The Crab Inn
94 High Street, Shanklin, Isle Of Wight
The historic town has one of the sweetest place names in Old English, Sencliz, with a bank by the drinking cup, referring to the waterfall. The pub name could be named after the edible crustacean or an ancient type of winch. This was a hoisting machine with projecting arms, appearing like a crab. A pleasing looking building, it is thatched with flagstone floors, wood panelling and has a Second-grade protected listing. One of the reasons for that grading is the three eyebrow dormers. Henry Longfellow visited the Crab Inn and wrote to his friend G.W. Green, 'I write you this from a lovely little thatch-roofed inn, all covered with ivy, with extremely desirable.’ The Crab exhibits ghostly manifestations. these include the ghost of a White Lady, who manifests in the old building. Some diners have caught a glimpse of her presence, with the temperature around their table dramatically dropped.
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