Located in Boston, Lincolnshire, Church Keys Wine Bar & Restaurant is said to be fuelled by a long history of supernatural occurrences.
Only a walk away from the tragic but ever so beautiful St Botolph’s Church, Church keys shares a compelling past with the monument ageing back to the infamous Boston plague.
Church Keys was estimated to be constructed in 1520 and since then, the building has had an incredible array of uses, ranging from an antiquity shop to a Thai restaurant.
The question of why Chuch Keys has earned itself a supernatural identity is because of a woman named Sarah Preston, a former resident. In 1585, Preston jumped from the church tower, after an adulterous affair with a sailor caused her to contact an illness. The illness was believed to be the “Black Death”, a plague which claimed the lives of hundreds of people in Boston.
Owner of Church Keys, Jason Brackenbury said:
“In the beginning when I first came here, I would bring my dogs. I had a Doberman and Cavalier Collie. I would let them loose in every room, and on their first encounter here, they went upstairs into the washroom, they both stood there barking vigorously at the wall. I don’t know why to this day they were doing that.”
After the renovations were complete, Brackenbury explained a situation in which large pictures were thrown to the floor.
“We walked around the inside of the building, and when we returned the pictures had moved position. They were off the wall and on the floor in another position.”
Church Keys is rumoured to be a playground of unexplainable voices and physical encounters.
“We’ve had many experiences where we have heard things said in the still of the night. We’ve had people’s names called out. We’ve had experiences of staff being touched on their shoulder.”
It had reached a point to where “Ghost Hunters” had to be called in for an investigation.
“When you’re experiencing it, it’s quite eye-opening to sense there is something in the room with you or to sense things moving in front of you. At the time it was quite serious, and they had to make multiple visits.”
After three years of trade, Brackenbury and his team have become accustomed to the abnormal. They are invested in customer satisfaction, whether it be through food and drinks or a friendly chat about the paranormal.