Carchar Rhuthun - Ruthin Gaol

The old gaol of Rhuthun may not be officially a gaol any more, but it still has inmates.

It was built on the site of a sacred oak grove, perhaps deliberately, and consequently is extremely haunted. This mostly takes the form of sounds. Slamming doors, temperature changes and uncommon darkness in the shadowy places of this vortex of misery.

A particularly malicious phantom is that of William Kerr/ Keer, one of the earliest jailers. He was prone to cruelty and torture of the bodies of his charges but also of their souls. He would deprive inmates of food, and then visitation, telling relatives that the inmates had died. The building became a black hole into which prisoners simply vanished.

He was prone to whistling, and would taunt the inmates with lullabies and love songs that reminded them of their homes and families as he padded the corridors.

One evening, he set out on his rounds and the weeping and cursing began as he passed, but then it subsided. As his footsteps faded into the darkness, so did William. No trace of him was ever found.

On occasion, the laughter of a little girl can be heard. This is a wood spirit from long before the construction of the gaol. Her most famous appearance was in 1879. John Jones, (also known as Coch Bach y Bala), was imprisoned for stealing watches. On his first night he was distraught, and as he wept, the spirit appeared in his cell, curious about his circumstances. When he explained his lack of freedom, she simply opened the cell door. The baffled Coch Bach strolled out of the front of the jail, finding, to his further surprise, that all his captors were asleep.