There have certainly been plenty of theories in the past regarding possible local links to the most notorious serial killer. There's even a suggestion the killer - who murdered a number of prostitutes in the Whitechapel area of East London in the late 1800s - may have been a former Swansea GP who killed his victims in a crazed attempt to cure infidelity. Did The Ripper cast his deadly shadow over Barry's Thompson St? However, according to one expert, the infamous… Read more.
In one very unusual tale reported in the Barry Dock News in 1892, a gang of vigilante ghost hunters took it upon themselves to track down a spook which had been sighted in Pencoedtre. “They camped outside what they believed to be the haunted house, but instead of catching the spectre, they brutally attacked an innocent woman - and ended up in court for their efforts. “The perpetrators were James Moist and husband and wife Alfred and Rosina Palmer, who… Read more.
Barry Island is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a local hero by the name of Benedict y Fiffoddwr aka Benedict the Fighter. Legend tells of the time his ship Tam Lyn was accosted by Spanish pirates, and he bravely and single-handedly fought and killed them all, even though they slaughtered every member of his crew. He then sailed his ship back to port alone, and he was hailed a hero. He went on to navigate many more… Read more.
South Glamorgan - Paranormal Database Records In February 1997 at around 11pm, it was reported that a person was sitting on the pebbles with their two dogs. They watched another dog, that was black, move silently across the beach about fifty metres away. The witness stated that their curiosity was raised as despite the rocks and stones underfoot, the dog moved smoothly and their own dogs were completely oblivious to the canine. Sixteen years later in September 2013 at around… Read more.
This tragic story is rumoured to happen all over Wales including Barry. An old man and his wife would set up false lights to lure ships onto rocks so they could steal good from the shipwrecks. One night during a bad storm, the couple learned of a sailing ship heading in from the West and went out as usual to set up their lights and returned to bed. The following morning, they went down to the coast and saw that… Read more.
Cliffwood Cottage ruins - Porthkerry - Jo PriceCliffwood Cottage ruins - Porthkerry - Jo Price In the mid-1700s, there lived at Cliffwood Cottage a wise woman called AnneJenkins, who was renowned and respected for her spells.On one gloriously sunny day in midsummer, a gentleman and his servantentered Porthkerry Woods.The gentleman wanted a 'love potion' for a lady that he was sweet on in Barry,and was aware that the right-hand fork in the road was the way to the 'wisewoman'.With night… Read more.
Location: Cadoxton – ChurchyardType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Stone still present, sighting of ghosts pre 1920s Further Comments: A stone monument was erected in the churchyard in memory of Margaret Williams, whose murdered body was found on nearby marshland in 1822. Because she was pregnant at the time of her death, it was widely believed her lover and her killer were the same man. Nonetheless, Margaret's killer was never caught. Two ghostly forms were reported by the stones, thought to be Margaret and her… Read more.
Three cottages once stood on the site where The Captains Wife public house now stands. Formerly a smugglers lair there was once a tunnel that connected the inn to the sea and Sully House opposite. The legend goes that the wife of a sea captain was hidden there by her husband because he didn’t want to confess that she had died on his ship, due to the superstition of the time. Her body was placed in a box and mistaken… Read more.
South Glamorgan - Paranormal Database Records In the photograph of the Castle Hotel, in Jewel Street, Barry, a ghostly female figure appears, to the left, on the staircase. One pub regular believes she was a chambermaid who apparently fell pregnant with a captain’s baby, but he dismissed her. She threw herself out of the top window into the beer garden. Punters claim she makes her presence felt upstairs. Read more.