Gwynedd Gazetteer

The area around Carmarthen Bay has a number of 'lost land' legends pertaining to it. These legends have changed over the centuries.

The most recent story concerns 'The Lost Lowland Hundred'; lands now drowned which were ruled by a King called Gwyddno Garantir. The area was protected from the sea by a system of sluices, dams and waterways. Read More »

This burial mound has five carved stones within its chamber, now capped by concrete to prevent their erosion. The stones are carved with a range of patterns including spirals cup marks and zig-zag features. The purpose of these marks is unknown, but they may have had some ritual function. Read More »

The island is also known as the island of the currents and the saints. There are said to be the graves of 20,000 saints interred on the island, and legend suggests that anybody buried here will not go to hell no matter how wicked his deeds. Read More »

The chambered tomb called the Bedd Branwen, is said to be the resting place of Branwen, the legendary wife of Bran described in early Welsh stories.

Directions: To the East of Elim.

The name of this site translates as the mound in the dark grove. It is a developed site, which changed in ritual use and importance during the Neolithic and Bronze age period. Read More »

Bryn Hall was haunted by the ghost of a headless horseman. The haunting is said to have ceased after one of the servants received a message from the horseman pertaining to the location of a buried body.

The body was that of an illegitimate child belonging to the Lord of the hall.

This holy mountain has a rock seat called 'The Seat of Prince Idris'. It is said that anyone who spends the night alone on the mountain will either die, become insane or become a poet.

The seat of Prince Idris is also known as the Chair of Idris, and was named after a giant who was said to view the heavens from this lofty point. Read More »

Built in 1850, this Baptist Chapel was made famous by the Devon artist Sydney Curnow Vosper (29 October 1866 – 10 July 1942) in 1908, when he painted a member of the congregation in traditional Welsh costume. Read More »

A rock overlooking the Dovey Estuary, on a hill above the A493, bears a depression that is said to be the hoofprint of Arthur's horse.

Directions: The rock lies above the A493.

In legend a curse was put upon the town and its entire people by a mermaid hundreds of years ago. She was found stranded on the rocks at low tide by local fishermen, who would not return her to the water no matter how much she begged. She cursed the town saying that the people would always be poor. The curse is now said to have run its course. Read More »

The Cors-y-Gedol burial chamber which still has it's capstone intact is also referred to as Arthur’s Quoit and can be found close to some ancient hut circles known as the Irishmen’s huts on the slope of Moelfre. Read More »

The legendary stronghold of Vortigern, and the place where the young prophet Merlin revealed the fighting dragons. Read More »

Behind the local school at Dyffryn Ardudwy and reached by a sign posted footpath two exposed cromlechs are visible amidst a field of stones. The cromlechs are about twenty feet apart and the stones that surround them mark the remains of the huge cairn that would have covered these graves that date back to the Neolithic period. Read More »

'In the 13th century Llywelyn, prince of North Wales, had a palace at Beddgelert. One day he went hunting without Gelert, "The Faithful Hound", who was unaccountably absent. On Llywelyn's return the truant, stained and smeared with blood, joyfully sprang to meet his master. Read More »

I came across a reference claiming that the public toilets opposite the Gwesty’r Llew Coch (Red Lion Hotel) in Dinas Mawddwy are reputedly haunted by the apparition of a silver haired old man. I have no idea what evidence this based upon, or even if there is any.

A tree known as Derwen Ceubren yr Ellyl (hollow tree of the demons/spirits) used to stand in Nannau Park and it had a reputation of being haunted and evil, for this is the tree in which Owain Glyndwr was, according to legend, supposed to have hidden the body of his cousin Hywel Sele, 8th Lord of Nannau after he had killed him in 1404. Read More »

In 1743 a farmer near Holyhead, Anglesey is alleged to have witnessed a 'boat' sailing in the clouds at about 1500 feet. The story appeared in the 'Flying Saucer Review' in 1971.

A drowned town is said to be underneath Bala lake. It is said that sounds from the town can sometimes be heard from the shore. The lake is also associated with a water dragon.

Directions: Bala is reached from the A494, the lake lies to the South East of the road.

On 1st September 1978 in Llanerchymedd, Anglesey, some young boys who were playing football saw what they thought was a helicopter land in a field close to where they were playing. They went over out of curiosity and found that it was a white object like a smooth nosed rocket. They went to fetch some adults who also witnessed two 6-foot humanoids in one-piece suits near to the object. Read More »

This island is connected by a sandy beach to Anglesey, and was home in the Dark Ages to a religious community, founded by the female Saint Dwynwen. St Dwynwen is a patron saint of Welsh lovers, and after her death the island became an important place of pilgrimage. Read More »

The glacial lake of Lyn Cau at Cader Idris is said to be bottomless and according to tradition it is thought to be the home of a lake monster responsible for drowning a man who went swimming in the cold waters. The story of the monster is probably related to an Arthurian tale concerning an Afanc from another lake, Llyn Barfog. Read More »

During the last twentieth century there have been a few experiences that have led to suggestions that the Mawddach Estuary at Barmouth may be the home of a sea monster. According to Mysterious Wales by Chris Barber a local woman claimed to have found four large footprints in the sand, described as being ‘as big as an elephant’s’. Read More »

Pont Aberglaslyn has a bridge with a connection to the Devil. It is very similar to other Devil and bridge related stories found throughout the British Isles. The Devil built the bridge on the understanding that he would receive the soul of the first living creature to cross over it. When the bridge was finished he went to the local inn to inform the magician Robin Ddu that it was ready. Read More »

Whilst reading part of Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1849), I came across a link between the River Artro and Taliesin. Read More »

The Royal Goat Hotel is linked to stories suggesting a haunting, though I don’t know of any actual haunting type occurrences that have happened there. The stories relate to David Pritchard, the first landlord of the Royal Goat Hotel and the man generally thought responsible for the Grave of Gelert. Read More »

The smallest house in Great Britain can be found on the quayside at Conwy and is known as Quay House. This tiny dwelling dates from the sixteenth century and was lived in continually until 1900 when it was deemed by the local authority to be unsuitable for human habitation. Read More »

Standing 3650 ft above sea level, Snowdon is the highest peak in Wales, second highest mountain in Britain and is also probably the busiest due to it popularity with hillwalkers. Read More »

St Peters Church in Llanbedr is where you can find, behind the rear pew, an ancient engraved stone that stands two foot nine inches in height and two foot wide. The engraving is that of a seven turn spiral measuring twelve inches in diameter. It is said to be similar to those associated with the Irish Boyne culture. Read More »

The word "gwiber" in Welsh means viper or adder but many centuries ago the word actually meant "flying snake" . This is the story of how Wibernant (meaning "valley of the gwiber) which is near Penmachno got its name. Read More »

This tale is one of two stories of a similar theme attached to Cardigan Bay in Gwynedd. This story is the later one of the two and explains how a realm was lost to the sea through debauchery and drunkenness. There are traces of walls and roadways under the sea at Carmarthen Bay, they can be seen at low tide and may have given rise to the legend of the 'Lost Lowland Hundred'. Read More »

The Tyn-y-Groes Hotel is an old drovers inn dating the sixteenth century. I found a reference in a Snowdonia walking book stating strange haunting like phenomena was supposed to have been reported shortly after a young girl was run down in a traffic accident on the A470, just outside the building. The girl was brought inside the Hotel and placed in bedroom No.2. Read More »

This cave is associated with a legend common in Britain, that of pipers disappearing into the fairy realm.

Four pipers went into this cave to commune with the fairies, but they never returned. Their piping can still be heard when the air is quiet.

A Snowdonia guide specialising in walks starting from pubs, mentioned that the Ysgethin Inn was haunted.  It did not elaborate further, other to say that the ghost had been heard by the staff, though not actually seen it. The building was originally a pandy (fulling mill) and dates from early 1788. Read More »