Cardiff, capital of Wales, has a history that dates back some 6000 years. Naturally, it’s amassed a lot of legends in all that time. Cardiff folklore isn’t just about ancient stories either. According to Reddit, there’s a legend of the Beast of Leckwith. In the story, the beast is a panther, released by its owner after realising panthers don’t make particularly good pets (HarlechSimpsForElsa 2022).
Another Reddit user related a creepy tale in which a strange figure followed him through Bute Park near Cardiff Castle at night. He believed the figure was connected to the Dominican monastery that once stood on the site (docsav0103 2022).
There is far more to Cardiff than I can possibly fit into a single blog post, so let’s explore some of its ghost stories and other tales in this week’s instalment of Fabulous Folklore! Hit play to hear the podcast episode of this blog post, or keep reading!
Ghosts at Cardiff Castle
Perhaps the Dominican monastery referred to by the Reddit user has something to do with the shenanigans at the castle. Cardiff Castle itself boasts plenty of weird stories, as you’d expect any self-respecting castle to do.
Robert Fitzhamon, Lord of Gloucester, built a wooden motte and bailey castle on the site in the 11th century. Rebuilt in stone, much of the current castle dates to the Victorian era, explaining its Gothic Revival styling.
Staff report items in the stock room apparently moving on their own. A faceless woman wanders around the castle – people have named her Sarah. People sometimes see her in the stock room, so perhaps she does her own reorganising of the contents.
More Spectacular Spectres
The second Marquess of Bute wanders through the walls, heading from the library fireplace towards the chapel. Given the fireplace was a doorway when he lived in the castle, it’s likely the other walls also held doors. The main dining room doors open and close on their own at 3:45 am each morning, even when locked. Lights flicker and furniture moves inside the same room. The Great Castles website suggests the Marquess’ wanderings and the dining room doors are connected, since he died at 3:45 am (Great Castles 2023).
He even appeared to a young couple in the castle in 1976. They’d been standing on a staircase when a tall, cloaked man pushed past them. The woman turned to look at the man, who scowled at her before vanishing. If you’re wondering how she knew who the figure was, apparently there was a painting of him nearby and she identified him thus (Great Castles 2023).
Death Omens?
In earlier centuries, a phantom coach trundled towards the gates. According to legend, it was heard whenever one of the Bute family was about to die. Now, some websites say it was last heard in November 1868 during the tenure of the 3rd Marquess of Bute. John Boyle, a trustee of the family, heard a carriage enter the courtyard and stop outside the door. He didn’t hear the doorbell, so he went down to the hall, but the butler told him no one had arrived. Lady Margaret MacRae, the only daughter of the 3rd Marquess, allegedly heard the same carriage the evening her father died at Dumfries House (Great Castles 2023). Trouble is, the 3rd Marquess died in 1900, so it’s unclear how ‘true’ this story is.
The 5th Marquess of Bute gave the Castle to the city of Cardiff in 1947.
Cardiff Royal Infirmary Hospital
Opening in 1822, the hospital seems to have more than its fair share of ghost stories. It’s even been dubbed the UK’s most haunted hospital and now looms large in Cardiff folklore.
In one story, plumber Douglas Bragg had a somewhat unpleasant experience while carrying out work in an old ward. He reported feeling as though he was being watched, though whenever he looked, there was no one there. Bragg even heard footsteps at one point. Eventually, someone put their hand on his shoulder. He turned to see a matron dressed in a grey uniform. She smiled at him before disappearing into thin air. On his way to see the security guard, he saw a painting of a former matron, and lo and behold, it was the woman he’d seen. She died in 2008 (Jones 2021).
In another story, security guard Gareth Owen was watching the security monitors in 2008 when he watched a woman go into the security office some 12 yards away from him. Five minutes later, she came back out. According to the monitor, she’d walked right past him, except no one walked past him in front of him as far as he could see. Owen described that her style was smart, but outdated (Jones 2021).
Other figures also wander the corridors.
There is a woman in grey (although some say white), and according to local legend, she will offer you a drink. You should decline it because if you don’t, you’ll die within the week. She apparently stood at the end of the beds, offering the drink to patients. One woman even complained to her doctor about her! (Hughes 1993: 10)
Other staff always kept a partitioning curtain open in one of the operating theatres. It had been known to close by itself, and strange noises would come from behind the curtain – but only when it was closed (Hughes 1993: 10). Other stories include children who tap people on the ankles as they walk upstairs (Jones 2021).
In one legend, the staff on the pathology ward staged an exorcism in the early 2000s (Jones 2021). No one has ever talked about their experiences so no one knows what needed to be exorcised, or if it even worked.
The Hidden Tunnels of Cardiff
I’ve covered legends of tunnels before, but not in Cardiff. Thankfully, I have more space to devote to them here…which is helpful, because Cardiff has a few!
A medieval tunnel runs under Bute Park. It’s connected with the old Greyfriars friary, which dated to 1280 until it was destroyed in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
In 1582, Sir William Herbert bought the ruins and built Greyfriars House on the site, using some of the stonework from the original building. The only remains of the friary visible above ground are place names, such as Greyfriars Road.
Yet the tunnel beneath the area remains. A 2ft access tunnel leads into it. Apparently, it’s only passable until 82 ft in because the tunnel collapsed, but it eventually reaches the friary in Bute Park (Millard quoted in BBC, 2017).
No one knows why they used it, though it’s possible it was more for emergency evacuations than anything nefarious. A book from 1923 said the tunnel led westwards towards Cardiff Castle. Yet there was a rumour the tunnel was once used to hide the profits from a bank robbery (Millard quoted in BBC, 2017).
There is also a legend of a tunnel between Castell Coch, north of Cardiff, and Cardiff Castle, in which a gentlemen hid a chest of gold during the English Civil War. Two eagles apparently guarded it (Roderick 1986: 59). Who knows if the legend from this tunnel didn’t get mixed up with other hidden tunnels?
Another tunnel on Castle Street was believed to lead to the castle. Builders uncovered this one in the basement of the Angel Hotel. The De Claire family residence once stood on the site, so people assumed the tunnel connected their home with the castle.
Cardiff Castle also has tunnels within its walls, used as makeshift air-raid shelters during the Second World War. Over 1800 people could fit into them. Apparently, the network was so extensive that it included toilets, kitchens, bunks, and first aid posts!
Legends of the River Taff
Cardiff folklore isn’t just ghosts and tunnels. The River Taff passes near Llandaff, where two female ghosts apparently spend their time. The first appears to date to the 1860s, and her son drowned in the river. The grief-stricken woman was seen drifting along the riverbanks, still searching for. People sometimes see her at Llandaff Cathedral too.
The other ghost is named as Bella. Her husband ran a tavern, and apparently, his method of running it affected her so badly that she threw herself into the river.
Yet the more famous legend associated with the river is related to its whirlpool. According to Marie Trevelyan, at one point, the whirlpool was known as one of the seven wonders of Glamorgan (1909: 9). Even when the river bed was almost dry, the whirlpool still formed a small lake.
People claimed it was bottomless, and a huge serpent lived in its depths. Even worse, if anyone drowned in the river, the current sucked them into the whirlpool. People believed the serpent swallowed those that never resurfaced. By comparison, if a person’s body bobbed to the surface, they assumed the person had been very good, “because the serpent would not touch the corpse of the righteous” (1909: 9).
It’s not the only danger the whirlpool poses. Another story concerned a beautiful woman, who apparently bathed in the pool. She lured youths towards her with her beauty. When they got too close, the whirlpool sucked them in. One old woman claimed the temptress “was the devil in disguise” (Trevelyan 1909: 9).
What do we make of this Cardiff folklore?
Some of the stories are similar to those found elsewhere, demonstrating the way in which stories travel, but humans also have similar preoccupations. The phantom coach as a death omen occurs elsewhere, and the temptress in the Taff sounds similar to Lorelei on the Rhine.
Yet other legends stand apart. Look at the folklore around tunnels – they’re often believed to be used for nefarious purposes, or things were hidden in them. In the Cardiff folklore, the tunnels could be either or both of them.
While there no doubt are legends of eerie ghostly monks, they weren’t first and foremost in the stories, despite the presence of friaries in the city. It just goes to show that it’s always worth digging a little deeper in the folklore of a place, even if it’s somewhere you know well!
Which is your favourite part of Cardiff folklore?
References
BBC (2017), ‘Hidden Cardiff: The city’s tunnels and secret bunkers’, BBC, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-40108144. Accessed 14 August 2023.
docsav0103 (2022), ‘Are there any Cardiff urban legends?’, r/Cardiff Reddit thread, https://www.reddit.com/r/Cardiff/comments/tz38dr/are_there_any_cardiff_urban_legends/. Accessed 14 August 2023.
Great Castles (2023), ‘Haunted places you can visit in Cardiff’, Great Castles, https://great-castles.com/cardiffghost.html. Accessed 14 August 2023.
HarlechSimpsForElsa (2022), ‘Are there any Cardiff urban legends?’, r/Cardiff Reddit thread, https://www.reddit.com/r/Cardiff/comments/tz38dr/are_there_any_cardiff_urban_legends/. Accessed 14 August 2023.
Hughes, Sean (1993), ‘Surgical spirits on the prowl’, South Wales Echo, 23 April, p. 10.
Jones, John (2021), ‘The chilling tales from Cardiff Royal Infirmary, said to be ‘UK’s ‘most haunted’ hospital’, Wales Online, https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/spookiest-tales-cardiff-haunted-hospital-22003943. Accessed 14 August 2023.
Paranormal Database (2023), ‘South Glamorgan Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana’, Paranormal Database, https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/wales/SouthGlamorgan.php. Accessed 14 August 2023.
Roderick, Alan (1986), The Folklore of Glamorgan, Village Publishing
Trevelyan, Marie (1909), Folk-lore and folk-stories of Wales, London: Elliot Stock.
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OMG you did Cardiff, yay! Love this!
I have got to visit!