Plas Teg, Fair Mansion, commands an imposing view over the Wrexham to Mold road, in Flintshire, northwest Wales. As the A541 highway emerges from beneath its canopy of trees, the route swings around and the Jacobean mansion dominates the hillside. The local constabulary really wishes that it didn't. Over 200 calls have been registered, spanning decades, from terrified drivers on that stretch of road. The majority report that they have just hit a woman or swerved off road to avoid her. She is never found. She's one of the ghosts who haunt Plas Teg.
Plas Teg: The History of a House in Flintshire
This is a blood-drenched, war scarred part of Wales. It is the only county which, even historically, bears an English name. A glance at a map will show that Offa's Dyke, the defensive Mercian ditch built to keep the Welsh out, is to the west of Plas Teg. Wat's Dyke, an earlier attempt at the same thing, is just to the east. A Roman road cuts through the north; while the English king, Edward I, left castles and roads here. Placenames recall the settlements of the Romans, Danes, Anglo-Saxons, Normans and English. Flintshire is one of the most contested territories in Wales.
Plas Teg and its owners have long been in the midst of these struggles. The current building, founded in 1610, is on the site of an earlier hall, which dated from at least the 14th or early 15th century. The legends tell of a father smothering two small children in one of the bedrooms. Wives and daughters are alleged to have been killed, maliciously or accidentally, across several generations. At least two men are said to have hanged themselves in the surrounding woods. One head of the household apparently embarked on a suicidal race, in horse and cart, around the house, hurtling finally into a tree and killing the horse. His own lingering death, from his injuries, took months to endure. Then there are the stories of travelling judges presiding over court sessions in the day room. Those found guilty were taken into the room next door and hanged on the spot.
Witchcraft or Freemasonry? The Welsh Legends Around Plas Teg
But the most pervasive tellings concern witchcraft and ghosts. The former is the more surprising, as there do not appear to be many supporting legends. There are marks scratched into the stonework of the fireplace, in the former dining room, now a spacious meeting chamber. On a recent visit, I inspected these. There were pentagrams etched inside, which can be symbolic of witchcraft; but also of Freemasonry. The symbol in plain view on the front is a crude rendering of the Freemason's square and compass. John Lane's Masonic Records 1717 - 1894 tells us that Plas Teg acted as a Masonic Lodge until September 5th, 1838. There is no knowing when the pentagrams were added. It could have been any time between 1610 and last week.
The mansion was built by Catholics and, at one time, was owned by Puritans. Never has there been any suggestion that any of the families at Plas Teg were Pagans. Nevertheless, local people have long since avoided it with whispers of witchcraft. Is there a hint of a more ancient use of the land here lingering in the folk memory?
To the ancient Celts, water was sacred. Histories tell of deities being appeased, or petitioned for blessings, by Celts casting precious items into the springs, lakes and rivers, where a white-robed goddess would receive them. This has lived on in the stories of Arthur, Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake; not to mention people throwing coins into wishing wells. Plus this is Flintshire, home to dozens of holy wells, including the most famous of them all; St. Winifred's Well is up the road. Like many of the sacred wells, it has Pagan origins with a Christian veneer pasted over the top. This is worth bearing in mind when the ghost stories of Plas Teg are examined.
The Paranormal Plas Teg: Ghost Stories and the Woman in White
The theme of wells, valuables, sacrifice and women runs through them. It is said that Dorothy Trevor, daughter to Sir John Trevor I, fell in love with a local farmer's son named Iorwerth. She was only sixteen years old and heiress to a fortune. Forbidden to see him, by her family, she sneaked her jewels out of the house and buried them in a tin box near to a well. On the night that Dorothy and Iorwerth pre-arranged to meet and elope, she crept out and went to retrieve her box. But it was dark and she slipped into the well and drowned. She is believed to be the young woman dashing out into the dual carriageway outside, in a desperate bid to reach Iorwerth waiting on the other side. The road didn't exist in the 1600s.
Or is it Elizabeth Trevor-Roper, another sixteen year old heiress, who died in 1815? Her legend talks of two suitors to her hand. She rejected one man, who promptly killed his rival, then came for her. She rode home to get her jewels, then raced to the well, with the blood-drenched suitor in pursuit. There she lost her footing, fell in and drowned. A Victorian gardener, years later, was sitting on the edge of the well, when he felt fingers on his shoulder pulling him backwards. He struggled free to find the waters dark and empty beneath him. Those are just three of the stories. There are many more.
Plas Teg overlooks the River Alyn, whose name White Aspect refers to the limestone rock into which it occasionally dips to follow a subterranean route. It has been considered a holy river in Wales for centuries, through the powerful twin properties of being both water and going underground. It's also changed its course several times throughout history. The land upon which Plas Teg stands was once a marshy island within it.
Why would Dorothy wear white to escape her house at night? Her ghost is said to be white-robed. Why would Elizabeth rush home to not only collect her jewels, but also leave the safety of house and family back into harm's way at the well? Are they ghosts at all, or folk-memory of an earlier Pagan place and the white-robed goddess of the well?
The ghosts and history are real; the legends live on.
Sources:
- Masonic Records 1717-1894, Lists of the Masonic lodges at home and abroad.
- Plas Teg, Magnificent 17th Century Jacobean Mansion.
- St Winifred's Well, Castles of Wales website.
Jo Harrington - Jo has a BA (Hons) in History and Philosophy and a MA in History. She has a book published on the history of Wicca.
Join the Conversation