The Paranormal Database

Two goblins standing by a tree, illustration by Wayne Lowden.

Dancing Place of the Goblin

Location: Llanwrin - Tree in woodland near Mathafarn (woodland may no longer exists)
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Under a certain yew-tree in the centre of the woodland a fairy circle was known as 'The Dancing Place of the Goblin'. Two lads once took a nap in the circle, and upon awakening, one had vanished. The missing lad reappeared a year later - he was grabbed out of the clutches of dancing goblins and saved.

Llia's Stone

Location: Llethr on the Hoel - Llia Valley
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Morning (reoccurring)
Further Comments: On every morning that the cock crows, this huge monolith walks over to the River Nedd for a quick drink.

Moll's Stone

Location: Llowes - Moll Walbee's Stone (aka St. Meilig's Cross, on display in the church)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: Moll Wallbee, also known as Matilda de Braose and Maud de Braose, was said to be a giantess who married William de Braose, the Forth Lord of Bramber. While carrying stones in her apron (to rebuild a castle), one fell into her shoe. She picked it out and tossed it into the churchyard of Llowes, some three miles from where she stood.

Figure in Grey Long Coat

Location: Llyswen - A470, heading north towards Builth, just past a right turn onto the River Wye bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 12 January 2008, around 06:55h
Further Comments: While driving along this stretch of road, this driver and passenger spotted what they thought was an older gentleman standing by the side of the road. He stood around six foot tall and wore a long grey coat. However, the head was oval, possessed no features, and gave off a faint glow. Immediately after passing the entity, the driver had a strange feeling, a mix of shiver and yet feeling hot, which lasted for around a minute.

Anne Dowy

Location: Llywel - Unknown house in the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A young man from this village found himself haunted by the ghost of Anne Dowy, who had committed suicide. The ghost would follow him on the roads and stand by his bed. A friend convinced the man to speak to Anne, and the next time the ghost manifested, the man engaged her in conversation. Anne showed the man a hidden bag of gold and instructed him to toss it into the nearby river. The man carried out the request, after which the ghost never returned.

Llywarch Hen

Location: Machynlleth - Plas Dolguog Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The poet Llywarch Hen is rumoured to haunt the hotel. A cheerful male spirit named Charles with an injured leg has also been seen on the staircase, along with a female spirit known as Mary who frequents a rocking chair in the parlour room.

Girl on Stairs

Location: Machynlleth - Plas Machynlleth
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This house is reportedly haunted by many ghosts, including the apparition of a young girl who appears on the staircase.

Marsh ghost.

White Catti

Location: Machynlleth - River Rheidol
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Catrin Gwyn disappeared a few days after her wedding, believed drowned after a storm blew up; part of her red cloak was found by a bog. Word sprang up that her phantom returned, either to push people into the nearby river, or to drag them into the same marsh which had (supposedly) taken her own life.

Horseman

Location: Machynlleth - Road between Machynlleth and Bala
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A traveller set upon by robbers prayed for help along this road - a phantom grey horseman appeared, scaring the criminals away.

Small Man

Location: Menai Bridge - Anglesey Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The pub is reputed to be haunted by a short older man.

John Davies' Grave

Location: Montgomery - Churchyard
Type: Other
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: Just before his execution for a crime he probably did not commit, Davies stated that no grass would ever grow on his grave. This is still the case, and the bare spot forms the image of a cross. An early version of the story says that if anyone tries to sow grass seeds on the spot, they shall die.

Skull's Owner

Location: Montgomery - Lymore Hall (demolished 1931)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A skull was kept on display in the hall until one night a resident watched a headless figure enter, pick up and place the skull on its neck, and then disappear into a pool near the hall. When the pool was drained in the late nineteenth century, a skull was recovered, along with a piece of Cromwellian armour.

Drinking Rocks

Location: New Radnor - Standing Stones east of village
Type: Legend
Date / Time: When the church bells ring
Further Comments: Upon hearing the ringing of the local church bells, these standing stones move to a nearby pool and start drinking.

Cup Throwing

Location: Newtown - House on Garth Estate
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: The Owen household were subjected to an entity whose nighttime activities of rapping and throwing cups ensured no one slept well. The outbreak started after the floor in the kitchen had been uplifted.

Gioachino Rossini.

Shadow

Location: Pen-y-cae - Craig Y Nos Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2007
Further Comments: While on a ghost hunt, The Ghost Research Foundation International photographed a human-shaped shadow standing on the staircase, although it has been suggested that the shape was cast by a statuette on the roof. The owners of the castle claim many ghosts haunt the building, including the composer Rossini, opera singer Adelina Patti and her husband, and the sound of children running.

Funeral Attendee

Location: Penybank - Exact location not known
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A shopkeeper returning home suddenly heard wailing and was pushed along by something unseen. He managed to move to one side of the road and escape the force, although he could then perceive a phantom funeral procession. He knew several of the faces of the crowd, and then recognised himself. Once home, he told his wife and a couple of friends about the encounter. Exactly two weeks later, the shopkeeper's neighbour died, and the witness found himself in a real procession which contained everyone he had previously seen.

An old woodcut of a winged serpent.

Winged Snake

Location: Pistyll Rhaeadr - Waterfall
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A flesh eating serpent that lived on top of the waterfall was killed by locals who antagonised the beast until it attacked a scarlet cloth that concealed jagged spears.

Fairy Kingdom

Location: Pontneddfechan - Criag-y-Coed
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This rocky outcrop is said to be the last haunt of the fairy folk in Wales.

Beast of Bodalog

Location: Rhayader - Area around Bodalog Farm
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: September 1988 to December 1988
Further Comments: Thirty five sheep were killed over several months by an unknown creature which dispatched livestock with a bite just below the neck. It was speculated that the creature came from the nearby river at night. Due to flattened grass around the kills, some speculated it was the work of a large snake.

Magic Bell

Location: Rhayader - Castle (no longer standing)
Type: Other
Date / Time: Twelfth century
Further Comments: A knight being held captive in the castle was given a magic bell and told its power would break down the wall of his cell. The knight rang the bell but the wall remained intact, much to the amusement of the prison wardens. Soon after, the castle was struck by lightning, destroying everything other than a wall upon which the magic bell hung.

Silver Discs

Location: Rhayader - Skies over area
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 06 November 1950, 08:00h
Further Comments: A fourteen-year-old boy watched two silver discs flying at height and in a southerly direction. The craft did not resemble any aeroplanes that he had seen.

The Giant's Grave

Location: Rhayader - St Clement's Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A mass grave in the churchyard reputedly contains a thighbone that measured over a metre in length.

Trotting Horse

Location: Tredegar - Troedrhiwgwair mountain
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A newspaper article from 1956 suggested that the phantom house which would trot across the mountain was only the sound of distant (real) horses that drifted in on the wind.

Changelings

Location: Trefeglwys - Shepherd's Cottage (likely no longer standing), nicknamed Place of Strife
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A few months after giving birth to twins, the mother noticed her children had been exchanged with fairy children as they did not grow. After consulting a wise man, the woman threw the children into the waters of Llyn Ebyr. Goblins in blue trousers suddenly appeared and snatched the changelings from the water. The woman's real children were quickly returned.

Man in Gold Laced Suit

Location: Welshpool - Powis Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1780
Further Comments: This haunting ended when a new maid was placed in a haunted bedroom as a joke planned by the other workers; she listened to the ghost instead of running like so many had done in the past, and as a reward the supernatural being led her to a box hidden under a floorboard. This was later presented to her master who rewarded the maid with freedom and a cottage. The ghost was seen no more.