The Bird Cage is one of the most famous buildings in Thame. It apparently got its name because it used to be a prison, probably even for prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars. Haunted Pubs in Britain and Ireland by Marc Alexander gives a detailed account of some of the strange goings-on (objects moving of their own accord, knocking sounds and so forth) but lately all seems to have been quiet on the spectral front. The ghost is apparently that of a leper who was stoned to death by the people of Thame.

Legend has it that there is a tunnel from the Bird Cage to St Mary’s Church, Thame, and that dead bodies were carried to the church via this tunnel.