Craig-Y-Nos Castle

Located in Wales, on the southern fringe of the Brecon Beacons, Craig-y-nos Castle has a relatively short history as it only dates back to the 1840s; making it fairly modern for a castle. It went on to be bought by Madame Adelina Patti, an opera singer who is considered to be the world's first celebrity, and who was the most well-known woman of her time after Queen Victoria. Patti made a number of additions and adjustments to the property, including making it look more like a castle. During her ownership, many members of royalty visited the location.

Following Patti's death, the castle became a hospital for the treatment of tuberculosis and it went on to be one of the first locations in the United Kingdom to administer the first effective medicine for the illness. Craig-y-nos Castle has since been sold again and now runs as a wedding venue and hotel. It is no surprise that the hauntings of this location relate directly to Madame Adelina Patti, who has interacted with a number of people since her death, and the hospitalised victims of tuberculosis. Craig-y-nos has been called the most haunted castle in Wales, and there are certainly a number of stories which contribute to that claim.

History

Craig-y-nos Castle is located in the county of Powys, and is near to Swansea. The castle's name translates to 'Rock of the Night', and is also located within the Craig-y-nos Country Park. The site's history dates back to the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Romans as remains from these eras have been found in the surrounding hills. It's also believed that Craig-y-nos Castle sits on a site which was once occupied in the early medieval period by the castle of the local Welsh prince. The park itself had walled kitchen gardens, glasshouses, rock gardens, a croquet lawn, a rose garden, plus ornamental and exotic trees. Today the park is a registered park and garden, and it is owned and managed by the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority.

Craig-y-nos Castle is, unfortunately, one of those locations where the history is somewhat muddied when it comes to the dates of certain events. The first of these muddied dates regards when the location was built. I have found that it was built in 1840, 1841-43, and 1842. The reason for these differing dates could relate to when building work began, or to when the design work began, and also to the date the location was fully built. So, the building could have started during 1840 and finished during 1843. The location was first built for Captain Rice (alternative spelling Rhys) Davies Powell, and it was designed by T.H. Wyatt.

Wyatt's designs called for a grand mansion, and a mock Gothic castle made from local limestone was created on a terraced site above the River Tawe. Due to the costs of such designs draining Powell's funds, the North Wing was left unfinished during his ownership. As for who Captain Powell was, he was the son of Dr William Powell. Their family had farmed the land in the nearby village of Pen-y-cae for many generations. Captain Powell served with the army in India, his maternal grandad had been a wealthy surgeon with the East India Company, and his dad once practiced in London.

Ive found that it was during 1843 that the Powell family moved in to Craig-y-nos Castle and Captain Powell went on to become a county magistrate and a High Sheriff of Brecknock. The Powell family was thought to be cursed as Captian Powell had swindled the Dutch Overbeek family of Calcutta and Cape Town out on an inheritance. This curse is what was blamed for the Powell family's later misfortunes. During 1851, cholera killed Captain Powell's younger son and he also suffered the loss of his wife and daughter before he died during 1862. During 1864, his eldest son was killed in a hunting accident on the Isle of Wight. Sarah, Captain Powell's eldest daughter, married Captain Allaway and they both remained at the castle after Sarah's brother died. Allaway died a few years later. Sarah then moved to Tenby shortly before the property was sold during either 1875 or 1876.

It's possible that the location was put up for sale during 1875, and then bought during 1876 as I've found that Morgan Morgan of Abercrave bought the property during 1876 for £6000; although judging from what Patti later paid, this total could be incorrect. He and his family settled at the castle, and his son, who was also called Morgan Morgan, joined them soon afterwards. The next owner was the famous opera singer Madame Adelina Juana Maria Patti. Again, I've found a number of conflicting details around when she bought the property and how much for. I've found that Patti bought the castle during 1854, 1878, 1879, and 1886. I've also found that she paid either £3000 or £3,500 for the property, and that the amount she paid was the equivalent of £2 million today. If the Morgans did own the property, as I have found, and if those dates are correct, then Patti could not have bought it during the 1854 date. Plus, she was born on the 19th of February 1843, which means she would have been only eleven years old during 1854.

I've found that Tzar Alexander II awarded Patti the Russian order of merit during 1870. This implies that Patti would likely be earning enough to have bought the castle after 1870, and so I would assume her to have bought the property somewhere during the 1870s. I suspect the 1878 date could be the correct one; although I have found that it was during 1886 that Patti begun to invest heavily in extending and refurbishing the castle. Patti also became married on the 9th of February 1886 to a French tenor called Ernest Nicholini (alternative spellings Ernesto and Nicolini). Ernest was Patti's second husband and he eventually died during the January of 1898. It's said that the 'orchestra' organ in the Billiard Room was his pride and joy.

During the peak of Patti's career, she earned roughly £100,000 a year, which is roughly the equivalent to £11 million a year today. This meant that she could employ 90-100 people at any one time, and so the castle had forty full time domestic staff and roughly fifty groundsmen directing the River Tawe by hand to create the pleasure gardens and lakeland walks which are now the Craig-y-nos Country Park. The original house makes up the South block of Craig-y-nos Castle, and this is because Patti used her wealth to make many additions. She added a clock tower, the North and South wings, a conservatory, several turrets to make it seem more like a castle, and the winter gardens which are now known as the Patti Pavilion. I've found that Patti spent over £100,000 on her additions to the castle.

Another addition was a private theatre which was designed to hold an audience of 150 people. The theatre was based on Wagners Opera House in Bayreuth, Bahamian, and had a mechanism under the auditorium floor which would raise it to stage level; and so created a level dance floor for entertaining. This theatre opened on the 12th of July 1891 and many rich and famous patrons of the arts visited it. Some royal visitors of the castle included Prince Harry of Battenburg and the Crown Prince of Sweden. It has also been rumoured that Prince Edward, who would later become King Edward VII visited. All of Patti's additions mentioned were added by Bucknall and Jennings of Swansea.

During 1890, the castle switched to electric power and was one of the first private dwellings in Britain to do so. The electricity was provided by a small gas generator which was installed somewhere before 1898. A newspaper report from 1890 explained that the theatre was lit by roughly 240 incandescent electric lamps of 8 and 16 candle power. It was then on the 25th of January 1899 that Patti married her third husband, Baron Rolf Cederstrom. The Baron later died during 1947, a while after he had sold the property. Patti herself died on the 27th of September 1919 within Craig-y-nos Castle. Apparently she fell down a staircase within the castle; and afterwards she was bed-ridden, contracted pneumonia, and then died. It isn't clear which staircase she fell down, or if the staircase is still present within the castle.

Patti's body was embalmed and lay in the private chapel of the castle until the 24th of October 1919. Apparently you can still see the slab her body was embalmed on inside the castle on tours today. Patti was later buried in Paris. Following Patti's death, the castle was sold to the Welsh National Memorial Trust during the March of 1921 for £11,000; although I have also found that the Baron sold the property for £19,000 and stripped the house of it's contents. It was from here that the castle became a hospital, and it was called the 'Adelina Patti' hospital due to a request of the Baron. The hospital admitted it's first patients during the August of 1922 and it was specifically for the treatment of tuberculosis. This is because the property's location in the mountains made it an ideal location for fresh air essential to enforce bed rest treatments which had been pioneered in the alps.

A three storey open metal structure was built on the back of the castle, and these balconies were home to sufferers of tuberculosis. Beds were placed on the balconies, and those prescribed to bed rest would lie out there through the days and nights of summer and winter. When there was bad weather, tarpaulins were placed over the bed covers and some former patients remember waking up and having to kick snow off their beds. Before antibiotics, the cure for tuberculosis was long and so people would spend years of their life at the castle; some being only toddlers when they first arrived. Reports say that patients would be wheeled out onto the balcony in the winter and were brought back in the morning if they were still alive.

It was during 1947 that the children at Craig-y-nos Castle were among the first in the UK to recieve the first effective tuberculosis medicine. These new antibiotics led to the hospital no longer being needed specifically for tuberculosis, and so during 1959 it became a hospital for the elderly. I've found potentially contradicting details which say that by the 1960s it was no longer needed as a sanatorium for tuberculosis and so it became a lung hospital, and then a geriatric hospital. It then passed into private ownership during 1983; although I have found that it remained a hospital until it closed on the 31st of March 1986 once the remaining patients had been transferred to the new Community Hospital at Ystradgynlais. Plus, I've found that the freehold of the property was sold into private hands by the Welsh Office in 1988, not 1983, so I'm unsure on the correct date. These private hands were a group of businessmen who formed the 'Craig-y-nos Castle Company Ltd'. By the time the castle was no longer a hospital, and the new owners had taken over, the floors had rotted through and the roof was in bad shape. Investment did occur which led to the renovation of the ground floor and roof.

The castle was hit by the economic recession of the early 1990s, and so the property was sold to Doctor John Trevor Jones and his wife Penelope. John and his wife continued to undertake repair work of the castle. This work included a complete renewal of the theatre's courtyard doors, installation of a new central heating system, and re-roofing the theatre. When they reached retirement age in the October of the year 2000, they sold the castle to SelClene Ltd who then continued the restoration work and opened the castle as a hotel. On the 28th of September 2005 filming took place at the castle for the Doctor Who episode 'Tooth and Claw' which starred David Tennant as the 10th Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. Today Craig-y-nos Castle is a grade II listed building, and the theatre along with the auditorium are both grade I listed. The theatre remains unaltered, and the upper floors remain in ruins with hospital equipment scattered around the rooms.

Hauntings

Usually, I would mention this particular kind of detail last or as part of the 'my thoughts' section; however I feel so strongly about it that it needs addressing now before I get into the further information relating to the hauntings of Craig-y-nos Castle. In the above image, you can see details around a special tour which is run for hen parties. In this tour there is a pre-arranged seance, and 'curtains will twitch, objects may move, boards will creak, doors open and close, and all with no explanation or warning.' The website continues to say: 'However this IS a Fright Night, so there may be a little prior planning to all the mysterious goings-on. This is all arranged in advance between the organiser of the hen party and the ghost tour guides.'

The reason I had to address this now is because it shows a willingness to fake paranormal activity within this location from a ghost tour company; one which I can only assume would lead 'genuine' ghost tours of the property. Granted, they've been open about it regarding the hen parties, but it implies they know how to fake things and that they aren't opposed to fake activity if it heightens the experience of their guests. As a result, if they fake activity for this particular party, then there is nothing preventing them from doing so on the 'legitimate' ghost tours. Plus, the location does seem incredibly willing to advertise ghost tours and the paranormal side of the building. It's important to keep all of this information in mind when considering how active the hauntings of this location could be, especially given there are a number of stories about the hauntings in this location.

I would say the most prevalent haunting in this location is that of Madame Adelina Patti's spirit. She is said to haunt the property, and there are a number of stories about a 'woman in black' which is thought to be the spirit of Patti. When a film crew was recording an interview in the theatre, there was a moment when they were in the kitchen and discussed the fact that Patti had never mastered the role of Carmen. It's said that it was in this moment that a heavy saucepan which was on a large cooker, and not near the edge, flew onto the floor. It's also said that this lady in black, thought to be Patti, can be seen gliding through the rooms and courtyard.

There was once a female pianist who sat at a piano in an ante-room of the theatre, and she felt a presence behind her. She then played the whole of Patti's 'Home Sweet Home' perfectly on her first try, and turned around to see that no one was there as she had thought. Another story from the theatre is about a little girl who was a patient at the hospital who was set to perform in from of an audience in the theatre while it was used as a Television and Entertainments room. The girl was nervous while waiting for her turn to sing, but a lady in a black dress approached her and told her to be happy and confident as she would go out, do her best, and impress everyone. The girl then sang her best as her confidence had been boosted by the talk with with woman in black. After the performance, the little girl went to find the lady to thank her, but no one knew who the woman in black was.

The breakfast room, which was apparently Patti's favourite room, has been said to be very active and also was thought to have a bad energy. During the July of 2018, a guest staying in the hotel apparently heard Patti singing to her through the night. She was upset because her husband had been told he only had a short while longer left to live, and so they stayed at the castle as part of his bucket list. It's thought that Patti sung to the woman to both calm and comfort her. A seperate story involves a drummer who had a conversation with a lady in black, thought to be Patti, in the Patti Bar. They were both seated by the fire, and when the drummer's bandmates returned and asked who the drummer was speaking to, the drummer saw that no one was sitting with him.

Finally, Richard Felix woke to see a woman sitting on the end of his bed who then proceeded to walk through an invisible door into the bridal suite which was located to the right of his bed. The following morning, he saw that both the door and lady had disappeared. Workers found that there was likely once a door through to the next room, and so it's thought that the lady had walked from room 36 and into the chapel. It isn't specifically said that this spirit was wearing black, and so it isn't know if it was the same spirit as what is thought to be Patti; but it is something that is speculated. Patti has been spotted most frequently within the theatre.

There are a couple of spirits said to haunt this location which are connected to Patti. Her second husband Ernest Nicholini is said to haunt the location, as is Patti's favourite composer; Gioachino Rossini. A small child has been seen with a soldier at the bottom of some stairs where it's suspected Adelina fell, although I've found this is presumably in the hall and that the stairs may no longer be there. The soldier is thought to be Baron Cederstrom, Patti's third husband. When nurses worked at the property, they would report the feeling of walking last someone on the stairs, or in a corridor, but no one was there.

There are also unexplained noises and footsteps within this location. Visitors have experienced breathing difficulties and the lingering presence of the tuberculosis patients. Apparently the top children's ward is the most active room in the castle. It's said to be so active that full apparitions have been seen in this room and that they have interacted with people. There are also children's footsteps, bouncing balls, and the sounds of giggling. Dark figures have also been reported in the castle. During either 2002 or 2003, possibly both years, investigators which were led by Bill Harrison picked up on sounds of children crying in the conservatory.

Room 13 was once part of the mortuary in the hospital era, and it's been said that there is activity in this room. The ghost of a nurse may have been experienced within this room. It's also said that there is the spirit of a very well dressed victorian gentleman in the castle. Apparently there is a six year old girl called Elizabeth who haunts the basement level of the castle. It's thought that she is friendly and that she died from tuberculosis. A male shadow figure has been seen in the basement, although it hasn't spoken to anyone and just observes. In the salt cellar, it's said there is a boy and girl who were both likely tuberculosis victims. These two are friendly and touch people's clothes and hair. There is also a former chef in the cellar who dislikes having women on his space, and he alledgedly hits and oushes women in one particular corridor in the cellar.

On the upper floors there are apparently two men; one who is called John and alledgedly hung himself after his mistress was sent away by Patti, and the other man is called Stan and enjoys tobacco. A former doctor and several children are said to haunt the former children's ward. After hearing of all these tales, it's quite easy to see why Craig-y-nos has been referred to as the most haunted castle in Wales. It is incredibly important though to hold in mind what I said at the start of this section regarding the events and willingness to both fake and stretch the truth which the location has shown.

Summary Of Hauntings

1. Madame Adelina Patti, woman in black - particularly theatre, everywhere

2. Ernest Nicholini (alternative spellings Ernesto and Nicolini), Patti's second husband

3. A soldier, possibly Baron Cederstrom, seen with small child - bottom of stairs, possibly hall

4. A small child, seen with soldier

5. Gioachino Rossini, Patti's favourite composer

6. Well dressed Victorian gentleman

7. Elizabeth, 6 years old, friendly, likely died from TB - basement

8. Male shadow figure, doesn't speak, observes - basement

9. A boy, likely TB victim, friendly, touches clothes and hair - salt cellar

10. A girl, likely TB victim, friendly, touches clothes and hair - salt cellar

11. Former chef, dislikes women in his space - cellar

12. John, hanged himself - upper floors

13. Stan, likes tobacco - upper floors

14. Former doctor - children's ward

15. Children - children's ward

16. A nurse - room 13?

17. Footsteps

18. Unexplained noises

19. Giggling

20. Children crying - conservatory

21. Breathing difficulties

22. Saucepan fell to floor - kitchen

My Thoughts

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of taking the potential fakery into consideration when thinking over the apparent hauntings and ghost stories of this property. I always try to remember to speculate about the legitimacy of ghost tours, and about the location's financial interest in the paranormal; but this is the first location where I've found something which openly admits that the ghost tour company fakes things for a certain event. Granted, this is not an admission to faking for every event; but as explained earlier, they know how to fake things, and they are willing to fake things, and so it raises questions as to if they're faking anything else. At the very least, perhaps certain stories are told as fact when the story tellers don't have a clue if these things actually happened.

Now, giving the location the benefit of the doubt, I do think most of the spirits mentioned are ones which can be rationally assumed to haunt the location. I do think victims of tuberculosis, along with Patti, are likely guaranteed to haunt the property in some capacity. The spirits I am less certain on are Rossini, the chef, John, and Stan. I don't know if Rossini ever visited the castle. If she did, then there is potential for her to haunt it. I have found no historical basis for the chef, John, or Stan and so I don't think these spirits are likely to be present. It's still possible though as many people will have been at this location over the years, and there will have been chefs.

Part of me thinks the children's ward is said to be the most active room as it sounds the most creepy. This could be something made up due to it sounding creepy, or it could be legitimate. If legitimate, I suspect the psychological weight of being in that room would be huge and so the mind could very easily play tricks on you; and so these tricks will likely be the answer to the bulk of what gives the room it's haunted reputation, especially when in the dark. Again, it doesn't mean it isn't haunted; it just means there will be a human element at play.

Overall, I think that the location has potential due to the amount of strong emotions which will have occured here over the years. I would find what I've found far more significant though if the location was less advertised for it's alledged hauntings. The clear presence of the financial aspect through ghost tours really makes me wary to believe what I've found about this location. Plus, it was incredibly strange how despite it being a relatively modern build there was clear misinformation around certain dates. This implies to me that it's been covered by people, possibly paranormal investigators, and they've gotten something wrong; but then because they're popular, they then become the go-to source for 'accurate' information. For the clear admission to fakery, along with being a location of potential, I will mark it as a location of interest.

Thank You!

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Sources I Have Used

1. Craig-Y-Nos Castle

2. Britain Express

3. Independent Hostel Guide

4. Craig-Y-Nos Castle: Home

5. Bannau Brycheiniog

6. Wedding Venues Cardiff

7. Coflein

8. Land Of Legends

9. The Rugeley Supernatural Society

10. Powys Digital History Project

11. Brecon Beacons Hotels