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The Haunted Hotel
Many will be familiar with the Savernake Forest Hotel. This fine Victorian structure was purpose built by the Marquis of Ailesbury in about 1864 to serve the newly built Savernake station on the Berks & Hants Extension Railway. The line connected Hungerford with Devizes and so left Berkshire for Wiltshire after about 2 miles and never went anywhere near Hampshire!
Probably because it was operated by the GWR from its opening, the line was no more than a secondary route and saw little of the potential traffic (the GWR ensured as much traffic as possible used its own metals via Swindon and Chippenham). This changed in 1906 by which time the line had become owned by the GWR and new "avoiding lines" to Westbury then Castle Cary were opened creating a new, shorter "main line" from Paddington to Weymouth and the West Country. From then onwards crack expresses passed through (and sometimes served) Savernake station.
Why the marquis built such a large hotel in such a lonely spot is unclear. As a backer of the railway he must have been aware of the limited passing passenger trade. As a "local" and owner of most of the land within 8 miles of the hotel, he would have been aware of the limited opportunities from the local population. Without the rail connection, the hotel was difficult to reach as the road to the north lay across his parkland and to the south the only approach was via Stibb Green. As trains of the Marlborough Railway connected at Savernake to take travellers on to that town, very little business would come from that source. To improve matters, in about 1868, the marquis allowed the creation of the public road from the Ram Alley cross-roads to the hotel thus allowing quicker access to customers from the north by avoiding the need to climb to, then descend from, Stibb Green.
It is probable that the aim of the hotel was to serve visitors to the marquis's mansion, Tottenham House, and an essay I possess shows that nobility did stay at the hotel. Indeed during the bleak years of the 4th Marquis when Tottenham House shut up, he usually stayed at the hotel during his rare visits to his Wiltshire estates. Other records show that the hotel was often the venue for estate events such as tenant farmer "harvest homes" - but it is unlikely that many could afford to stay at the hotel after the revelries.
There are many aspects of the hotel's history that await further research - for example when did the Savernake Estate sell it? However the following have been discovered so far:
The first landlord was John Jarvis, a Pewsey man who, I believe, had previously run the Phoenix Hotel in that village. The 1871 census record that he also farmed 147 acres for which he employed 13 men and 4 women. To help him run the hotel he had, living in, a barmaid and a cook. By 1881 Charles Nicholls, his wife and his business's partner Martha James were running the hotel and a 80 acre farm (which only required him to employ 3 men). Only the "Hotel Boots" was recorded at living in however his one paying guest that night was Godfrey Luckingham; under Secretary of State and a Barrister at Law. In 1891 the hotel was being managed by Annie Cramm aided by a barmaid and 4 Domestic Servants. By 1895, Richard Henry Bain of Tamworth was managing the hotel. He had formerly owned the Star & Garter in Andover and, legend has it, without having seen the building, bought the Forest Hotel in a transaction on a railway platform. In 1901 he was 50 and had live-in staff comprising of 2 barmaids; a cook; a waiter; a chambermaid; a kitchen maid; an under house maid and a hotel boots. When World War 2 broke out in 1939, he was 89 and still running the hotel. He lived to the ripe old age of 96. From early times the landlord of the hotel also ran the Refreshment Room on the station platform but when this started (pre 1895?) and finished (1920s?) I have yet to determine.
Bain seems to have been a bit of a character who, amongst other things, bred horses in the stables of the hotel. Until the outbreak of WW2 he was noted for his "unrivalled collection of horse drawn carriages" and it was a familiar sight to see him driving a coach and 4 between Savernake and Marlborough. The collection of coaches were eventually sold - mainly to film companies. Records show he and his wife played quite prominent roles in the life of the village.
Bain ran the hotel for 45 years and was succeeded by his daughter, Mrs. Lott, for the next 23 years. She was also a bit of a character and established a herd of Guernsey cows which were kept in the old stables. During the late 1950s she sold it to Mrs Helen V. Baldwin who had previously owned the Great Western Hotel in Swindon. Originally Mrs. Baldwin had owned 5 hotels in Hampstead and Kensington but sold them to move to Swindon in 1939. With the outbreak of war the military commandeered the hotel but later released it. It re-opened to the public in 1940 and stayed open day and night to cater for the endless troop movements at the station opposite. Many famous people visited that hotel at the time and she even help catch a German spy! Following serious ill-health in 1951 she visited Lourdes and where nuns gave her a total immersion. She later sold the hotel and spent 2 years travelling the world alone before returning and eventually buying the Forest Hotel. R.R.B. Roberts was landlord in 1965 but there are many more names to be discovered. However,for now, we can jump forward to 1983 when I had my first encounter with the building.
For some time before my arrival in 1983 the hotel had been owned and run by Isabelle and Tony Sykes. The place was thriving and I enjoyed my stays which were necessitated by my move to the village from "the north". Sadly, following their sale of the hotel in about 1990, the succeeding owners failed to re-establish the hotel's fortunes and the hotel closed its doors in about 1999. After a short spell as a training centre is lay empty but now, at the time of writing (April 2008), is in the final throws of being converted into 6 houses with the pretentious name of Savernake Manor!!!!. (Why pretentious? - well there never has been a Savernake Manor; Burbage comprises of 3 manors which have all been owned for many generations by the Wardens of Savernake Forest so none had or needed a manor house. The hotel probably lies in the manor of Burbage Esturmy.)
Having met my wife at the hotel, I have a bit of a soft spot for this fine old building. I'm sure the new owners will enjoy their new homes but I feel I must make them aware of some unexpected company they may meet there. My wife actually lived in the main hotel building between 1980 and 1985 and became well aware of its "features". That the hotel is haunted is documented in both "More Ghosts and Legends of the Wiltshire Countryside" (Kathleen Wiltshire, Melksham, about 1978) and "Ghosts of Wiltshire" (Peter Underwood,Bodmin, 1989) and, although Michelle never actually saw a ghost I will recount the events told to her so you can make up your own minds.
The published tales refer to the black dog which haunts the hotel. Although Michelle never saw the dog many visitors did: she was at reception when a couple approached to register. The woman appeared to step over an obstacle on the floor and when her husband asked what she was doing, she replied "Stepping over the dog". Dogs were banned from the public bar but over the years several visitors commented to her about the dog lying in front of the fire or by the bar. In none of these cases was there a dog present.
The converted hotel
