Craig-y-Nos Castle

Posted by admin as 4: Season Four

Description:
An early Victorian country house set in parkland, which was extensively built up in the late 1870s, adding north and south wings, a clock tower, conservatory, winter gardens and a theatre.

Era:
Constructed in 1840 by Captain Rice Davies Powell, the house was originally called Bryn Melin but purchased by famous opera singer Adelina Patti in 1878 and renamed for the Welsh of “Rock of the Night.”

Bloody history:
After the death of Adelina, the castle was sold and became a sanitorium for patients with TB between 1920-1960.

Ghost ratings:
- Adelina is rumoured to haunt the hotel and the opera house, as is her first husband, the Marquis of Caux.
- The ghosts of patients from when the Castle was a hospital have been seen wandering around the building.
- A jazz drummer recently played at the Jazz bar within the castle, and was sitting among a small group of people by the fire. The drummer struck up a conversation with a lady who asked him if he sang. He replied ‘No’ and she said that she believed he great potential as a singer. He left the conversation, came back but the lady had gone. When he asked where the lady in grey had gone, the other people sitting with the drummer replied that there had been no-one there.

Spooky Experiences:
- Playing the song “Home Sweet Home” is said to bring the spirit of Patti forward.
- A photo was taken recently of a wedding, and when it was developed appears to have the eerie image of a ghost on it.
During WWII, two young nurses said that they heard a voice singing her scales in the corridors outside their room. They got scared and slept in a different room that night, It was said that Adelina used to practice her scales every day until the day she died.
-A lady pianist once claimed that she was performing one night in the theatre when she felt a strange presence about her, at which point she began playing a piece that was unknown to her, perfectly.
-Many bangs, creaks, slamming doors and other noises have been heard throughout the castle.

http://www.craigynoscastle.co.uk/

First broadcast: 30th March 2004

Owlpen Manor

Posted by admin as 4: Season Four

Description:
- Stone Manor house, church and mill in Gloucestershire

Era:
- Built in the 16th century as a private residence but the Deeds go back to 1210 and there was some sort of house on this land prior to the 1500s.

Bloody history:
- Owlpen Manor was the home to refugee children who had been removed from major UK cities during WWII.
- Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI stayed at Owlpen in 1471 and spent her last happy night before her defeat, exile and eventual widowhood.
- There are some reports of a ‘hooded figure’ or ‘Black Monk’ who is said to haunt Owlpen. Some say he is Bartholomew de Olpenne whose family owned the manor in the 1100s, and who was walled up and starved to death in the manor. His bones were found but apparently crumbled to dust when the space came to light.

Ghost ratings:
- A grey lady clad in a fur-trimmed gown, steeple hat and wimple, Queen Margaret is reported to haunt the house where she spent her last night.
- When some children visited and were greeted by an American woman the day after their arrival, they asked why she wasn’t wearing the “lovely clothes” she had worn the night before. They described clothing from several centuries ago. Could they have been met by the ghost of a woman on their first night at Owlpen!
- One ghost is reportedly a mischievous child who is said to run up and down the back stairs, disturbing the sleep of the guests, and moving objects in the house.
- The ghost of a wizard and Alchemist who was lord of the manor in Georgian times apparently stalks the attic floor of the 1616 wing.

Spooky experiences:
- The face of the small child has been seen on a photograph taken when the house was empty.
- Visitors report strange and unexplained sights, sounds and even scents.

First broadcast: 23rd March 2004