Batter flinging and picture pitching are accepted with a smile by first time hoteliers at 16th century coaching inn

AS far as Rebecca and David Leaning can gather, three poltergeists roam the halls of The White Hart Hotel – or so they’ve been assured by the coterie of mediums and would-be clairvoyants who have made the 16th century coaching inn their occasional stomping ground.

With newspaper reports of the grisly murder of a Victorian maid, an unsavoury suicide in the stables, rumours of inquests and whispers of exorcisms down in the cellar – it is conceivable and in fact plausible the Calne pub could be haunted by the restless (but mostly harmless) souls who met their untimely end under its roof.

Although its owners would not dare put a number on it, they admit they have lost count of supernatural encounters, shadows spotted in the dead of night, or mischievous apparitions with a penchant for flinging antiques and the odd dash of batter around.

“It’s never scary but there’s a mischievous element,” says David, matter-of-factly.

“We’ve got reports of a smoking man at the bar from different people but there’s never anybody there. We fell asleep one night in the armchairs by the bar and I awoke startled – I heard the creaking of floorboards and I saw an outline walking towards the door.

“The building is so old, it’s not surprising. “Whether you call it haunted is a tricky one but there’s definitely something here. It’s part of the building.”

His wife Rebecca listens pensively before recounting how a spirit spooked the living daylights out of their bartender until he finally sought employment elsewhere.

“I was telling him about the ghost we had at our antiques shop and he started to laugh as if I was making it up. There was a bowl of batter on the table and then the spoon flew out and the lights flashed on and off.

“Then one day he was here by himself and he heard this mighty crash of broken glass in the dining room. One of the pictures was found on the other side of the room.

“He never wanted to be alone after that.”

“Some people have also separately seen a little girl in their room in the middle of the night and then gone back to sleep,” chips in David, 55, before adding casually that picture negatives of a child were excavated from walls on the first floor.

This talk of roving mites and phantom intruders would be enough for the doughtiest of owners to kindly call it a day, hand back the keys and beat a hasty retreat.

By their animated chatter and amused expressions, it is clear it takes more than an airborne painting (it has now been securely screwed to the wall) and a gaggle of puckish sprites to unnerve the first-time hoteliers.

Yet, it is fair to say former council research IT expert David and his antiquarian wife got more than they bargained for when they packed in their day jobs, shut up their antiques store in Shaftesbury and embarked on a new life as innkeepers three years ago. Not least in the renovations department.

“We walked in with our eyes wide open and we knew it would be hard work,” insists 58-year-old Rebecca.

“But there was a lot to do. It took us a year just to fix all the water leaks in the property. And it was very vanilla when we arrived but the building had so much character – we just embellished it.”

Trading their sedate existence for the hectic life of proprietors took some convincing where David was concerned.

“He didn’t want to hear about it when I first mentioned running an old country pub – but it’s something I’d always wanted to do,” teases Rebecca, originally from Philadelphia, who met David by chance when he walked into her sister’s gallery in Scotland the Scottish heartland during one of her visits to the UK. A whirlwind romance ensued and they married eight years ago.

“But when he saw what we could achieve and the potential he changed his mind.”

Innocuous ghosts aside, the building itself boasts a colourful history, which the pair are still uncovering one scrawled deed at a time, with the help of amateur historian and gifted sleuth John.

The inn, where the bar area stands today, was originally built in the 16th century. As for the other side of the property, where the dining room and snug now stand, it was raised on a foundation of Avebury stone in the 1700s.

A hawk-eyed collector of curios, one Chesterfield, candlestick and jousting lance at a time, the mistress of the house set out to transform The White Hart into a homely pell-mell of bibelots, heraldic replicas and steam punk touches.

Both keen medieval reenactors, the pair single-handedly organised a costumed fair for St George’s Day recently.

The food like the décor reflects head chef Rebecca’s heritage and predilection for merging traditions.

British rustic fare like Lincolnshire sausage and mash and good old Sunday Roast share the bill with American staples including barbecued chicken and Rebecca’s signature steaming nachos platter.

“There are definitely American touches – it’s a real fusion,” smiles David.

As well as friendly spooks, the pub is home to Calne’s community radio, Eartunes.

“And it could one day house its own micro-brewery – as soon as David finds time to squeeze beer and mead making in his packed schedule.

“It’s still a work in progress,” insists Rebecca.

“It will be for the rest of our lives. The minute we have it how we want it, we’ll think: ‘How can we make a little bit better?’”

The White Hart is based at 2 London Road, Calne SN11 0AB. To book or for more information on upcoming events call 01249 812413, email info@whitehartcalne.com or visit dmleaning.wix.com/whiteharthotel/