The Spirits of Room 17

Room 17 at The Mermaid Inn is named Kingsmill, after Thomas Kingsmill, one of the leaders of the Hawkhurst Gang who used the inn as their Rye headquarters during the 1730s and 1740s. The room’s namesake was eventually captured and executed for his crimes. Whether his spirit or another presence is responsible for the activity in this room is unknown, but the phenomena reported here are among the most consistent at the inn.

The Legend

Room 17 is known for three recurring phenomena: sudden drops in temperature, a rocking chair that moves without any physical cause, and light anomalies that have been captured in photographs. The experiences have been reported by both guests and staff over an extended period.

The Hauntings

The rocking chair is the room’s signature phenomenon. It begins to rock on its own, with no draught, no vibration from the building, and no one near it. The movement is not a gentle sway that could be attributed to uneven floorboards in an old building. It rocks as though someone has just stood up from it, or as though someone unseen is still sitting in it.

Sudden temperature drops occur without warning. The room will shift from comfortable to noticeably cold in a matter of seconds, localised to specific areas rather than the room as a whole. These cold spots do not correspond to windows, draughts or any identifiable source of air movement.

Photographs taken in the room have captured what are described as orbs: small, luminous shapes floating in the air that were not visible to the naked eye at the time the photograph was taken. While orbs in photography are often attributed to dust or moisture on the lens, the frequency and consistency of these images in Room 17, combined with the other phenomena, has given the room a distinctive reputation among the inn’s haunted spaces.

Witness Accounts

Chambermaids at The Mermaid Inn have refused to work alone in Room 17. The combination of the moving rocking chair, the sudden cold, and the general atmosphere of the room has been sufficient to prompt staff to insist on working in pairs when servicing the room. This is notable because the staff work throughout the inn and are accustomed to its general atmosphere. Room 17 produces a reaction that goes beyond the baseline unease of working in a centuries-old building.

Investigation and Evidence

The photographic evidence from Room 17, while subject to the usual debates around orb photography, forms part of a body of documented activity at The Mermaid Inn. The rocking chair phenomenon is physical and repeatable, making it one of the more tangible forms of paranormal activity reported at the inn. The room’s name, connecting it to the executed smuggler Thomas Kingsmill, provides a historical context for the disturbance, though no direct link between Kingsmill and the specific phenomena has been established.

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This ghost story is part of the haunted history of The Mermaid Inn.