Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: Wales

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity / Folklore / King Arthur / Legends

St Govan’s Chapel

This tiny chapel hidden in a deep ravine in the rocks dates from the thirteenth century. There may have been a chapel or religious structure here in the fifth century making it one of the earliest places of Christian worship. It has been suggested that the chapel was part of a larger Hermitage but its history is unclear.

King Arthur / Legends

Bosherton Lake

The local lake is said to have been the body of water into which Arthur’s sword Excalibur was cast after the battle of Cammlan.

Directions: A footpath from Bosherton leads to the lake Bosherton reached off the B4319 South of Pembroke

Folklore / Legends

Green Bridge Cave

The cave is associated with the common legend that a fiddler (sometimes a piper in other stories) went in to the cave to play and never returned, perhaps crossing through to the fair realm. His music is still said to be heard now and again from the depths of the cave.

Directions: Pendine is reached from the A4066

Devil / Devil Bridge / Legends

The Devils Bridge

There are three bridges over this part of the Mynach Gorge, each one built successively over the others, as they needed to be improved for traffic. The lowest of the bridges dating from the 11th century is the original one and is associated with a Devil legend that is common in Britain with minor variations from place to place.

Apparitions / Hauntings

Bryn Hall

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.

Legends

Aberdyfi and Cardigan Bay

The area around Cardigan 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.

Folklore / Folktales / Welsh Folktales

The Lost Land of Wales

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 Cardigan Bay, they can be seen at low tide and may have given rise to the legend of the ‘Lost Lowland Hundred’.

Folklore

Carreg Cennen Castle

The ruined castle has a wishing well, which had the ability to heal eye and ear disorders. The well is reached via an underground tunnel that leads to a cave. Traditionally one had to leave a pin in its waters and then make the wish. Prehistoric skeletons have also been uncovered from within this cave, and it is likely that it was used in ancient times as a place of reverence.

Ancient Sites / Burial Mounds / Giants / Legends

Barclodiad-y-Gawres Chambered Cairn

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.