Bodelwyddan Castle stands in parkland near the A55 opposite the white limestone "Marble Church". An older house was rebuilt in mock castle style in the 19th century, and the building has had a varied life since. In the First World War it was a hospital for recovering soldiers, many from the huge army camp at Kinmel, and practice trenches from that period can still be traced in the grounds. After the war it housed Lowther College, a girls' school, for decades, then became an art gallery showing Victorian portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, and is now a hotel.
The haunting stories come mainly from staff, visitors and television investigators. The best known figure is a woman in a long blue dress, seen in the sculpture gallery and around the kitchen area. Staff have said they heard pots and pans being moved in the kitchens during the night when no one was there.
Soldiers in uniform are said to have been seen in the galleries and corridors, and are usually linked to the war hospital. Other reports are of children's voices and running feet in empty rooms, and of guests feeling their hair or clothes pulled, as if by a child. The castle appeared on "Most Haunted" and on the American series "Ghost Hunters International", which added to its reputation.
None of the figures has been tied to a named person or a documented death. The record is a collection of single reports.
Comments