The Ghosts of Cardiff

Cardiff has experienced its fair share of history over the years. This brings an air of mystery, rumoured myths and legends. So is our city really haunted? Joanne Grew discovers the spooky ghosts and ghouls, which haunt our Welsh capital.

David Thompson, 42, has run the Creepy Cardiff ghost tour around the Cathays Park area for six years. He lives in Creigiau, Cardiff and says people are usually amused by his stories.

“I wouldn’t say I scare them, I inform and entertain.”

David decided to start up the Cardiff ghost tour after realising many people knew little of the city’s history.

The National Museum of Wales
The first story on the Creepy Cardiff tour is the tale of Dunbar Smith. He was the architect for the National Museum of Wales. “He committed suicide and is said to walk the corridors,” David said.

Cardiff Castle
A favourite story of David’s involves Cardiff Castle. Its most famous ghost is the Second Marquess of Bute. Visitors to the castle claim to have seen his ghost walk through the fireplace in the library. He leaves the room by entering a thick wall into a corridor and then into the chapel, which is the room he died in.David said; “He died in 1848 and after years of trying, he and his wife managed to have a son – they always had daughters. They were really excited and this meant they could pass on their wealth so had a banquet to celebrate. Midway through the banquet, the marquis had a pain in his chest. He then had a massive heart attack and died.”

Museum Avenue, Cathays
Another story involves the ghost of a dog and some former public toilets in Museum Avenue, Cathays. In the 1950s the dog and his owner, a professor from Cardiff University, would walk past the toilets everyday on their way to the city centre to buy a newspaper. After the professor died, his wife often put a penny in the dog’s collar and sent him to fetch a newspaper. Then one day, the dog never returned.

“It just happened to be the same day as work was being done on the public toilets. They were closing a big iron door for the very last time. Some people say on a quiet night, you can hear a dog scratching away, trying to get out,” David said.

St Fagans
The open air museum of Welsh life has a reputation for being the most haunted museum in Wales. Colin Murphy, 48, the museum’s assistant, has worked at St Fagans for 23 years. He claims to have seen a ghost of a man standing in a ring of petrified trees in the grounds in 1988. It was on a moonlit night in the early hours, while Colin was on a security night shift.

Two of Colin’s colleagues claim to have heard another ghost. “They were in the hall and could hear a lady’s voice singing. They were sure it came from the locked piano room. It used to be the sleeping quarters for the maids and kitchen workers. They turned the key and opened the door and the singing stopped,” Colin said.
“It turns out in the 19th century there was a maid called Polly who was renowned for singing, so we think it could have been her,” He added.

Cardiff Market
Cardiff Market was originally a county jail, which saw many hangings. Dic Penderyn, from Merthyr Tydfil was wrongly accused of murder and was hanged there in 1831. It is claimed he can be heard shouting, "I'm innocent."

Steven Jenkins, 28, worked on a butcher stall at the market when he was 16. He claims to have heard his ghost..“It was quite faint and in Welsh. I wasn’t really scared, I’d say I was more gob smacked than anything, I didn’t really believe in ghosts before,” He said.
So next time you decide to venture around Cardiff on a dark night beware, because you never know what could be lurking…