it was left by someone by way of settling a bar tab. 

Either way, its backstory is enough to give even the hardest of souls chills. 

For many years the ship was hung downstairs in the pub, collecting ridiculous amounts of dust.

It was then moved to its current position, but this was when things started to get a bit spooky.

As the story goes, the person who cleaned and moved the galleon from its original position died several weeks later. 

According to Visit Nottinghamshire, the last three people to have handled the galleon have all met a mysterious end.

For this reason, the galleon has not been touched by anyone for decades, remaining in its grimy condition. 

Unless some foolhardy person dares to suggest otherwise, the wooden galleon will remain in situ for many years to come. 

Is the story of the Cursed Galleon one of bad luck or something far more sinister?

We’ll let you decide.