Haunted house that made rugby ace weep
THE HAUNTINGS include a little boy who fell to an early death from his bedroom and a former maid who tragically died there.
There’s also a man in black, presumed to be a murderer, who is said to stalk the perimeter of the house.
And now a ghost tour guide at Llancaiach Fawr has admitted: “I’ve experienced enough in this house to make me believe something exists.”
Historical interpreter Lee Jessup leads tours at the 500-year-old manor house, where the walls were built more than a metre thick to defend it during the turbulent reigns of Tudor kings and queens.
And Lee says the house, near Nelson, Caerphilly, is so scary it once reduced an international rugby player to tears.
In its 400-year history it has seen its fair share of births, deaths and hairraising stories, but none more so than the tale of Mattie, the housekeeper.
It is said that Mattie lived in the manor in the late 18th and early 19th century before coming to a tragic end when she was burned to death in an accident.
And it was while visiting her old room that one visitor found it too much to handle.
Lee told BBC Wales: “Many years ago we were visited by the South Africa under-21 rugby squad – they came to Wales to play friendly matches and exhibition matches.
“We took them on a tour. As they went into Mattie’s room, the captain – who must have been six foot eight, he was an enormous fella – he just broke down in floods of tears with no explanation.
“As soon as he left the room again, he was fine – he was greatly embarrassed by it.”
After working in the manor for 13 years Lee has experienced some things that cannot be explained – including seeing a hooded girl on the cellar stairs. A few years later, a woman on the tour claiming to be a medium said she had seen the same girl.
Lee said: “I said, ‘Really? Can you describe her?’ And she gave the exact description of the girl I’d seen stood at the bottom of the cellar steps... it was spooky.”
Another of the manor’s supernatural residents is a young boy killed when he fell from an opening on the first floor to the stone floor below.
“He has been experienced on ghost tours. I’ve never seen him, I’ve heard footsteps when somebody claimed to have seen him behind me,” said Lee.
“I’ve always classed myself as an open-minded person. I believe people see things... I certainly believe what is termed the paranormal exists – I don’t say I believe it’s the spirits of the dead, I don’t know what it is.
“I’ve experienced enough in this house to make me believe something exists.”