Halloween: The ghosts that reside in Wales' spooky castles

Wales is famed for its many castles but what is less well known are the stories behind the ghosts said to reside inside them.

From a superstar opera singer who smashes items on hearing a detested record to a murdered gamekeeper who still stalks his estate - Wales' castles and mansions are a treasure trove of ghost stories.

For Halloween, journalist, author and self-confessed "ghost geek" Mark Rees has shared his favourite stories.

He said two of Wales' most famous haunted places were Craig Y Nos Castle in the Brecon Beacons and Port Talbot's Margam Castle.

"American YouTubers and the ghost hunters from all over the world travel to Wales and talk about Wales 'the land of castles' but ironically neither of them are castles - they're just named by posh Victorians who wanted to call their fancy homes castles," said Mark, who has written three books about paranormal activity in Wales and presents a podcast on the topic.

He said it meant the ghost stories attached to the Victorian homes were "much scarier" than the usual stories of princesses trapped in towers attached to many of Wales' fortified historical castles.

He has had his own paranormal encounter at Craig Y Nos.

It happened when he was part of a group being led by a medium and they were under stage of the mansion's theatre where the orchestra used to play.

They were scrying - looking into mirrors in the hope of seeing messages or visions - when he said he saw something unsettling.

He and another man were standing behind a woman who was looking into a mirror.

"We looked at each other and we said 'she's got a beard hasn't she?'

"She clearly saw it as well because she freaked right out, jumped up and then said words I can't repeat.

"But when she sat down again it had gone."

Five years later, he was in the exact same spot with a friend and they had set up lights and a camera for filming and, just as he was telling him about his previous spooky experience, a bulb in one of the lights exploded.

"He jumped out of his skin - it was all caught on camera," he said.

"I am sure it was just a freaky coincidence with dodgy electrics but either way it's one of those moments that if it wasn't paranormal it was certainly very funny and memorable."

Craig Y Nos is famous for once being the home of the 19th Century superstar opera singer Adalina Patti who, for 25 years, sang by private invitation for Queen Victoria.

"When she died there were stories that she loved the house so much as she was still there," said Mark.

He said ghost hunters believed one way of contacting her was to anger her by playing a record she recorded at the end of her career when her voice was past its best.

Some say when the offending record is played, items are smashed and thrown around the room.

After Patti's days, Craig Y Nos became a TB hospital and then care home for the elderly.

"It's a wonderful place but it's also a place that has seen a heck of a lot of death," said Mark.

Margam Castle in Neath Port Talbot is said to have several resident ghosts - one of its most famous is tragic gamekeeper Robert Scott .

Poaching was a common problem on Margam estate and Robert was shot dead by a poacher while patrolling the grounds in 1898.

"If you believe the stories by all accounts he's still doing his job, stomping about the place, more specifically in the grounds," said Mark, who grew up nearby.

The sound of Victorian children playing and giggling has often been reported throughout the corridors and the large rooms of the castle.

Like many of Wales' castles, Margam is also said to have a spectral lady. The ghostly daughter of the mansion's first owner, Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot, is said to be dressed all in white and float around inside the building.

"It's almost like a checklist of spooky things that you want going on - you've got the noises, you've got the bumps, you've got things being thrown, and a white lady floating around, and that's all going on in Margam which is why it's so popular," said Mark.

But what about Wales' other haunted castles?

The largest castle in Wales is also said to be home to a spectral lady - the Green Lady of Caerphilly Castle.

The castle was built in the 13th Century by Gilbert de Clare who was married to the beautiful Princess Alice of Angouleme.

But the princess was in love with Gruffudd the Fair, Prince of Brithdir and the two became lovers.

Gruffudd foolishly told a monk about the affair and he swiftly informed Gilbert.

On learning of the affair, he sent his wife back to France and ordered his men to find Gruffudd.

Gruffudd sought revenge on the monk by hanging him from a tree before Gilbert's men caught up with him and he too was hanged.

When Alice was informed of her lover's execution she was so shocked she dropped dead on the spot.

Her ghost is rumoured to have haunted the ramparts of Caerphilly Castle ever since.

The Green Lady has also been described as a cross between a banshee and an elf who can turn herself into ivy and cling to the castle's walls.

"The Green Lady I love," said Mark.

"The broken hearted princess story - we've got a hundred of those but I love the idea that she transforms into ivy and some kind of banshee creature, that is much, much more unique."

Carew Castle in Pembrokeshire, which has a history spanning 2,000 years, is said to be haunted by up to 20 different spirits, including the ghost of an ape which returns on dark, stormy nights.

The ill-tempered Barbary ape, or macaque, was brought to the castle about 400 years ago by an equally ill-tempered former pirate captain called Sir Roland Rhys.

Sir Roland acquired the animal on a seafaring adventure to the Barbary Coast and named him Satan.

The story goes that Sir Rowland had a son who ran off with the daughter of a local merchant called Horowitz.

One night Horowitz knocked on the door, a fierce argument erupted and Sir Roland released the ape from its chains and ordered it to kill the visitor.

The merchant fought off the ape, survived the ordeal and, as he fled, cursed Sir Roland and wished the same fate upon him.

The next morning Sir Roland was found dead in a pool of blood with his dead ape beside him.

"That is why people now claim to hear the the screams and the sobs and also shapes of some kind of ape like creature swinging in about the place," said Mark.

It may not be a castle but Plas Newydd house in Llangollen, Denbighshire, is said to receive a ghostly visit from its former occupants who may have been the first openly lesbian couple in UK history.

Sarah Ponsonby and Lady Eleanor Butler, affectionately known as the Ladies of Llangollen, were a trailblazing same-sex couple who lived there for 50 happy years.

The public were captivated by their unconventional, romantic way of life and they acquired a celebrity-like status, receiving visits from the likes of Lord Byron, Shelley and royalty, and there was a popular demand for prints of them.

The pair's library is said to be one of the most haunted parts of their former home.

In the 1930s, psychologist Dr Mary Gordon claimed to have seen the ladies' ghosts.

"She had this feeling she just had to go there," said Mark.

"She writes of climbing through the window of the library and she claims to have seen them both and communicated with them."

Her account prompted interest from ghost hunters who have remained fascinated with the home ever since.

Some say the ladies make a return visit to their beloved mansion every Christmas Eve - when their ghosts can only be seen by men - which of course contradicts Dr Gordon's claims.

"It's a fantastic place to visit with some fantastic stories attached to it," said Mark.

Having spent years ghost hunting, has Mark seen anything that has convinced him there is life after death? He says no, and remains a sceptic.

"If you take everything at face value it would be quite easy for people to take advantage of you," he said.

"That's not to say everyone's a charlatan but I think everyone should have their wits about them."

So what is it about ghost stories that fascinate and entice so many to Wales' castles?

Some may be looking for confirmation of life after death and for others it was about escapism, he said.

"If you go back 100 years ago people believed there were fairies in the forest and people practising witchcraft down the road - that's all gone now, life is very dull, the news is as bad as hopefully it'll be in my lifetime right now and so people need escapism and people need these stories help get away from it all."