Bedwellty, Caerphilly, Wales

St. Sannan's Church, Bedwellty

St. Sannan's Church

A mysterious and shadowy figure has been witnessed in the churchyard of this beautiful church (pictured above). It has allegedly been photographed, but our attempts at obtaining a copy of the picture have been unsuccessful.

The 'Watch-Night'

In the 1700’s it was common for the family of a deceased person to be comforted by friends and family during the hours of darkness. These were called “Watch-Nights”. Some less-caring people used them as an excuse to drink. One such occasion occurred after the death of Meredith Thomas’ child.

 

Whilst two of the watchers were becoming rowdy after too much drink, an unearthly groaning from outside the house startled them. This made them calm down a little. When the two troublemakers picked up playing cards, the groaning resumed. They notices that the dogs began to act in a strange manner, as if in a state of fright. This convinced them that the supernatural world might have come just a little to close for their liking, and never again misbehaved at such a ‘watch-night’.

What the Flock...?

In July 1760, some people had a strange encounter that could have only happened in Wales - with a phantom flock of sheep! The sighting occurred in a place called Cefen Rhychdir Ucha. The witnesses saw them again half an hour before sunset, but this time not all of those present saw sheep. Others reported that there were ghostly pigs, greyhounds and even naked infants. The author Edmund Jones stated that the whole experience was a result of the work of the Fairies.

Location

Visitor Information

Bedwellty was a parish and urban district in Monmouthshire, South Wales, until 1974.

It now sits in the Caerphilly County Borough and now corresponds to the communities of Aberbargoed, Argoed, Bargoed, Blackwood, Cefn Fforest, New Tredegar, and part of the community of Darran Valley.

Pictured is St. Sannan's Church in Bedwellty courtesy of Robin Drayton. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.