20 Most Haunted Places In Wales

Chepstow Castle in Monmouthshire is the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain and also boasts the oldest surviving wooden castle door in Europe, dating back to the 12th century. Today the castle is in ruins, however most of it is still intact and the remains are open to the public as a Grade I listed Welsh attraction. Visitors and staff working at the castle have reported plenty of paranormal activity, including unexplained cold spots, strange noises and even ghostly visions.

In the castle's gift shop visitors have reported smelling the unmistakable scent of onions being cooked. The gift shop is built right next to the site of the castle's former kitchens. Staff locking up alone have heard heavy knocking on the castle's large wooden doors.

There's also been sightings of the ghost of Henry Marten, an English lawyer who was sent in to exile at Chepstow Castle by King Charles II in 1668. He remained here for 12 years until he died at the castle after choking while eating his supper. He is buried beneath the floor at the nearby Church of St Mary.

There's also an odd tale of an ornate chess set that was for sale in the gift shop. The staff noticed that despite being locked in a glass display cabinet, on several occasions the chess pieces moved to different squares of their own accord.

Sker House is a 12th Century mansion in South Wales, and it is said to be haunted by the spirit of Elizabeth Williams, who died of a broken heart after being locked in a room in the house by her father to prevent her from marrying her lover.

Her spirit is now said to haunt the grade one listed mansion, which is also home to the spirit of a captain of a ship which was wrecked on Sker Point. The house also a violent history, including 16th Century carnage against Catholics.

The 19th-century gothic revival castle was built above the village of Tongwynlais, surrounded by protected beech woodland containing rare plant species and unusual geological features and even today. It looks like something out of a fairytale, but according to local myth it is haunted by 13 ghost.

Castell Coch was designed by the architect William Burgess as a country retreat for the Third Marquis of Bute, John Patrick Crichton-Stuart and his family but none of these haunt the building, in fact after the the Marquis died, his widow, Lady Gwendolyn was quick to leave the castle after complaining about a ghostly woman in white. She is said to be a servant who lived in the castle and has been haunting the building since the death of her son. He drowned in the castle grounds in a pond.

Another regularly sighted ghost at the castle is the spirit of a man dressed in cavalier uniform. It's believed that the man had been lucky enough to lay his hand on a large amount of treasure, which he buried somewhere in the grounds of Castle Coch.

It's said that even to this day he comes back to the castle from beyond the grave to check that his hidden riches are safe. The treasure is also watched over by three ghostly eagles.

Originally known as the Llandough Hospital when it opened in 1933, five miles outside of Cardiff, in Penarth.

A staff member on duty at the hospital talked about her experience of seeing her own dead body lying on a bed, the nurse died just one week later of typhoid fever. Her body was placed in the exact location that she had seen in her vision.

On another occasion a pregnant woman claims she was woken up in the night to find a nurse in a Victorian uniform reassuring her that everything would be OK.

Built in the 1950s, Heol Fanog is a farmhouse in Wales that for six years from 1989 was the focus of a disturbing haunting and underwent more exorcisms than any other in British history, which resulted in the house being dubbed "Hellfire Farm." The family living in the home reported unsettling activity that began shortly after they moved in, which included disembodied footsteps and an exorbitant electricity bill due to what they believed to be a supernatural power drain.

Over the next few years they experienced banging and thumping, objects moving around the house, farm animals mysteriously dying, unexplained putrid smells, doors slamming in empty rooms and sudden temperature drops. The haunting also had a negative effect on the family's personalities and lifestyles. There were several reports of apparitions including sightings of dark shadowy figures, a hooded figure, a man with head injuries, and an old woman with a hooked nose, who was believed to be a former resident who had died at the property.

The museum and art gallery was founded in 1905 but shared a building with Cardiff Library until its dedicated, present home was completed in Cathays Park in 1922. The museum houses collections of archaeology, botany, fine and applied art, geology and zoology.

As well as the 7.5 million items and exhibits stored within the museum, the building is also home to two ghosts.

The first of the two ghosts is the spirit of the Unionist MP Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart, his statue stands in Gorsedd Gardens. Lord Ninian tragically died in action during the Great War in 1915. Visitors to the museum claim to have felt his presence around the statue, usually on election nights.

The second ghost that frequents the museum is Arnold Dunbar Smith, an architect who designed the building along with Cecil Brewer. Following Smith's death in 1933, the museum inherited his ashes and they were placed on display in the museum until a few years later when they were moved to make way for new public toilets.

It's believed these renovations and the relocation of his ashes angered Smith and he now haunts the corridors of the museum at night. The haunting has been described as poltergeist-like with reports of furniture and other objects moving.

In the 1960s a paranormal investigator claimed to have made contact with Smith's spirit in the museum's basement, Smith reportedly said "the wrong place," which can only refer to the fact that his ashes were moved.

Although this property is technically a workhouse, set up to house the poor and those who could not support themselves in the community until the 1930s, it also had school facilities. In fact, the standard of education at this particular workhouse was exceptionally high. An 1848 report stated that the workhouse children made better progress with their education than free scholars at other local schools.

The Union Workhouse, which is slowly be developed into a community centre, is said to be haunted by the spirit of a school master. The master is most frequently seen in the building's centrepiece, an area which was original his private quarters. He's often seen looking out of the windows where he would have once been able to oversee the workhouse's four recreation yards.

Visitors have reported hearing footsteps, doors slamming, children crying, and the ghostly cries and shrieks of a classrooms full of children. There's also be claims of shadowy figures, and even the full body apparition of an old school master who is said to haunt the building.

Llancaiach Fawr Manor is a Tudor manor house near the village of Nelson, north of Cardiff. The manor has been ranked one of the top ten most haunted locations in the whole of the UK, so it's no surprise that it features in Cardiff's most haunted places.

The house is thought to have been built in around 1530 by Colonel Edward Pritchard, the colonel plays a major role in several local battles during the English Civil War. To ensure his family was always safe, he converted his home into a fortress, with walls up to four feet thick. He split the manor into to section, one for his troops and one for his family, which provided a safe haven for all. This manor house is not just famous for its ghostly inhabitants, but also for its royal connections.

The kitchen is said to be haunted by a former resident of the house, who's still seen her preparing food. Footsteps are heard on the upper floor in the great hall, sometimes they're so loud that plaster has fallen from the ceiling below. Also in the great hall, which used to be a court, the ghostly figure of a man has been seen who sits staring out of the window. In one of the bedroom, a child's cradle is said to rock on its own.

Bodelwyddan Castle dates back to at least 1460 and has had a varied and interesting past. It was used as a hospital during the First World War, as a private girls' school and is now home to the National Portrait Gallery.

The paranormal activity ranges from the sound of phantom children heard playing in empty rooms. Visitors have reported the sensation of have their hair or clothes pulled as if by a mischievous child.

There's also reports of visitors seeing disembodied legs wearing a pair of black shoes walking through the entrance hall before vanishing.

The castle's most well known spook is the spirit of a blue lady who's been seen wearing a flowing blue dress wandering around the castle's sculpture gallery. Another female spirit is said to haunt this part of the castle, a woman seen wearing Victorian style clothing. Unusually she's said to appear as a two-dimensional image in a sepia tone. The ghost of a First World Was soldier has been seen in another of the castle's galleries.

The cellar is also said to be haunted by a spook nicknames The Cellar Man. He's said to lurk in the castle's huge basement and is said to be very physical and violent having been blamed for pinching and pulling the hair of those who are brave enough to venture into the cellar.

The ruins of the 13th century Denbigh Castle in North Wales was built during Edward I's conquest of Wales. The castle's most famous ghost is that of a white lady who has been seen on several occasions gliding through the castle's ground. Some have reported seeing her being followed by a strange glowing mist and is most frequently sighted on footpaths near a part of the castle known as the Goblin tower.

Other visitor have reported seeing a dark shadowy figure moving around inside the Goblin tower, a young boy's face is often seen looking out of one of the windows in this part of the building. It's said that this is the ghost of one of the castle builder's sons who fell to his death during the castle's construction.

There's also stories of the disembodied cries of a heartbroken woman being heard around the castle, it's believed that she was getting water from a well when her child fell from her arms and died at the bottom of the well.

A medieval castle located right in the heart of Cardiff city centre. There's been a castle of some form on the site going right back to the 11th century. The castle is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city.

Like most castles, Cardiff Castle has its share of resident ghosts, most of which can be found in an area known as "the palace" in the south-west corner of the castle grounds. Visitors to this part of the castle have reported seeing a strange mist, which takes the form of a faceless woman in a grey dress. The ghost is said to move things around in the early hours of the morning in the stock room. The ghost has also been blamed from opening and closing doors, causing lights to flicker and rearranging furniture.

The Second Marquess of Bute, John Crichton-Stuart and six generations of his family lived at the castle. The Marquess died in the castle and is said to have been seen walking through walls and fireplaces as well as in the chapel where he died. His wife, Lady Sophia Rawdon-Hastings has also been spotted floating through the castle grounds at night.

According to long-standing local rumours, the ruins of Gwrych Castle near in North Wales are notoriously haunted. Its resident spooks include a woman in white believed to be the spirit of a former owner, the Countess of Dundonald. She is most most frequently sighted in the Countess's Tower, which is said to be one of the most paranormally active parts of the ruins.

The castle is also allegedly haunted by a Lady in Red who is said to have been killed during a fox hunt, and the spirit of a servant girl who died following an accident while horse riding in the grounds. The presence of a former caretakers, gamekeeper, dairy maid and other household staff have also been reported, and in certain parts of the grounds dogs are often spooked and refuse to go any further.

Pembrey Woods in Wales was once the location for a 'Most Haunted' investigation. The ancient woodland dates back to around 400 BC and is perched on the coast at the mouth of the Bristol Channel. It's said that passing ships were once lured towards the rocky coastline by, what locals called, the "little hatchet men of Pembrey". The ships would be grounded on the rocks to the south-west of the forest, the little hatchet men would then murder the survivors and loot this ships. The ghosts of the victims are still seen walking on the shore, and ghost ships are often seen.

A former RAF airfield was located near the woods, this is now the Pembrey West Wales Airport, but in its wartime days many damaged planes are said to have crashed into the woods when trying to make it back to the airstrip. The spirits of the dead airmen are said to still roam the woodlands.

Margam Castle, a sprawling castle in South Wales, and the land it is built on has a grim history that spans over 4,000 years, with tales of death, despair and a family curse.

The land has been considered to be sacred for thousands of years and ancient tribes buried their dead in the surrounding hills. After the rise and fall of the Roman Empire in the area, the site became an early Christian settlement up until 1147, when Margam Abbey was founded and became home to hundreds of cistercian monks. With the end of English monasteries in the 16th century, the Mansel family purchased the land and in 1840 Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot built Margam Castle as an elaborate home using stone and lead taken from the abbey.

Reports of hauntings go back centuries, with claims of dark ancient spirits on the property. Until this day, visitors report cloaked figures on the ground, apparitions on the staircase, shadow figures on the upper floor and feel a negative presence throughout the property.

As well as its hauntings, the castle is also said to be cursed, supposedly because Christopher Mansel Talbot used parts of the dismantled abbey to build his home. Local legend says that this curse has brought tragedy onto the the family and ruined the Talbot line, who all died out, their wealth was squandered and eventually the castle was put up for auction in 1941. During World War II, the castle was given a new lease of life as lodgings for allied troops and they too experienced the strange ghostly phenomenon while based here.

Miskin Manor was built in the outskirts of Cardiff in the 10th century, today only the external walls of the original manor remain but a hotel exists on the site. Many guests have reported seeing the spirit of a lady that haunts the bar and drawing room, usually between midnight and 1am.

The Oak Room is also said the be the location of many hauntings within the hotel, a ghostly figure believed to be the lord of the original manor is often spotted here.

From time to time previous residents of the manor make an appearance too. Staff have claimed to have seen a family of ten ghosts sat around a dinner table and the ghost of a little girl playing in the garden.

In 1842 the story of Craig-y-Nos begins, originally it started life as gothic mansion. It was owned by two sets of families over the years, before a famous opera singer took over. In 1878 the supreme diva, Adelina Patti, bought the property and named it Craig-y-Nos, which means "rock of the night" and began making it her home.

Complete with her own elaborate theatre, she invited many rich and famous friends to watch her perform on stage. After her death in 1919 her third husband sold the property, where upon it became a tuberculosis hospital for many years. The current owners are now living here as a family and restoring the property.

The ghost of Adelina Patti has been spotted all over the building, but most frequently in the theatre, which was so dear to her. The sound of singing and strange noises have been heard coming from the boudoir and the ghost of a very well dressed Victorian gentlemen has been seen here.

Since the 1920s, transparent figures of patients have been seen roaming the stairs and corridors, almost as if lost. This is a stark reminder that this place used to be a sanatorium and it's later use as TB hospital where many people died here, from that disease which took so many lives in those days.

The castle has many ghost stories, the most famous being that of the Grey Lady. It is said that she was the wife of the second in command of the castle. She discovered that her powerful husband was having an affair with a local woman and in a jealous rage, she murdered the woman with an axe. She was tried, found guilty and executed, but as she was buried inside the castle ground, her ghost is said to walk the building.

In the abandoned rooms on the upper floor, people have witnessed the sound of children running around and playing, but when they check inside the room, there's nobody there.

When the castle was a hospital, the basement was used as the mortuary. In this area since, people have witnessed hearing the sound of crying and moaning as if people were in desperate pain and need.

In the banqueting room, the ghost of the Grey Lady has been seen on several occasions, dark shadows have been seen dancing across the walls and the banqueting table has even been said to lift off of the floor.

The Lillie Suite, one of the guest bedrooms, is named after Lillie Langtry, a famous British actress and one of Edward, Prince of Wales' lovers. She used to frequently visit the castle and this was her favourite room. She is now said to haunt the room.

The North Wales Hospital, also know as Denbigh Asylum. is now in a state of disrepair, having closed in 1995, but its been given a new lease of life as a ghost hunting venue after being made famous to the paranormal world by Most Haunted when they broadcast a live show from the hospital for seven nights over Halloween in 2008. Later the same year a devastating fire broke out and destroyed much of the building.

Over the years some pretty grim treatments were carried out at the hospital, including pre-frontal lobotomies and electric shock treatment, perhaps it's for this reason that so many tormented spirits are trapped here.

Ghost hunters have reported seeing the apparitions of patients walking along corridors, heard strange noises and, footsteps and banging sounds coming from seemingly empty parts of the building.

Cardiff Royal Infirmary dates back to 1822 and is located in central Cardiff. The buildings became the Albion Hospital in a 2005 episode of Dr Who, entitled 'Aliens of London' but it's not just fictional aliens that have created scares in this hospital, there are also plenty of ghost stories to come from its wards.

The list of reports of paranormal activity include a disappearing matron who was spotted in one of hospital's corridors by a plumber, and sightings of a woman in grey, apparently if she appears and offers you a drink, you shouldn't take it, if you do you will die within a week.

Staff have complained about being pushed by unseen forces, seeing a female figure on security camera, and witnessing figures in an office, one throttling the other but this isn't the only gruesome haunting to happen here. It's claimed that things ones got so bad that an exorcism had to be performed in the pathology department.

The Skirrid Inn in Llanvihangel Crucorney was once used as the courtroom of the infamous Judge Jeffreys, and his ghost is still rumoured to walk the upper floors.

The pub has been the site of plenty of ghostly and poltergeist activity. When a former landlady decided to sell the, glasses started mysteriously flying through the building, along with the evil spirit of the judge's hangman.

The pub is also said to be the home to the ghost of a local clergyman, Father Henry Vaughn. As well as the spirit of Fanny Price who worked in the building in the 18th century. Staff and visitors to the pub also report smelling perfume, hearing the rustling of a lady's dress, the sound of soldiers marching, and even sightings of a White Lady in the courtyard.