Carew Castle

Nest, a 12th century princess, haunts the ruins of this castle, usually appearing in daylight or during a full moon and is described as "a white lady". She was married off to Gerald de Windsor but she was unhappy and found comfort in the arms of her servant and friend Branwen. Their life was not happy however as her cousin Owain laid seige to the castle and she was taken hostage, where she bore him two children. Branwen killed Owain and rescued Nest, and she would eventually remarry when her loved one died. Two more phantoms inhabit this castle; Sir Roland Rhys lived here in the 17th century, and, apart from treating people terribly, he had a pet barbary ape which he used to set upon poor unfortunates. One evening, the castle was set upon fire, and both Rhys and his ape died. Another version says that the father of a man with whom Roland's daughter had eloped narrowly escaped having his throat being ripped out by the ape. The man, named Horowitz, put a curse on Roland - and that night, he was found dead, his throat ripped open. Some say that the ape lay dead next to him; others that the animal was absent. Both master and pet have returned to the castle as ghosts, with "terrible sounds" echoing from the shell of the building and the ape seen ascending to the battlements "on dark stormy nights."

Update 26/8/20: Christian Donovan, the Discovery Guide and Ghost Tour guide informs me, "We have, as I know you are aware, a number of ghosts who have been well-documented over the centuries - Princess Nest (the White Lady), the Barbary Ape, the Celtic Warrior. From time to time, current visitors do tell us of spirits they have witnessed and strange 'events'. I have incorporated several of these into our regular Ghost Walks and Tours. One report was given by a medium, who claimed to have sensed the spirits of two huge Irish Wolfhounds in the room called the Ladies Solar. Centuries ago Irish Wolfhounds were popular among the nobility and, indeed, apparently only the nobility were allowed to own them. We were particularly interested in this because we have in the past had reports of pet dogs whimpering in this room, and of a baby suddenly crying and not being able to be pacified until removed from the room. In the Lesser Hall we have had diverse reports over the years of a poltergeist - it manifests itself by a cold fierce wind which blows from the stage end of the hall. We were told that this spirit does not like people staring at the stage. About three years ago a visitor came to the Castle in bad weather and was alone in the Hall. She decided to take a photo of the tableau on the stage and, as she was preparing to do so, her camera suddenly gave the face-recognition bleep. A different visitor reported that this poltergeist is the spirit of a young nobleman who was lynched at the Castle by relatives of a servant girl he had abused. In and near the small kitchen in the East Range of the Castle, several visitors have told us about the ghost of a kitchen boy. One claimed his name was Jack. He is a mischievous ghost, and will pull hair/tweak coat hems etc. One report claimed that 'Jack' was beaten to death for stealing."

Link: Western Telegraph

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