The Skirrid Inn
The Skirrid Inn, also known as the Skirrid Mountain Inn, is located five miles north of Abergavenny. Known as the oldest pub in Wales, this location is steeped in mystery and folklore pertaining to both it's history and the surrounding area. The most famous piece of history regarding the location is the many hangings which have occured within the building. With so many reported deaths, it's no wonder why the building has a strong reputation for being haunted. Incredible accounts of poltergeist activity, full body apparitions, and even a ghostly assault are said to have taken place here.
History
This is one of those locations where very little seems to be known about it for sure. The current iteration of the Skirrid Inn is thought to date back to the 1600s, however there are conflicting accounts regarding if it could date back even further. The earliest date I've found is 1100, and even though I've found that there is no evidence of the current building dating back to then, folklore states that the current location stands on the site of a previous pub. Other dates I've found from around this time are 1104 and 1110. It is Cadw, the Welsh historic monuments authority, who have seemingly claimed the Skirrid Inn does not date to before the 1600s, but apparently there are documents naming it from the year 1100.
The reason why the building's called the 'Skirrid Inn' is because it's named after a nearby mountain. The building is located in Llanfihangel Crocorney, which is within the Brecon Beacons national Park; the Bannau Brycheiniog national park in Welsh. To the east is a mountain called The Skirrid; Ysgyryd in Welsh. There are a number of legends regarding this mountain. It has a landslipped hump, and as a result the mountain is two mountains. One is known as 'the great shiver', Ysgyryd Fawr, and the other as 'the little shiver', Ysgyryd Fach. The reasoning for these names is that it's said the mountain shivered in anger upon the moment of Jesus's death on the cross; and so it split in two. A slight deviation of this story is that it was actually a bolt of lightning which struck the mountain upon Jesus's death, and this caused the split. Due to this connection to Jesus, it's said the mountain was also known as the Holy Mountain and so a chapel was built near the summet.
Another legend regarding the landslide was that a wizard called Jack O' Kent caused it when he leapt from the Sugar Loaf mountain to the Skirrid mountain. Jack O' Kent features in a number of local legends within Monmouthshire and Herefordshire; and these tales often include him outfitting the devil in some way, something which relates to a particular tradition at the Skirrid Inn which will be discussed a little later on. In terms of the land's use before the Inn, a large number of worked flints have been found on the slopes facing towards the valley. This suggests that the area was used for hunting during mesolithic times.
Apparently the location of the Skirrid Inn has been recorded to have existed under a different name. This name was the 'Millbrook', and it's unsure as to when the location, which was an alehouse, went under this name. It's thought the location served as a courthouse between the 1100s and the 1600s, with the final execution occuring around 1658; although a different source has said the final execution occured in the 1800s. The fireplace within the building dates back to around 1570, which was during the tudor era, and the staircase and oak beams date back to the 1600s.
The building would have looked quite different while being used as a courthouse and place of execution. Two of the upstairs rooms were thought to have been one room that served as the courtroom until 1640. When people were hanged at this location, the noose was attached to one of the beams above the stairs and people had to jump from the stairs. There is still a noose hanging behind the bar as a reminder of these times. Due to the lack of a hatch, which is included in a traditional gallows setup, the deaths would often be extremely slow as there wasn't enough force in the fall for the noose to break the neck. This meant those hanged would suffocate to death, which could take at least ten minutes. To speed up the process, family members would pull down on the legs of the hanged to make the death quicker.
1110 is the date of the first hanging in the building, but it's said that 182 hangings occured within the Skirrid Inn. The bulk of these executions were part of 'The Bloody Assizes' which followed the Monmouth Rebellion; an event where a group of people tried to overthrow King James II. There are still visible rope marks on the oak beam in the stairwell from where the rope would have burnt through from people swinging. It is said, and commonly believed, that George Jeffreys was the man who judged the 182 men and sentenced them to death at the Skirrid Inn. However, I have found that there is no evidence to support George Jeffreys ever visiting the Skirrid Inn. George Jeffreys was a judge in the area following the Monmouth Rebellion, so it is possible he could have visited the Inn, however Jeffreys involvement with the inn likely comes from Derek Acorah saying it while investigating with the Most Haunted team.
Another contradiction in the history of sources I've read through is the quantity of hangins which have occured at the Skirrid Inn. Sources seem in agreement that the bulk of the 182 hangings were as a result of The Bloody Assizes, however, this detail contradicts when the final hanging is said to have taken place in this location. As mentioned earlier, it is thought that the final Skirrid Inn hanging occured around 1658 for stealing sheep; however The Bloody Assizes occured on the 25th of August 1685, with the Monmouth Rebellion occuring from the 11th of June 1685. This clearly indicates some commonly found details around the hangings are incorrect, whether that be the date of the final hanging, the quantity of people to have been hung here, or George Jeffrey's involvement at the Skirrid Inn. Perhaps the person who typed the final execution to be 1658 actually meant 1685. Having looked further into it, I've found another source that claims the final execution here occured before Oliver Cromwell's death, which was in 1658.
Another legend, this one to do with rebellion, says that the Skirrid Inn was once used as a meeting point for the local supporters of the Welsh revolt against King Henry VI. The rally was conducted by Owain Glyndwr, the last Welsh Prince of Wales, and occured during the 1400s. Even earlier than this, during 1175, it's believed that the Skirrid Inn was the site of a massacre. This event was caused by William de Braose; a nobleman who was the right hand of King John during 1199. William had wanted revenge for the death of his uncle, Henry de Broase. Henry had been killed by some noblemen from Wales; and so William invited three of the noblemen, plus a few leaders, to have dinner with him at the Skirrid Inn for Christmas. While at the dinner, William ordered his men to kill all of his guests.
On a lighter note, it is said that William Shakespeare took inspiration from the Skirrid Inn when writing 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. There is a tradition at the Skirrid Inn, as alluded to before, regarding the devil. This tradition involves a tankard known as a pwca cup. At the end of each day, the landlord would pour some ale into this cup and leave it on the doorstep of the Skirrid Inn. The thought behind this was that when the devil, or any negative spirits, approached the Skirrid Inn, they would take a sip from the pwca cup and leave. It isn't this act of appeasing the devil that inspired Shakespeare, but rather the name of the cup. It is thought that Shakespeare took the word 'pwca' and transformed it into the name 'Puck'; a fairy character within his 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' play.
Moving to more recent times, I've only been able to find one event to have occured during the 1900s. On the 13th of August 1914, only a few days after World War One began, a man called Thomas Irons was fined ten shillings following a road rage incident outside of the Skirrid Inn. Thomas was a labourer, and while he was cycling he became adamant that another cyclist was a German. Thomas followed the man along the road from Pontrilas while calling him a German. When the two approached the Skirrid Inn, Thomas shouted to stop the man because he was German, and so a worker at the Inn complied thinking Thomas was a policeman. Thomas then assaulted the man he had been following. The local police became involved and recieved conformation that the man Thomas had assaulted was not a German, but was instead the son of a Macclesfield police sergeant.
Two months after the road rage incident, Charles Powell, the landlord of the Skirrid Inn at the time, was one of three landlords to be fined five pounds. This was due to the three landlords being involved in the theft of a black spaniel from Mrs Attwood-Matthews of Llanfihangel Court. Charles left the Skirrid Inn a few months later after selling his farm livestock, furniture, plus other items. The Skirrid Inn became a grade II listed building on the 6th of May 1952, and during 2002 it was put up for sale. It had been owned by Heather Grant, who at the time was forty-four years old and had lived there for eleven years. The location was then bought in 2005 by Geoff Fiddler and his wife, Sharon.
There are three ensuite rooms within the Skirrid Inn, two with four poster beds and one which is a cottage bedroom. Within the cottage bedroom there is a double bed, an ensuite bathroom, a TV, plus tea and coffee facilities. The room at the top of the stairs is thought to have been a cell where people were held back when the location was a courthouse for highwaymen and sheep thieves. The whole building is made of stone walls and wooden panelling, and outside you can see a mounting stone which would have been used to assist men in climbing onto their horse.
Hauntings
The most well known spirit at the Skirrid in is a victorian landlady called Fanny Price. She died at the age of thirty-five from consumption within the smallest bedroom. I've read a number of different dates for when she died with some claiming it to be in the 1600s or 1700s, but the most likely date is either 1873 or 1875. She is buried in the nearby St Michaels graveyard, and if you look at her gravestone, you can see 187 but it's unclear if this is followed by a 3 or a 5. I believe it is followed by a 5. Her immediate family, who also owned the inn, are buried alongside her. One of her relatives, Henry Price, is also said to haunt the Skirrid Inn. Henry was possibly Fanny's dad or husband, and is said to march up and down the cobbles outside the inn like a soldier. Henry is also thought to bang inside the chimney. Fanny walks around the inn with the smell of lavender accompanying her, and she particularly likes room 3.
Another named spirit said to haunt the Skirrid Inn is the infamous judge George Jeffreys. He is the judge mentioned earlier who had involvement in The Bloody Assizes, but there is no evidence that he visited the Skirrid Inn at any point. Despite this, it's said that his spirit walks through the upper floors of the building. A hangman from these times is also reported to haunt the building. It's also said that a local clergyman by the name of Henry Vaughn haunts the inn. Henry Vaughn, like George Jeffreys, is another who may have come about through Derek Acorah saying potentially false information on Most Haunted. Before Derek said the priest haunted the property, there was no record of Henry Vaughn's existence. The final named spirit said to haunt the Skirrid Inn is John Crowther; a sheep rustler that has been seen a number of times and was hung to death.
A white lady has been seen within the inn, and this spirit could connect to a legend regarding the local forest being haunted. The story goes that during the 1700s, the lord of a manor house had an affair with a young girl who worked at the Skirrid Inn. The man's wife caught the pair and chased the girl into the local forest, and the next day the girl's body was found slumped against a tree and frozen to death. This forest near Abergavenny is known as the White Lady Woods because of this tale, and it's said that a spirit can be seen in these woods floating in a white dress. Due to the girl having worked in the Skirrid Inn, it stands to reason that the white lady of these woods and the white lady of the Skirrid Inn could be the same spirit.
Also haunting the area is, apparently, Rudolph Hess; Adolf Hitler's deputy. He spent a considerable amount of time in the nearby Maindiff Court Military Hospital as a prisoner of war; and so it's said his spirit can be seen on the mountain trails around Skirrid. I've included him in this post because, depending on how much free reign spirits have, he could very well appear in the Skirrid Inn if his spirit has been reported to be nearby.
Room two is said to be the most haunted room in the Skirrid Inn, although it is room one that seems to have more reports of hauntings. One guest was staying at the inn in room one, and she decided to have a bath. Much to the shock of everyone working at the inn, the woman ran downstairs with a coat over her screaming 'she tried to kill me'. It came to be known that while the woman was having a bath, she experienced someone trying to drown her in the bathtub by holding her head under the water. Dispite her not seeing who had assaulted her, she was adamant that the assailant was female.
It's said there is a bloody one eyed convict present within one of the rooms. They haunt the area which used to be the condemned cell, which is now the bathroom of one of the rooms. I would assume it to be room one due to the only other bathroom related information coming from room one. This convict is said to have stabbed himself to death instead of facing the noose. The building being used for hangings seems to create more phenomena as people have been known to drop to their knees while grabbing their throats. These people have then claimed to have felt a noose be placed around their necks, and they've alledgedly had marks on their necks for days afterwards.
More phenomena in the Skirrid Inn includes hushed voices, slamming doors, footsteps, temperature drops, feelings of being watched, and poltergeist activity. Glasses have been thrown, and there are claims that the inn loses ten to fifteen glasses a week due to this. When the previous owner was trying to sell the inn, glasses kept being thrown at potential buyers. Money, which has been weighted down by coins, has also been said to float around the bar area before falling to the floor. Faces have been seen through the windows, even on the third floor of the building, plus a man has been said to walk up the stairs. The unexplained smell of perfume has occured, and the rustle of a lady's dress has been heard which is accompanied with a cold chill.
It's been said that one guest has been kept awake all night from the sound of the toilet paper roll in the bathroom spinning all night, although none had unravelled. False teeth which had been taken out for the night have been moved across the room and split into two perfect halves. There has been the sound of soldiers in the courtyard, and jewellery which has been taken off for the night has been rearranged on the nightstand. The owner, Geoff Fiddler, has said that he has only seen a figure once in the Skirrid Inn, and that was during the day. He briefly saw a coachman wearing a tricorn hat and long scarlet coat. His step-grandson has also seen a spirit. The boy went to use the toilet, but then shortly returned and told Geoff that a man in a long dress wouldn't let him in. The boy was four years old at the time and didn't know of the Skirrid Inn's reputation. Geoff assumed it would have been a spirit, and that the boy described something similar to what he had seen wearing a cloak. Geoff's wife Sharon has also had an experience within the inn. One night she felt a tugging on her leg, but there was nothing there. It's been speculated that this tugging on the leg could relate to the tugging on the legs of those hanging to death in order to make their deaths quicker.
Horses have been heard cantering outside of the inn, and people have been said to experience dizziness, fear, and nausea on the stairs. It's also said that an invisible presence can sometimes be felt passing people on the stairs, and that a shadow walks up and down both the corridor and stairs. Heather, the previous owner, has often seen a shadow walking on the stairs and in the hallway. There is also knocking, and a dark figure has been said to appear at the end of one of the beds. It is also said there is a ghost cat here.
Summary of Hauntings
1. Fanny Price, victorian landlady - mostly room 3, accompanied by lavander smell
2. Henry Price, Fanny's dad or husband - marches outside, bangs in chimney
3. John Crowther apparition, sheep rustler, hanged
4. George Jeffreys (?), 1600s judge - upper floors
5. Henry Vaughn (?), local clergyman
6. Lady in white, possibly same as in White Lady Woods of Abergavenny, 1700s inn worker
7. Rudolph Hess (?), Hitler's deputy - haunts the wider Skirrid area
8. Bloody one eyed convict, stabbed himself to death - condemned cell (bathroom)
9. Cat
10. Horses
11. Coachman/highwayman, tricorn and long scarlet cloak
12. Audio of soldiers - courtyard
13. Audio of lady's dress rustle, accompanied by cold chill
14. Smell of perfume
15. Jewellery rearranged at night
16. False teeth moved at night
17. Money moved across the bar
18. Dizziness - stairs
19. Nausea- stairs
20. Fear - stairs
21. Invisible presence passes guests - stairs
22. Shadow figure - stairs
23. Shadow figure - end of a bed
24. Temperature drops
25. Hushed voices
26. Slamming doors
27. Feelings of being watched
28. Glasses thrown
29. Faces seen in windows
30. Toilet roll spins - bathroom at night
31. Hangman
32. Drowning attempt by a female - room 1 bath
33. Choking sensation
34. Feeling a noose placed around the neck
35. Noose marks on the neck
36. Shadow figure - hallway
My Thoughts
I can see why the Skirrid Inn has a reputation for being extremely haunted. Usually i don't lose track of what I have and haven't included in the summary of activity, but this location had so much reported that I did lose track while writing that segment. I do feel the location has sadly been a victim of Derek Acorah though when it comes the the hauntings and the history. If you aren't aware, it was confirmed that Derek was using information fed to him on the tv programme Most Haunted; even if that information was false. This is why I would assume George Jeffreys and Henry Vaughn to have no connections or involvements in the Skirrid Inn. I've tried my best to portray the facts, but the reality is that there are very little out there about this location.
I suspect less hangings could have occured here than what is commonly believed, and I can't help but wonder if there is a psychological factor at play with the hauntings of the Skirrid Inn. It has a reputation, and it is a famous location amongst the paranormal community; it's also frequently investigated by teams. I don't doubt that it is haunted, but I suspect many reports could come from the psychology behind being within somewhere with such a strong reputation. I would expect it to be something similar to the placebo effect or the ideomotor effect where once the mind is believing something, that belief becomes true to the individual.
I think Fanny Price and her family would likely haunt the property, as would anyone that was hanged in the building. I believe that all it takes for a spirit to haunt a location is for the individual to have had some sort of energy exertion occur within the location while alive. Through this belief, it stands to reason that anyone who lived here or spent any amount of time here could be haunting it. This is why I included the white lady, who reportedly worked in the Skirrid Inn, and Rudolph Hess who spent time in the nearby area. I absolutely believe the location will be haunted, but that it likely isn't as extreme as what I've written about here.
I find the tale about the woman in the bath particularly interesting. I have a friend who often warns me about my involvement in the paranormal, and I always reply by saying that throughout my research I have never encountered a story where someone has been so much as harmed by a ghost. This location has changed that as the woman in the bath is the first account of someone I've found, while writing about a location, where a ghost has tried to kill them. I find this incredibly interesting, and so the Skirrid Inn is a location of interest. The story could exist to boost the location's reputation, but I don't know. I have found little detail to the story. Such little detail makes me think it may very well be real as opposed to a story constructed to make the place seem more haunted than it maybe is. Someone definitely needs to go to this location, get in the bath, and try to provoke the spirit into replicating the attack. It would be very interesting to see the results, and to see if activity with equipment coincides with any of it.
Thank you very much for reading to the end of this post! I'm really sorry this wasn't put on Monday the 8th of April as I had originally planned. I was absolutely exhausted over the weekend, but have slowly been getting my energy back. This post was surprisingly somewhat frustrating to write too given the lack of agreement between sources on the details of this location; whether that be history or hauntings. It was interesting to write about though, and I consider this post as one of the major haunted locations from the UK to be ticked off the list. I did find the attack on the woman in the bath particularly interesting.
Before I get into the special thank you's, I just wanted to take a moment to include something I'm always going to say at the end of each article; even though I really don't want to but should. At the moment I don't have any ads running on anything, and the blog is always going to be free to view. I want to always keep it this way, as I believe knowledge should never be kept behind a paywall, but money is something needed in life. So, I'm going to include the option for anyone to donate towards The True Paranormal. The best way to do that, if you are interested, is through paypal. The email to send money to on there is danielcarr130913@gmail.com and my username is Daniel Carr. I don't expect anyone to donate anything, but it would massively help towards the upkeep of The True Paranormal.
Now with the money stuff out of the way: a special thank you goes to Damain, Nicolette, Kerry, The Cornish Ghost Whisperers, Beardo Gets Scared, Starlight Phoenix Paranormal, Paranormal Penny Pinchers, the Australian Paranormal Society, and Codegas Codex of Curiousity for your continued support of The True Paranormal. If you want to follow The True Paranormal you can do so on Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Tumblr. You can also subscribe to The True Paranormal on YouTube, or directly to this website through the bar on the left which will give you email notifications. That bar also lists all of the links which will take you to The True Paranormal's various social media platforms. If you want to contact me about your own experiences, or about anything at all paranormal, you can email thetrueparanormal1@gmail.com
Sources I Have Used
3. Skirrid Inn
6. Wales Online
10. The Guardian
14. Ghostwatch
16. Higgypop
17. Grown In Wales
18. Haunting Nights
20. AESU
22. Twirl The Globe
24. Exploring GB
25. Dark Hauntings
29. Land of Legends
33. Eventbrite
35. Americymru
38. Amy's Crypt
39. Haunted Houses
41. Brocarde
44. Genes Reunited
Another very interesting read - it certainly does look like a spooky place! Who is the gentleman in the last 2 pictures? Is he the current owner?
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of paranormal activity! Don't think AK would want a bath there! GD
ReplyDelete