Point of Ayr Lighthouse

Talacre Beach
Flintshire
Wales

History

Built in 1776, Point of Ayr Lighthouse was sadly discontinued in 1883 but is one of the oldest lighthouses in Wales protecting boats using Liverpool Bay. Standing on Talacre Beach at the entrance to the River Dee estuary the lighthouse once displayed two lights. The main beam, at 63 feet, shone seaward towards Llandudno and its second shone up the River Dee towards the hamlet of Dawpool in Cheshire. Originally painted in red and white stripes the lighthouse had a red lantern housing, which was replaced in 1844 with a metal pile lighthouse bearing a white light, put up by the order of the Corporation of Trinity House. This new structure however was replaced again in 1883 with a lightship. The lighthouse fell into dereliction until James McAllister, owner of nearby Talacre Beach Leisure Park, bought it at an auction in 1983.

Paranormal Activity

Even though Point of Ayr Lighthouse has not been staffed for more than a century it is home to many stories of ghostly apparitions. It is said the most common lighthouse ghost sighting is that of a keeper wearing a coat and cap who is seen in broad daylight standing in front of the glass dome on the gallery walkway.

Whittington Castle

Castle Street
Whittington
Oswestry SY11 4DF

History

Whittington Castle has changed a lot over the hundred years since it has been built such as the addition of the 16th Century Elizabethan dwelling to the northern outer bailey gatehouse tower, which dates back to the 12th Century. William Peverel built the Norman Motte and Bailey castle after the demolition of the previous stronghold and his daughter Mellet inherited the castle and held the castle in her husband’s name, Fitzwarines, until 1420. In 1643 the castle was taken by force by Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads and at the time of Queen Mary II ownership of the castle was granted to Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel. The castle was later sold to France William Albany Esq, a London merchant and when his granddaughter Sarah married Thomas Lloyd Esq of Aston, the two estates were united. The last owners of the Lloyd lineage were that of Mrs A Hamilton-Hill and the Lady Newborough before it was owned and run by the local community today.

Paranormal Activity

Unexplained light anomalies have been caught on video camera at this ancient castle, seemingly travelling along a landing and disappearing into a wall with its shape changing as it moves. Stone-throwing noises have also been heard here by investigators to the castle as they attempted to contact spirits near an old dungeon.

Maesmawr Hall Hotel

Long Length
Caersws
Newtown
Wales
SY17 5SF

History

This Tudor manor was built in 1535 and the surrounding area was once occupied during Roman Times. Now a listed building, Maesmawr Hall became a notable sporting estate for shooting game and once housed a Welsh Long House in its grounds. During the 1870s it was owned by a John Pryce Davies and remained in his family until around the 1900s. The hall is now owned by Nigel Humphryson and is run as a hotel.

Paranormal Activity

This half-timbered house has many folk tales and myths attached to it from Robin Drwg, a half man half beast that was ritually cast into the lake to the ghost of a grey lady who has been seen walking the grounds. Roman legionnaires have been seen haunting the grounds around this hall with one visitor to the hotel even reporting seeing a road disappearing under the building with a Roman legion marching along.

Orbs and other strange light anomalies have been seen here at the hall with investigations reporting movement and activity in a room upstairs where the floor actually moved. Sightings of a servant in Elizabethan clothing have been seen going through the wall in the panelled hallway and is said to be that of a housekeeper as she is often seen and heard with keys. The ghost of a man and his dog is said to appear in the cellar area and the Davies sisters who used to manor the hall in the 1900s are also said to haunt the building. Current owners have not reported seeing anything unusual in the hotel but have confessed to hearing unexplained voices and banging.