The Hollow Tree of the Demons

This tale of treachery begins in 1402 or thereabouts, when the estate of Nannau and its great house belonged to Welsh chieftain and supporter of the English crown, Howel Sele. Meet his cousin, Owain Glyndwr, too: Prince of Wales and leader of the revolt against the rule of Henry IV. Having invited Owain to visit his home for a political debate, Howel suggested they take a walk. And we’ll let antiquarian Thomas Pennant take up the tale, as it appears in his A Tour in Wales, published in 1778:

‘While they were walking out, Owen observed a doe feeding, and told Howel, who was reckoned the best archer of his days, that there was a fine mark for him. Howel bent his bow, and, pretending to aim at the doe, suddenly turned and discharged the arrow full at the breast of Glyndwr, who fortunately had his armour beneath his cloaths [sic], so received no hurt. Enraged at this treachery, he seized on Sele, burnt his house, and hurried him away from the place; nor could ever any one learn how he was disposed of: till, forty years after, the skeleton of a large man, such as Howel, was discovered in the hollow of a great oak, in which Owen was supposed to have immured him in reward of his perfidy.’

The great oak – already 27’ 6” in diameter when Thomas Pennant visited it – was thought to be haunted by Howel’s vengeful ghost and was named ‘Derwen Ceubren yr Ellyll’, which translates as ‘the Hollow Tree of the Demons’. Records tell of strange noises and fire hovering above. It was struck by lightning and fell in the summer of 1813, but some of the oaks you see on this walk will have grown from its acorns…