Scary Halloween Stories – Haunted Places in Wales
[This blog post was written in 2010]
It’s almost Halloween and that means it’s time for some haunted stories! I was in Wales earlier this year and travelled all over the country searching for ghost stories. With all those haunted places – castles, mansions, pubs, hotels and inns – I compiled quite the stack of scary stories. Here are just a few, but make sure to add your own at the bottom.
Cardiff: Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle has been around for 2,000 years, established as a Roman fort. In more recent history (1848), the second Marquis of Bute died in the drawing room. And he wasn’t too happy about it. He was so disgruntled that he has been seen over the years walking through a new-ish six-foot dividing wall in a long red cloak.
But that’s not all: According to my guide, “One of the staff members was clearing up after a civic luncheon in the dining room when he noticed the figure of a man in the doorway at the other end of the hall. Mystified, he walked towards the stranger and asked, ‘Can I help you Sir?’ The man simply faded away right before his eyes.
“A woman visitor also spotted the Marquis at the top of the stairs. He appeared to scowl at her as if puzzled by her appearance there in his house, and then abruptly vanished. She said her skin crawled later that day when she recognized the Marquis from a portrait hanging on the wall.”
Cardiff Castle in Wales. Photo by Samuel Meller.
Abergavenny: The Skirrid Inn
The Skirrid Inn, in the Brecon Beacons National Park, is said to be the oldest pub in Wales at 900 years, and arguably the most haunted. “The stairwell is the most famous part of the building,” says owner Geoff Fiddler. “As you walk up, it’s where these poor, wretched people probably walked for the last time. We’re lucky because you’ve only got to step on it to see how ancient it is: it’s worn, it’s oak, it’s still bevelled from all the years it has been walked on.
The first recorded instance of the inn is from 1110, as an alehouse where two men were on trial for “robberies with violence” and “sheep stealing.” The brother who stole sheep was hanged here.
It’s mostly a former landlady, Fanny Price, who haunts the place, though. Says Geoff, “It’s thought she comes back when there’s major changes, like when I came here or when my predecessors came. Sometimes she’s happy and sometimes she’s not and she’s always precluded by a lavender smell… A couple came here and the woman came upstairs for something [room #3 is where Fanny Price likely died] and she heard the rustling of a dress, that unmistakable crinkling of a dress. She was a hard-headed woman and she never returned.”
Monmouth: The Queen’s Head Pub
Another haunted pub is in Monmouth. The Queen’s Head Pub is known as the place where an attempted assassination on Oliver Cromwell took place. The daughter of the current owner has a few ghost stories of her own:
“The guy by the fire I’ve only seen once,” starts Kirsten. “And that was very late at night. I came downstairs, I was getting myself a drink and I was behind the bar and I looked over and there was someone sitting by the fire. And I thought, ‘Is someone still here, like?’ And that was it. He just disappeared. It was really bizarre, you know.”
Conwy Valley: Gwydir Castle
My favourite stop in Wales, Gwydir Castle in Snowdonia, is being restored by a couple who bought the place over 15 years ago. So many years, so many ghost stories.
“We were doing some work in one of our cellars and discovered some bones,” says owner Judy Corbett. “And at the time, a lot of people were seeing another dog. We have three dogs and a fourth dog was spotted often inside the house, taller and greyer. Lots of people were seeing this dog all over the place, especially when my dogs were away.
“We found these bones in the cellars, sent them away to be analyzed, and the report came back that they were actually the remains of an ancient dog. And it’s often said that bones of animals were put into the foundations of houses to ward away evil spirits and all those kinds of things. And sure enough, since the bones were taken away – we put some of them back – but we haven’t seen the dog since.”
Beddgelert: The Royal Goat Hotel
Dafydd Pritchard, the landlord of the Royal Goat Hotel in 1793, had a sudden illness and died. Noises were heard throughout the house at all hours of the night, especially in the resident’s lounge. One night, the old retainer came face to face with the ghost of Dafydd in the lounge, where he told him to look for gold near the fireplace.
The old retainer did just that, although no one knows if he found any. After sharing the news with Dafydd’s widow, the ghost was never seen again. Or was it?
Cardiff: The National Museum
Back in Cardiff, I was at an impressive party at The National Museum, drinking wine and tasting appies without a care in the world. Little did I know that the architect, Dunbar Smith, was angry at having been buried in the wrong place.
The story goes that a ghost hunter from the South Wales Echo went to the museum in the 1960s after hearing reports of paranormal activity. One night she fell asleep in the basement while recording the sound and, upon listening to it later, heard the eerie voice of a man say, “The wrong place! The wrong place!”
As my guide said, “When the museum was refurbished more recently, the ashes were removed to make way for a public toilet! Obviously, very insulted by this, Dunbar now haunts the museum in a spirit of revenge. He walks the corridors at night, searching for someone to return his ashes to their rightful place, noisily moving the chairs around.”
What are your ghost stories from around the world?
Recommended Wales book: Haunted Wales by Peter Underwood.*
* The above link is to Amazon and is for your reference. I receive a small referral fee if you buy from Amazon. But I encourage you to buy books from any retailer, ideally your local bookstore!
