Denbigh Castle crowns the hill above the town, its great gatehouse still standing. Edward I gave the lordship to Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, after the conquest of 1282, and de Lacy began the castle and walled town. The Goblin Tower, a strong tower on the line of the walls, was built to protect the town's water supply and encloses a deep well.
The tradition attached to the tower is that de Lacy's son, still a boy, was playing on the scaffolding while it was being built, lost his footing and fell to his death. His face, some say, can be seen looking out of one of the windows. In some accounts the grief-stricken earl never set foot in the castle again, which is why parts were left unfinished.
The ghost people most often talk about is a white lady. She is described as gliding over the grass along the paths near the Goblin Tower, surrounded by a glowing white mist, her long white dress barely touching the ground. In December 1999 three young people told reporters that she had come towards them from the tower and that they had run. Nobody has put a name or history to her. A separate story tells of a woman's crying near a well, said to be a mother whose child slipped from her arms into it.
Denbigh also has a dragon. A monster was said to live at the castle and terrorise the district until it was killed by a man said to have eight fingers on each hand. The Welsh name of the town, Dinbych, actually means little fortress. These are modern and folk traditions rather than documented events.
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