The haunting tales buried in our history
You don’t have to look far to hear reports of lingering spirits in some of the darkest recesses of Wales. The history of Wales hasn’t always been pretty, with bloody battles and an array of colourful figures. Many historical buildings are reportedly home to ghostly beings, lost souls and tortured spirits. Here are some of South Wales’ most haunting cases, as Laura Clements reports
ONE of the most haunted houses in Wales, Llancaiach Fawr in the heart of the Rhymney Valley, dates from 1530. Today, the manor is restored to how it was in 1645 and strange goings-on have been reported in nearly every room of the house. It is said Colonel Edward Prichard, master of the house during the civil war in the 1640s, can be glimpsed wandering his old home.
Little is known about Col Prichard’s early life, but he really came to prominence during the Civil War period. By this time he had already married Mary Mansel. The couple had two sons, Lewis and Thomas, both of whom died young. They also had two daughters, Jane and Mary, who survived to adulthood and eventually married.
In 1638, Col Prichard held the position of Sheriff of Glamorgan and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1640, a post he held throughout the Civil War until his death in 1655.
Initially, he supported the Royalist cause. When the Civil War began in 1642, the majority of the gentry in south Wales were Royalist in their sympathies and for the moment they forgot their personal squabbles to fight in unison under the king’s banner.
Wales earned the dubious reputation of being “The nursery of the King’s infantry... a continual sacrifice to the sword”, as lowly tenants, labourers and peasants had little choice but to follow their masters. Ill-trained and badly equipped, these poor wretches were the cannon fodder for the Royalist army.
But, in the second half of 1645, most of the Welsh gentry changed allegiance to the Parliamentarian side and Col Prichard followed suit. It was late in this year that he was appointed governor of Cardiff Castle.
Ardent Royalists, led by Sir Edward Carne and Sir Charles Kemys, launched a final attack in an attempt to regain the castle for the king. Col Prichard staunchly held the castle for the Parliamentarians, forcing Kemys and Carne to retreat.
Col Prichard, who is also said to haunt Abergavenny’s Skirrid Inn, was also commended “for his constancy in that affray” after the battle of St Fagans, by Colonel Horton, the Parliamentary victor. The Battle of St Fagans, in 1648, is rarely mentioned in English history books, but in Wales it was the most significant clash of the Civil War.
It was a fierce encounter and,
according to tradition, the River Ely ran red with blood. From St Fagans alone, 65 men were killed and in that year of 1648 the harvest was gathered in by their widows.
Sadly, it was at the end of 1649 that Col Prichard’s wife died. In the October before her death she wrote a letter to her brother, asking that he should make arrangements for the upbringing of their two daughters, there being no gentlewomen locally who could attend to their education.
The loss of his wife and likely separation from his daughters must have been a bitter blow, for he never married again. He survived his wife by only six years.
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CAERLEON has been used for filming in recent years, since the university decided to move students and classes out.
Prior to its closure, staff and students were said to have seen the ghost of a woman. This woman is believed by some to be Matron Bertha Ramsey, affectionately known as “Big Bertha”.
She was 6ft tall, wears brown overalls and her hair is pulled into a bun.
Her spirit is said to have haunted the campus, following her death in 1962 – she fell to her death from a banister on the second floor during the Christmas holidays.
Before Bertha’s death, there were also said to be Roman soldiers marching through the grounds.
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THE ghost of Arnold Dunbar Smith, an architect who designed the National Museum Cardiff building, is said to have appeared after his ashes were removed to make room for a public toilet.
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IT’S said the bearded ghost of Robert Fitzhamon – the Norman founder of Newport’s castle on the banks of the River Usk – has been spotted on the top of the largest tower.
Some reports claim the spirit is giant, while all claim that, once you’ve spotted him, he (conveniently) vanishes.
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A COACH is said to be heard at Cardiff Castle when a member of the Hastings family is due to die, according to legend. It was heard by John Boyle at the castle the night his cousin the Marquis Hastings died. Other ghosts reported to haunt the castle include the second Marquess of Bute and a faceless woman known as Sarah.
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THE so-called White Lady of Castell Coch is said to have died of a broken heart after her son drowned in a local pond. Some say there’s a buried hoard of treasure here which is zealously protected by three eagles, while an ethereal cavalier walks the castle grounds.
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Branded the UK’s most haunted hospital, the Cardiff Royal Infirmary building dates back to the 1880s.
There’s a long history of ghost stories linked with this site – it’s claimed a priest was called in to exorcise the pathology department, forcing parts of the hospital to close down.
While most claimed sightings date back decades, there are also more modern claims. Some of the last patients at the hospital were reported to have said they’d seen old-fashioned looking nurses wandering the building.
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ACCORDING to the book Haunted Newport and the Valleys, by South Wales Paranormal Research (SWPR), there have been ghostly sightings at the city’s Tredegar House since the 1920s, including claims an apparition of a lady in white on one of the staircases.
That lady is believed to be Gwyneth Erica Morgan, the sister of the second viscount of Tredegar Evan Morgan. She died aged 29 after disappearing mysteriously on a trip to London. Her body was said to be found floating in the Thames six months later, with the family split on her cause of death.
She wasn’t buried at home until her father died, so there’s talk she haunts Tredegar House because of unfinished business.
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IT’S claimed a “ghostly lady” appears most nights in the bar at Miskin Manor.
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THE Rummer Tavern dates back to early 18th century and is believed to be a medieval burgage plot – a rectangle of land at right-angles to the street.
Over the years, several staff and customers are said to have seen or experienced ghostly presences there, most often in the toilets and the cellar.
Rumour has it that the spirit is of a sailor who died soon after finding his wife in bed with another man.