Haunted Merthyr

[Tc]

My nan lives in a street called James Town. All here family were around the area. They seemed to know lots and lots of ghost stories about the houses and the area.
Is it particularly haunted?
Have you any ghost stories from within Merthyr?

Tc

[Tc]

...Sorry, I meant she liveD in James Town.
My nan is long since gone and I cant find any reference to a James Town!

Tc

[HM]

Tc said:

...Sorry, I meant she liveD in James Town.
My nan is long since gone and I cant find any reference to a James Town!

Tc

My cold is clouding my 'ead!
She lived in Williamstown!!!

Tc

[angel60]

:oThe only Ghost stories I know r from gurnos old pond where the school is now,
the saying goes that so many people threw themselves into that pond to commit suiside that thier spirits are seen often wondering round that area often,

[Tc]

My mum said there was a house next to a bridge over The Taff near Williamstown that was known as , 'The Haunted House'.
Apparently a young girl was murdered on the curved stair case, possibly killed by her father as she had been out late to a dance. He cut her throat, she put her hand to her throat and then onto the wall to steady herself.
The story goes that no matter how, or what was used to try and remove the hand print, it always remained!
The story goes back to my nans time when she was a child and all the kids used to run past the house trying not too look in.

Tc

[Alan]

The house that TC is taking about is the old 'Cyfarthfa House', built by Anthony Bacon and was later occupied by the Crawshays for a while.
Fred Pedlar in his book 'The History of the Hamlet of Gellideg' says:

"Soon after the erection of the first furnace, the Cyfarthfa Mansion was built, on the bank of the Taff, there .being a fine lawn and shrubbery in front of the house. Like all old mansions, it also had its eerie story. Soon after the house was built, a murder was committed there. It seemed that one of Mr. Bacon's maid-servants had a love affair with a young man named William Owen, who, on one occasion presented her with a pair of silver shoe-buckles and a black silk neckerchief. The young folk attended Cefn Fair annually. It was the centre of attraction in those days, and continued to be so long afterwards. One fair-day, however, William Owen noticed that his sweetheart did not show him the usual signs of affection ; and when he saw her dancing with Benjamin Harry, obviously another suitor, poor Will was downcast. To crown his discomfiture, he saw his rival wearing the fancy buckles and the very silk neckerchief he had presented to his beloved ! Filled with bitterness and sullen anger towards his former sweetheart, who had treated him so shabbily, he decided to see her and get an explanation of her conduct. The following Sunday evening he attended divine service at Ynysgau Chapel, and afterwards proceeded to Cyfarthfa House for the interview. When the pair met, William declared how faithful and true he had been to her at all times, and surely did not deserve such treatment at her hands. He accused her of unfaithfulness, which charge brought a hasty retort to the lips of the maid. Heated words must have passed between them until William, goaded to madness by her biting tongue, drew out a knife and plunged it into her bosom. She managed to get into the house, and with painful steps climbed the stairs to join the other maids. As she ascended the stairs, faint through loss of blood, she rested her bloodstained hand on the wall for support. The tradition is that whatever paint or colouring was put on that wall afterwards, the shape of an open hand was to be seen through it. On July 8, 1926, in the company of two friends, I paid a visit to the old mansion and inspected the mysterious hand. We were guided through the building by a kind lady who lived next door and who had charge of the keys. We ascended the staircase to a square landing, where the mysterious mark was pointed out to us. There certainly was a similarity to the shape of a hand in the stained blotch upon the wall. It is thought that, after running into the house in great agony, with her hand trying to stanch the blood from the wound, she became so exhausted on reaching the landing that she stretched out her hand to the wall for support. I have been informed that one of the two lovers was buried in the Old Churchyard at Aberdare, and that the particulars of the murder were inscribed on the tombstone. Should the stone be located —as I anticipate it will be in the near future—and the essential particulars obtained, it would be most interesting to confirm the main points in the story."

Alan

[Tc]

Thanx Alan. That was fascinating. I wonder if he ever found the gravestones?

is the castle haunted also?

Tc

[gerwynllewellyn]

yes! cyfarthfa castle is haunted.as a child i would help my uncle bryn who was a caretaker at the time. when he was on the first floor i was still on the ground floor trying to catch him up,
something caught me eye and it was a boy about the same age as me,i was about 10 at the time standing behinde a tall sort of bookcase which was ajar and smileing like he knew me i ran to tell my uncle there was someone in the castle. we checked all the classes and no sign of the boy and all the bookcases were not moved i tried tomove one my self but my uncle stopped me because they were to heavy i said i did see him uncle bryn, he just smiled at me and said dont worry gerwyn he will show up again , he always does. i even remember the wool sort of t anktop and shorts which were both grey.

[davidj]

I used to go to school at Cyfarthfa Castle and if you found yourself taking music in the round tower you always had the feeling that there were "others there beside you!"
It was rumoured that a servant of the castle had died up there

[penydarrenlad]

I used to live King Edward Villas in the Walk as a young lad, from the age of 5 - 7 years.

I remember clearly, seeing an old lady looking out of the attic window many times.

I used to play in attic area a lot as they were large rooms, i remember seeing this old lady many times passing from one room to another.

you would never see her front on it was always from the rear for a split second before she was gone.

I was told later in life by my grandmother that she too had seen this old lady many times, and it was a previous owner.

Another property i once lived at in brynheulog street penydarren (late grandfathers house) also had a lot of activity in it.

On one occasion i replaced a light bulb in the living room, i then left the room to put the old bulb in the pedal bin in the kitchen, when i then tried the light it would not work, i was then shocked to find the bulb had been placed in the fruit bowl on the sideboard..

Other various things happened such as a 3 foot x 1 foot x 1 foot fish tank which was full of water one night and in the morning there was only about 4 inches of water left, and not a drop of water anywhere to be found under or around that area (bone dry).

Item's would vanish for weeks on end, some to never return.

Carpets being moved and the strong smell of pipe smoke in the passage from time to time, myself or the neighbours did not smoke.

I still live in penydarren, at a different property now, and yes you guessed it, things go bump in the night here too.

The last thing to happen was in my daughters room, all little nick nacks stacked one on top of each other in on the bedside cabinet.

I now think that all places have their ghosts, just some of us pick up on it and some don't.

regards

phil...

[ceri]

I found it interesting to read of your experiences. This brings to mind just one more strange happening in my family. My grandmother who lived in London, moved back home to Merthyr because of the war. She moved into a house in, I am almost sure, Lower Thomas Street. A few days after moving in, and when the family were out, she was sitting in the middle room and she suddenly glanced out into the hallway and saw a strange man walking down the stairs . He was a smart looking man wearing a top hat and cane. He just stared ahead and then vanished, possibly through the front door. As she and her family were the only ones living in that house, you can imagine how spooked she felt and could hardly wait for the family to return home. She had already experienced a dog suddenly passing her front door whenever she stepped out of the house at night.

A few days later, a neighbour introduced herself to my grandmother and asked how she was settling in to her new home. My grandmother explained what had happened, and her neighbour told her that long before a man had hanged himself from the upstairs landing, and that shortly after his dog pined away and died.

I would just like to say that my grandmother was a level-headed and business-like woman who would not have been given to wild imaginings but strange things do happen!

Perhaps the ghost has well and truly gone by but I do wonder if anyone else experienced the same thing in that house before or after my grandmother lived there. If the neighbour knew about it then such a tale would have been passed down through the family. Such a spooky tale to tell on a dark winter night when the fire is merrily burning away. BUT I ASSURE YOU IT DID HAPPEN!

Thanks again for contacting me.

Ceri

[jonathan]

Apr 8, 2008 22:02:28 GMT 1 angel60 said:

:oThe only Ghost stories I know r from gurnos old pond where the school is now,
the saying goes that so many people threw themselves into that pond to commit suiside that thier spirits are seen often wondering round that area often,

Should that read.. "People inebriated by spirits, are often seen wandering around the area". ;-)