George and Dragon Hotel, High Street, West Wycombe

[Spooky]

The George and Dragon was built in 1720 on the site of an older inn dating back to the 14th century. It has one of the most unusual inn signs in England, a large oval sign depicting St George slaying the dragon, a sign which is probably as old as the inn itself. It is not very far from the Hellfire Caves, the site of Sir Francis Dashwood’s diabolical orgies in the 18th century. The George and Dragon is haunted by more than one ghost but Sukie is the most famous.

Sukie was a young and very attractive serving wench with long golden hair, who, at the age of 16 was an outrageous flirt with an insatiable appetite for men. She was also very ambitious. She detested having to wear long voluminous dresses that hid her perfectly shaped legs but she did her best to show off her outstandingly beautiful figure. The other hotel servants referred to her as “Your Ladyship” because of her high aspirations.

Sukie had many admirers, especially three local lads who rivalled each other for her attentions. However, her ambitious nature made her scorn them, even more so when a handsome stranger came into the hotel for a meal and a drink. She fell for him straight away and was totally determined that she was going to be his wife.

From his clothes he was obviously rich and could have been either a nobleman or a highwayman. It was probable that Sukie was rather hoping that he was the latter. He was certainly well-confident and good-mannered, which was in contrast to the three lads who had played each other off for her attentions. Before the stranger had arrived they had been rivals but now the presence of the man who had turned Sukie’s head united them in a common purpose. As they got drunker and drunker one night they decided to play a trick on Sukie which would bring her down to earth again.

A hotel servant was bribed to tell Sukie that her lover wanted to meet her in the chalk caves at midnight, dressed in a gown of white. When Sukie received this message it could only mean one thing to her - her lover wanted to take her away and marry her.

That night, having completed her duties for the day, with much excitement she prepared herself. Borrowing a white gown from one of the other servants she arrived at the caves half an hour before midnight. But as the time dragged on there was still no sign of her lover and she was getting very anxious. Then all of a sudden the three lads appeared, very drunk. They started to tease and make fun of her. Sukie, full of anger, started to throw stones at them and in the ensuing struggle she fell and struck her head on the cave wall, fracturing her skull. She was carried back to the inn by the three lads, now very much more sober and extremely frightened. The following morning she was dead. She was buried in her beautiful white dress.


It was only a few days before strange things started to happen in the room where she had lived with two other girls. Both girls became so terrified that they were moved to other rooms. Sukie has been seen many times in the room and also gliding along the corridor outside, mainly in the early hours of the morning. She is still seen, wearing her beautiful white dress and there is a strange coldness in the room where she breathed her last.

There is also another ghost at the George and Dragon, that of an 18th century traveller who was rob bed and murdered at the hotel. His footsteps are said to be heard in the upper part of the building.

[Spooky]

Would be interesting if we could find out what date and time Sukie had her accident. It mentions she was in the caves at 11:30pm. When the Monkey went off the table it was about 11:40 ish, will check on this later.

I know its a long shot but what if she had the accident in June all those years ago?

[Spooky]

Interesting other version of the Sukie story....

West Wycombe, a small, compact village surrounded by beautiful countryside, ancient woodlands, and some of the best farmland in South Buckinghamshire, became notorious during the 18th century as a result of the debauchery of the Hell-Fire Club, which met regularly in the West Wycombe Caves. Founded by Sir Francis Dashwood, his descendant's still own the caves today, as well as many of the property's, and vast area's of land in and around West Wycombe.

Members of the club used to gather at The George & Dragon, on West Wycombe's tiny High Street, before and after their meetings. It is a rather small public house, chosen because of its close proximity to the caves and its intimate atmosphere. Here they could talk freely, while enjoying the very best beers, wines, spirits and cigars money could buy. The lifestyle, and the stories overheard by a young, very pretty barmaid, affectionately known as 'Sukie', left her captivated, who's enchantment, innocent charm and naivety would tragically cost her her life.

One night, after the pub had closed its doors to customers, she agreed to visit the caves with one of the Hell-Fire regulars. Soon after arrival, she tripped and fell in the darkness, hitting her head on a kerb stone. However, it does seem a more likely story that she was beaten and raped, and her accidental death was just a cover story. When she arrived back at the The George & Dragon she was in a terrible state. She was very gravely ill, and died only moments after reaching safety. Ever since that day, a beautiful, young girl has been seen walking the corridors of the pub, dressed in a flowing white gown. If followed she always seems to vanish behind the locked bedroom doors, where she can be heard crying, well into the night.

[Spooky]

Another version but without rocks being thrown...

One of West Wycombe' s most infamous sons was Sir Francis Dashwood, responsible for excavating the nearby West Wycombe caves for the debauched cavortings of the notorious "Hell Fire Club." a group of fellow aristocrats and men of influence. Men from the village employed in the construction of the caves were thus saved from the crushing poverty of their age, so earning Dashwood the gratitude of the locals and ensuring that they were willing to turn a blind eye to the spurious goings-on beneath the hillside.


The village today is a delightful enclave, owned and preserved by the National Trust, and a stroll along its High Street is like slipping back in time. The red-brick facade of The George and Dragon is one of the village' s more striking exteriors, and turning under its archway to enter its snug and atmospheric interior is a rare treat. " Generations of traders, travellers, lovers and visitors have left traces of their presence on the building and its atmosphere," reads the inn' s brochure, " not least of whom is Sukie, the beautiful social climber whose ghost is said to haunt the building."


Tradition holds that Sukie was a servant girl who worked at The George and Dragon in the 18th century. Among her many admirers were three boys from the village, whose advances she rejected since she had set her sights on becoming the mistress of an aristocrat. One day a wealthy young man paid a visit to the inn and Sukie, seeing him as her meal ticket out of there, promptly set about ensnaring him. Soon the handsome young buck was besotted with the beautiful servant girl and began paying daily visits to the inn. This irked the three local lads, who hatched a cunning plan to teach the haughty temptress a lesson. They sent her a letter, which purported to come from her noble suitor, informing her that he wished to elope with her. She was, he instructed, to don a white dress and meet him that night in the West Wycombe caves. Elated, the unsuspecting Sukie dressed accordingly and set of for her rendezvous.


Arriving at the mouth of the caves she lit a flaming torch and set off into the labyrinth. Hidden behind a large rock, the spurned lads watched with anticipation a she approached. Just as she had passed by, they seized the torch and dashed it to the ground, extinguishing its flame. Sukie was terrified and fled into the darkness with her whooping tormentors in hot pursuit. It was then that the prank turned to tragedy. As the frightened girl turned a corner, she tripped over a rock and her head struck the cave wall, knocking her unconscious. The three lads summoned help and the villagers arrived to carry the comatose girl back to her room at The George and Dragon. A doctor was called, but in the early hours of the next morning the poor girl died.


It wasn' t long before reports were circulating that Sukie' s restless wraith was haunting The George and Dragon. The two maids who shared her room were visited by her just a few days after her demise and refused point-blank to set foot in the inn again. Over the succeeding centuries there were frequent reports of a ghostly white lady seen drifting about The George and Dragon in the early hours of the morning. In 1966 Mr Jhan Robbins, an American guest staying at the hotel, awoke one night to find 'a pinpoint of light glowing about three feet off the ground near the door' . He watched as the light began to grow in stature and took on an ' opaque pearly quality' . Flinging back the covers he leapt out of bed and strode resolutely towards it. Suddenly he 'entered a zone of intense cold' ; his arms and legs became heavy, and he was overcome by a feeling of utter despondency. ' Life seemed futile, beset by tragedy. Life must have felt like this for poor Sukie, I thought, no one to protect her dignity.' At this realization, ' the light ballooned forward and seemed to reach for me.' This proved too much for the, until then, fearless Mr Robbins. He jumped straight back into bed and turned on the light.


Sukie is the best attested of The George and Dragon' s ghosts, but she is not alone. Heavy footsteps are often heard descending the main staircase, believed to belong to a traveller who was murdered at the inn in the 18th century. His name and the circumstances behind his demise have long since been forgotten, and only the onerous plodding now testifies to the event. Other female phantoms have been seen at various locations around the inn, but Sukie' s story and her subsequent nefarious ramblings puts them all in the shade.