Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: Wales

Fairies / Folklore / Welsh Fairies

Llyn Ebyr

Edwin Sidney Hartland gives the following tale about how a mother retrieved her twin children after they had been replaced by fairy changelings in his ‘The Science of Fairy Tales’ (1891)’ ‘Water’s antagonism to witches is notorious; and ample use was made of it in the old witch trials.

Haunted Pubs / Hauntings / Orbs / Poltergiests

The Hanbury Arms, Pontypool

The following two newspaper reports concerning strange experiences at The Hanbury Arms, Clarence Street, Pontypool were printed on 4 September 2012. The first, entitled ‘Ghostly goings on at Pontypool pub’ is by Natalie Crockett and appeared in the Gwent News.

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Fairies / Folklore / Folktales / Welsh Fairies / Welsh Folktales

Fairy Bride Of Beddgelert

In ‘The Science of Fairy Tales’ (1891), Edwin Sidney Hartland mentions the following story from Beddgelert where a stolen fairy lady ‘would only consent to be the servant of her ravisher if he could find out her name.

Apparitions / Hauntings

The Ghost of Captain Davies, Nefyn

This is a ghost story from Nefyn, a town on the north coast of the Llyn peninsula with a strong sea faring tradition. One night, Captain Davies was apparently seen standing in the lamp light at the junction of Stryd Y Plas and Stryd Y Llan.

Ancient Sites

Pen-y-Dinas Hillfort

The remains of the prehistoric, Iron Age, Pen-y-Dinas hillfort stand on a prominent peak (230 metres high), overlooking the coastal plain of Dyffryn Ardudwy. Its shape is oval, following the shape of the hill that it stands upon, and it measures approximately 60 metres by 50 metres. The wall of the hillfort is better preserved on the west side, which is where the entrance to the fort used to be.

Ancient Sites / King Arthur / Legends / Wells

King Arthur’s Well

King Arthur’s Well is so called, because of the myth connected with it, that the waters derive from King Arthur’s kitchen, and the fat from the meat that was cooked there, floats to the surface at the well. In 1853 a physician from Caernarfon named A.

Ancient Sites

Y Gyrn Lower Cairn (North)

This is the remains of one of a pair of ancient cairns that bestride the mountain path descending Y Gyrn from the west heading towards the Bryn Cader Faner ancient monument.

Ancient Sites

Y Gyrn Upper Cairn (South)

This is the remains of one of a pair of ancient cairns that bestride the mountain path descending Y Gyrn from the west heading towards the Bryn Cader Faner ancient monument.

Ancient Sites / Stone Circles

The Llyn Eiddew Bach Stone Circle

This stone circle is located close to Bryn Cader Faner, just to the east of the path that leads to this more famous ancient monument. The circle is difficult to find in the Welsh mountain moorland, chiefly because the stones are low to the ground and have been overgrown by the moor.

Ancient Sites / Burial Mounds

Gwern Einion

Gwern Einion is a representative cromlech, found on Gwern Einion Farm in the district of Llanfair, Meirionnydd. It has been damaged over the centuries, the burial chamber has historically been used as a shed, and the cairn has been robbed of its stone to build dry stone walls. It has actually been incorporated into a dry stone wall of the garden of a now derelict cottage on the farm.