The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Gwent Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana


A ghostly miner walks along a hospital corridor.

Figure

Location: Aberbargoed - Aberbargoed hospital (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2010
Further Comments: Some believed this phantom, said to have been observed by staff and patients, to be a miner who died in a colliery accident, while others thought it to be a former patient.

Knocking

Location: Aberbargoed - Private residence on the hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 1907
Further Comments: A newly married couple were said to have fled their home after enduring tapping on the walls, disembodied footsteps on the staircase and tin boxes which moved themselves around. Cynics said that the sounds were probably caused by work in the local colliery.

Hosea Pope

Location: Aberbeeg - A4046 to Ebbw Vale
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Policeman Hosea Pope was murdered while trying to arrest a man named James Wise. Pope's ghost has since been seen along this stretch of road.

Caped Figure

Location: Aberbeeg - Bridge by the side of the river
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman walking along the river to her place of work passed by a man wearing a cape and tall hat. She did not pay much attention, but as she walked by, she suddenly felt cold and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She turned to face the man, but he had vanished. A few weeks later a close friend drowned at the exact spot of her encounter.

Hanbury Family Only

Location: Abergavenny - Coldbrook House (demolished 1954)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The state bedroom was said to be haunted by an entity which could only be perceived by a member of the Hanbury family. The house was also known for its 'bloodstained room', the pool of blood coming from either a duelling gambling man or a maid who rejected the advances of a butler.

Old Woman in Black

Location: Abergavenny - Kings Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: This figure was observed descending the staircase and passing through the lounge.

White Lady

Location: Abergavenny - Llanvihangel Court
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pallid woman is said to leave the house at midnight and walk into a nearby wood. The White Room is said to be haunted by a little man with green eyes. It is not known for sure whether these ghosts are connected to a series of dark stains on the staircases of the building.

Friendly Character?

Location: Abergavenny - Skirrid Mountain Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While one report described one ghost here only as 'friendly', it may be in the minority. The inn is a former courthouse and claims to have had 182 people executed by noose within. One woman at the inn reportedly developed marks around her neck after feeling something akin to an invisible rope being wrapped around the skin. There has also been a report of a Cromwellian soldier on the site.

John Jenkins

Location: Abertillery - Barn near Abertillery House (no longer standing?)
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: John Jenkins hanged himself in the barn and was discovered by his sister. The woman's screams attracted the attention of a resident of Abertillery House, who looked in the direction of the barn and watched a 'resemblance of a man' violently rotating towards the river.


A glowing paranormal entity.

Radiant Maiden

Location: Abertridwr - Area around the Old Mill footbridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: At least one witness watched this glowing figure cross the bridge late one dark night. She has also been seen on the nearby football field, gliding towards the footbridge.

Rapping

Location: Abertridwr - Unidentified house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1906
Further Comments: A man named Craze lived in the property and was said to have experienced strange knocking and groans which were said to emerge from the kitchen floor. After newspapers reported the story, it would appear Craze was boycotted by other miners.

Fairy Funeral

Location: Aberystruth - Church Lane
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A small procession of fairies was reported travelling along the lane towards the church to bury one of their own. Another version of the story says the funeral was ghostly in nature, and when a living man reached out to help carry the coffin, everything vanished, with the man only left holding a horse's skull.

Flying Bottle

Location: Bargoed - Private Villa
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: The family here heard footsteps, and experienced lights switching on and off, electrical cables being tugged by an unseen force, and one member having a glass bottle thrown at them.

Burning Boy

Location: Bedwas - Hill in Machen
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown, likely pre-eighteenth century
Further Comments: Travelling between Bedwas and Risca, a woman and man spotted a boy ahead of them. The boy put his head between his legs and turned into a ball of fire which proceeded to roll up the hill. Later in their journey, the couple came across a pillar of fire which scorched the woman's handkerchief.

Flying Pigs

Location: Bedwellty - Field known as Y Weirglodd Fawr Dafolog
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: Six people watched a flock of fairies flying in the sky - two people said they resembled sheep, two people said greyhounds, and the other two said pigs.

Sounds of Hunters

Location: Bedwellty - Mountain in the area, close to Ebbw Fawr
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Evan Thomas claimed to have scared away invisible fairy hunters by drawing his knife (it was said that fairies were afraid of knives and iron).

Whirling Figure

Location: Bedwellty - Unidentified field
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: While passing a field here, Lewis Thomas witnessed a terrible, ghostly man whirling along on its hands and feet.

Female Spook

Location: Blackwood (Y Coed Duon) - Monkey Tree Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This female phantom is said to be most active in rooms 7, 8 and 9.

Cottage and Chopper

Location: Blaenavon - Blorenge Mountain
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1973
Further Comments: A young girl ran ahead of their family and came across a stone cottage with an older man chopping firewood outside. The man had white hair and long moustache. The girl briefly spoke to the old man, who spoke back to her. Something then made the girl uneasy, so she ran back to her family. When the family passed the area where man and cottage were, all that could be found were old foundation stones of a long-gone building.

Smashing

Location: Blaenavon - Colliery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1904
Further Comments: One newspaper reported that 'uncanny' sounds were unnerving the locals. Smashed and removed windows were also attributed to the ghostly entity.

Grey White Mist

Location: Blaenavon - Cycle track below Varteg cemetery and a field at Waun Afon
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Around 23:00h, June 2018
Further Comments: Two friends on the cycle track watched as a misty, humanoid shape without features drift downhill. The shape paused before continuing through a field, heading towards a metal bridge over the Afon Llwyd. One of the friends took a photograph which showed a mist hovering above the ground.

Talking

Location: Blaenavon - Former nursing home
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2013?
Further Comments: While checking out this site, investigators heard a piano and children playing in an empty area.

Glass Smashing

Location: Blaenavon - Private residences along Darkfield Terrace (since renamed?)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: November 1904
Further Comments: Several properties along this terrace had windows smashed or removed. Although some believed a human hand was behind the vandalism, others pointed to a supernatural explanation as the perpetrator had never been seen.

Smoky Human Cloud

Location: Blorenge - B4246
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 09 April 2016, 22:30h
Further Comments: A driver and their passenger spotted a human-sized, white/blue cloud moving along this road. The driver could not make out any specific details, although the passenger could make it out as a human-like figure.

Unseen Ghost

Location: Brynmawr - House along Worcester Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 15 November (?) 1886
Further Comments: After a rumour travelled the area that a certain house was haunted, a large crowd gathered outside to see the phantom for themselves. No phantom manifested.

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