CHRISTINE MILLER takes a look back at Most Haunted: Llancaiach Fawr Manor
Episode Title: Llancaiach Fawr Manor
Location: Nelson, Caerphilly, Wales
Series: 2 Episode Number: 21
Originally broadcast: 2003
Medium: Derek Acorah
Parapsychologist: Phil Whyman, Dr. Matthew Smith & Dr. Ciaran O’Keeffe
Llancaiach Fawr Manor Most Haunted Review
Today the Most Haunted team go back to the 1600s where they visit Llancalach Fawr Manor, in Wales.
The building boasts a plethora of reported paranormal activity, as well as historical royal connections, with King Charles I having been a frequent visitor.
Some of the reported activity is includes: a ghost from the original household has be seen preparing food for long-dead guests, and phantom footsteps above the kitchen have been so strong that plaster has actually fallen from the ceiling.
As well as this, a large, ghostly, shadowy figure of a man has been seen on numerous occasions staring blankly out of a window within the property, and another male ghost, that said to be of a soldier has been alleged to burst through the doors of the Master bedroom within the manor, only to disappear into thin air.
Within the Birthing Room bedroom many have reported seeing the cot rock of its own volition, and so before any investigation starts Phil Whyman decides to set up a fingerprint experiment, where he places talc on and around the cot to see if he can uncover any potentially ghostly prints post-investigation.
With resident medium Derek Acorah having arrived the investigation can begin. Derek soon picks up on the spirit of a governess called Martha, whose charges were the two young sons of the Pritchard family, the owners of the manor. He explains that both little boys still attach themselves to their governess in the afterlife.
However, subsequently in the voiceover, Yvette explains that it is believed both Martha and the Prichard family were not connected to the house during the same era.
Further on, Derek explains that the spirit of a Colonel Edward Pritchard often frequents the manor, and is pleased when his spirit is witnessed by staff and visitors to his old stomping ground. Ann, Jane, Elizabeth and Tom are subsequent names Derek picks up on, claiming that they are also long-demised members of the Pritchard family who still frequent the beautiful manor.
As the investigation continues, Derek mentions that a woman and a child are the two responsible for the mysterious rocking of the cot in the Master bedroom. Will Phil’s fingerprint experiment prove fruitful? We will find out by the end of the episode.
Derek senses the spirit of none other than King Charles, who periodically visits from the afterlife, having had ties to the building when he was living. He would visit in the hopes to maintain Coronel’s Pritchard’s support, with his first visit occurring in 1645.
Next the crew begin their nighttime investigation, and with the light’s out, the atmosphere changes and Derek becomes aware of a ‘not so kindred spirit’. He picks up on the name of Richard Lewis, and claims he was guilty of harming a young girl named Sarah around the age of 12, in some way.
Looking through the archives, it becomes clear that there was a William Lewis, not Richard, who was accused of abducting Coronel Prtichard’s 11 year old daughter and coercing her into marriage. However, Pritchard’s daughter’s name was not Sarah.
The anger over this abduction still runs deep throughout Llancalach Fawr Manor, according to Derek.
Moving further throughout the Llancaiach Fawr building to Martha’s room, the crew all hear what appears to be the noise of a small child running unseen, which clearly unsettles the crew.
Derek picks up on the spirit of a valet, who appears to be the only one to know how the governess Martha passed away – she was deliberately poisoned by another male associated with the building. Her murderer had only one leg with the other being replaced with a wooden stump, something which Derek says may indeed account for the earlier strange running noise which was attributed to a child spirit.
Not long after this, Karl feels something touching his hand and claims to have seen a shadow, unfortunately however this activity was witnessed solely by him, and without camera footage.
Later on in the investigation, Yvette and Phil decide to go it alone and do some investigating of their own throughout the manor. Starting in the kitchen, where Martha is supposed to be seen, they both sit in the corner and call out to see if she, or anyone else, will give them a sign. So far, their calls illicit no response, however when Phil asks if Martha can show herself as a light form, an orb-like illumination appears to flicker past the camera, right on cue.
Next, they move to the upstairs part of Llancaiach Fawr and into Martha’s bedroom. This is the room where previously Karl had seen a shadow and had felt something touch his hand, and not long after, the entire crew had heard footsteps. Again, Yvette and Phil sit and ask out for any spirits to make contact. Phil tells Yvette, ‘if we hear something, don’t go berserk’.
Phil becomes cold at the same time an orb is seen moving past the bed on camera, and a side table begins to creak, much to Yvette’s disconcertion. After bravely completing an hour alone, the pair decide to get the rest of the crew and split into groups to cover more of the building.
Yvette, Rick and Craig (both resident cameramen) decide to go to the Servant’s Hall on the ground floor. Asking out, they unfortunately receive no response. While talking amongst themselves however, they hear what Yvette believes was one of the logs in the fire spitting, nevertheless Craig states that he believes the noise emanated from upstairs.
The second group upstairs attempt the same thing – and feel nothing but ‘calm’. Richard firmly believes there is a spirit present within the room with the group, and when he says this, the room becomes cold. An orb moves around Richard as he asks aloud for contact with the unseen entity.
Yvette’s group begin to move out of the Servant’s Hall when they hear a series a loud thuds. Yvette radios the other team to ask if it was them, and if not, did they at least hear it? Phil states to her that they heard nothing and the noises most definitely were nothing to do with their group.
Both groups decide to search the house, but they find no explanation for the three loud bangs that Yvette, Craig and Rick (and consequently the home audience) all most clearly heard.
Sadly, all other investigations throughout the night brought up no evidence, and Phil’s fingerprint experiment with the cot that is said to move due to unseen ghostly hands, was not touched.
And with that, another episode of Most Haunted draws to a close.
Tell us what you thought of this Most Haunted episode at Llancaiach Fawr in the comments section below.
