Once known as the bustling Sherston Inn, today Sherston House stands as a quiet sentinel on the corner of Southway and Priory Road.

Behind its ageing walls is a rich history that spans centuries and includes a haunting tale that continues to echo through the inn's storied halls.

This tale harkens back to the era of horse-drawn carriages and cloak-dagger nights, when the inn was a haven for travellers venturing to and from the southwest.

Among these travellers was a notorious highwayman, whose daring exploits were only surpassed by his passionate love for a local maiden. The maiden, smitten by the highwayman's daring charm, would wait for his return at the inn, their meeting place.

Their love story, however, met with a tragic end. Pursued by relentless militiamen eager to capture the notorious highwayman, the maiden found herself cornered, with no way out. Desperate and filled with despair, she chose to end her life, turning her lover's pistol on herself to escape her captors.

The echo of that gunshot is said to have never truly faded. While the house was still a pub, patrons and staff reported seeing her ghost. A spectral figure, forever destined to relive her tragic fate, wandering up and down the inn's staircase, her sorrowful presence a chilling reminder of her tragic love story.

The inn's name may have changed over the centuries, from the White Horse to Sherston Arms and then to the Railway Hotel before going back to the Sherston once more, but the spectral maiden has remained a constant.

Her ethereal figure, often spotted on the staircase, serves as an eerie testament to the love story that was cruelly cut short.

Even in 2017, as the Sherston saw its final patrons, stories of the ghostly apparition continued. One cyclist spoke of hearing a faint rustle, an indistinct figure moving on the stairs, and an unshakable feeling of being watched kept him company that night.

Today, Sherston House hides its spectral resident behind closed doors. While a recent proposal suggests transforming it into a boutique guesthouse, the ghost of the tragic maiden remains, silently weaving the past into the present.

Those who walk past the building might not hear the echo of her mournful steps on the staircase, but the tale of her love and loss endures, a poignant piece of the tapestry that is Sherston's history.