Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Welsh Lighthouse Receives Top Ghost Rating

BBC - A Holyhead lighthouse and an old Llŷn Peninsula manor have been rated as some of the spookiest buildings in Britain, according to a new guidebook.

Haunted Britain, published by the AA, gives South Stack lighthouse the maximum five ghost rating for its resident spectral keeper who's forever locked out in a storm.

Meanwhile Plas yn Rhiw, near Aberdaron, gets a rating of three for its two resident ghosts.

South Stack first opened in 1809 and, according to Ian Jones who's written a book about its history, it was quite a happy place until 25 October, 1853.

This was the night when one of the greatest storms hit the Anglesey coast, wrecking 200 ships, including the famous Royal Charter.

"The story is that keeper Jack Jones was on his way down to the lighthouse that night," said Ian.

"When he reached the bottom of the 400 steps, before crossing the bridge over to the island, a gust of wind broke a rock off the cliffs above and struck him on the head.

"He managed to drag himself over the bridge, but was found outside the door the next day, very badly hurt. He died a fortnight later from his injuries."

They say it's Jack's ghost that can be heard pounding on the lighthouse door at night, or tapping on its windows, still in search of refuge.

"I've been there when it's dark and the wind does roar through the building," said Ian. "You do hear all sorts of sounds.

"And the light is still in use, so you do see it going round, lighting up the cliffs and the sea. It's quite dramatic."

The building had such a reputation that TV programme Most Haunted paid it a visit a few years ago.

"I'm sceptical about these things, to put it mildly," said Dave Stack at the lighthouse ticket office.

"But some of the things they encountered were fairly convincing.

"They went to an outbuilding and something like a small horseshoe, which the keepers probably fitted to their shoes, was thrown out at Yvette Fielding, the presenter."

Dave and Ian had come across this item some months before, but had mislaid it.

"She didn't know anything about that, and there was no-one in the room at the time," he said.

"Then they claimed to see someone looking through the window. They gave chase, but the figure jumped over the cliff into the sea."

Plas yn Rhiw's ghosts include an alcoholic old servant, whose heavy footsteps can be heard on the creaky floorboards at night.

There's also the forlorn figure of the white lady. According to Richard Jones, author of Haunted Britain, she's the daughter of the Williams family, who lived at the manor in the mid-19th century.

It's said she fell in love with a tinker and defied her father by running away with him.

"Eventually, so the story goes, the tinker abandoned her, leaving her destitute," Richard.

"Although in life she never returned to the family home, in death her spirit returns to wander Plas yn Rhiw as a forlorn white lady whose ghostly sobs have been heard emanating from dark corners of the house in the dark of night."

Both South Stack Lighthouse and Plas yn Rhiw are open to visitors from spring to autumn and on some bank holidays.

Also included in the guide is Bodelwyddan Castle in Denbighshire, which gets a five ghost rating.

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THE SOUTH STACK LIGHTHOUSE


South Stack Lighthouse was first envisaged in 1665 when a petition for a patent to erect the lighthouse was presented to Charles II. The patent was not granted and it was not until 9th February 1809 that the first light appeared to mark the rock. The lighthouse, erected at a cost of £12,000, was designed by Daniel Alexander and originally fitted with Argand oil lamps and reflectors. Around 1840 a railway was installed by means of which a lantern with a subsidiary light could be lowered down the cliff to sea level, when fog obscured the main light.

On Tuesday 25th October 1859 it is said that the most severe storm of the century occurred. It became known as the 'Royal Charter' gale, and on that and the following day over 200 vessels were either driven ashore or totally wrecked with the loss of 800 lives. The steamship ROYAL CHARTER was among these, and she sunk within yards of help with the loss of almost 500 passengers and crew. On that evening Assistant Keeper Jack Jones had been making his way across the iron bridge on to South Stack so that he could join the Principal Keeper Henry Bowen, already on duty. A rock was swept from the cliff by the strong wind, fell and struck Jones on the head. Covered in blood, almost senseless with concussion, he dragged himself up the gale lashed path. Feebly he cried out for help, then, head in hands, he lay unable to move any further. Henry Bowen found him in the same place on the Wednesday morning, groaning and unable to move, his hair matted with blood. Jack Jones died three weeks later of a compound fracture of the skull.

In the mid 1870's the lantern and lighting apparatus was replaced by a new lantern. No records are available of the light source at this time but it was probably a pressurised multiwick oil lamp. In 1909 an early form of incandescent light was installed and in 1927 this was replaced by a more modern form of incandescent mantle burner. The station was electrified in 1938.

On 12th September, 1984, the lighthouse was automated and the keepers withdrawn. The light and fog signal are now remotely controlled and monitored from the Trinity House Operational Control Centre in Harwich, Essex.

You can find additional information at this link - South Stack Lighthouse


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