The Paranormal Database

Detail from Salvator Rosa's painting The Witches' Sabbath.

Sobbing

Location: Moelfre - The Druids' Circle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Stormy nights
Further Comments: Cries, sobs and loud moans are heard from the Stone of Sacrifice on certain nights of the year. During a meeting of witches in the dim and distant past, this stone communicated with the pagan group - two of the women dropped dead on the spot, while a third went mad.

Owain Lawgoch

Location: Mynydd Mawr - North side of the mountain
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This Snowdonia mountain is another site where Owain Lawgoch and his men are said to sleep in a secret cavern, waiting until needed.

The Demon Oak Tree

Location: Nannau - Ceubren yr Elbyl
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1813
Further Comments: An oak tree which was once used to conceal a dead body was considered haunted; locals were fearful of walking by the tree at night. The tree eventually fell and was destroyed, though some say that the oak sometimes comes back.

Pale Woman

Location: Nannau - Mansion house driveway, and Dolgellau to Llanfachreth road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Murdered by her husband (who also killed their pet dog), this woman's ghost walks the driveway of the manor house and crosses the road to reach the park yonder.

Screaming Groom

Location: Nannau - Mules Well
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Spring (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The seasonal sounds of screaming can be heard in this location, dating back from when a young groom was killed when the horse he was tending panicked and trampled the man to death.

The Bride and Groom

Location: Nant Gwrtheyrn - Beach
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A bride disappeared on her wedding day while playing hide and seek (a local tradition known as the wedding quest). The bridegroom and his friends were unable to find the bride; the months passed and the bridegroom refused to give up the search. Finally, during a storm, the bridegroom found the bride's skeletal remains entangled within a smouldering tree. He died soon after, and now the couple walk along the beach.

An old postcard of Nant Gwynant in Wales.

Red Dragon

Location: Nant Gwynant - Lake hidden under hillside
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Not Known
Further Comments: It was at this site that Vortigern, King of the Britons, encountered a red dragon and a white dragon fighting in a deep underground. The white dragon fled, leaving the red dragon victorious - the king took the creature to be his emblem.

Floating Island

Location: Nantlle Valley - Lake of the Turf Sod
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An island once floated around this body of water, acting as a meeting place between a fairy and her human husband, after she was prevented by other members of her race to walk on land.

Coach and Four

Location: Nefyn - Unknown road in area
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that a phantom coach which travels a road here forewarns of the witness's death.

Cutter

Location: Pantywenol - Private residence (gutted by fire in 2017)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1860s
Further Comments: The ghost at this house was said to cut people's clothing. The daughter of the owner was accused of faking the haunting to try to drive her mother out of the house.

Martha

Location: Pengwern Arms public house - Llan Ffestiniog
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2014
Further Comments: This community run pub is reputedly the home of a ghost named Martha, who has been blamed for creating cold spots, disembodied footsteps, and spooky knocks.

An Image from An Essay Towards a Natural History of Serpents.

Tricked Dragon

Location: Penmynydd - General area
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Paid by a nobleman to rid the area of a dragon, a local lad dug a deep pit and at the bottom he placed a brass mirror. The creature fell into the hole and, believing it had met a rival, fought its own reflection before falling exhausted. This enabled the boy to decapitate the monster with no further problems.

Arthur's Horse

Location: Pennal - Carn March Arthur (close to Afon Dyffryn Gwyn)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: A rock along this river is said to feature hoof prints where King Arthur's horse landed after leaping across the (now drained and removed) estuary.

Paperwork

Location: Penrhyndeudraeth - Royal Oak public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2012
Further Comments: Visitors reportedly heard paperwork being shuffled, occasional screams, and encountered the spirit of a young girl during a ghost hunt at the public house.

Singing Fairies

Location: Pentraeth - Mynydd Llwydiarth
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Heard singing on the mountain and from the nearby lake, these fairies were very rarely seen.

Man in the Road

Location: Pentreuchaf - Road in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Winter (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Both young and smart in appearance, this male walks along the middle of the road, causing oncoming traffic to stop before he vanishes into thin air.

Billy

Location: Porthmadog - Coliseum Cinema (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-2016
Further Comments: When the cinema was operational it was said to be haunted by 'Billy', a stage manager who worked at the site during the 1930s. A strange presence would be sensed by staff, while footfalls and other sounds heard in empty areas. A strange face was also reported as appearing in the projection booth.

After Hours Figure

Location: Portmeirion - Seconds Pottery Shop
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A figure has been spotted in the shop after it has been locked up for the night.

Twelve Lights

Location: Pwllheli - Marsh close to Yoke House
Type: Other
Date / Time: 02 March 1875
Further Comments: Witnesses at the house watched twelve lights rise from a marshy area of land. Two of the lights, one red and the other blue, were brighter than the others. The lights were seen to move away from the marsh and one was seen to move around sheds and the horse stable.

Thirsty Squire

Location: Pwllheli - Plas-yu-Rhiw Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1892?
Further Comments: Once home to an alcoholic, it is said that his steps can sometimes be heard echoing through the house while he looks for another drink.

Black Shape

Location: Red Wharf Bay - Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: February 1975
Further Comments: Staff at the Minydon hotel watched a ten meter long black shape swim by, both the front part of the creature and the end of the tail protruding from the water. Several other sightings of strange sea creatures were reported in the area throughout the year.

An Old Lloyd

Location: Rhiwaedog - House belonging to the Lloyd family (may no longer stand)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: early nineteenth century
Further Comments: Two occupants searched their property at night, trying to discover why their pet cats would be found frightened in the morning. During the search, the duo stumbled upon the ghostly form of a former owner who had died a couple of centuries previous. The occupants took their cats and moved away.

An old postcard of Llyn Cwellyn in Wales.

Entrance to Fairyland

Location: Rhyd-ddu - Llyn Cwellyn
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: There was once a way into fairyland here - one man who took it disappeared for seven years! Another story says one man waited by the hill and grabbed the first fairy who emerged, forcing the entity to marry him. A nearby lake contains a floating island, from which fairy music can be heard.

Dancing Fairies

Location: Snowdon - Llyn Du'r Arddu
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This small lake on the north side of Snowdon is home to fairies and goblins who dance around the shoreline.

Afanc

Location: Snowdon - Llyn Glaslyn
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: Witness Oliver Vaughan spotted the pale head of strange animal in Llyn Glaslyn, which was thought to be an Afanc, a lake monster from Welsh mythology.