Powys Castle
PERCHED atop its terraced gardens like the decoration on a layer cake, Powis Castle has surveyed the the sweeping vista of the Severn valley at Welshpool since the 13th century. But as the sun goes down and the days darken the red stone walls hold secrets, memories and even a ghost or two.
The historic fortress now owned by the National Trust is a labyrinth of chambers, corridors and passageways, many rooms are not open to the public but one room remains lost and shrouded in mystery.
The room was the location of a hidden box with the contents so treasured by the then Earl of Powis that he provided a singular reward to the woman who found it. The year was 1780 when an elderly seamstress arrived at the castle looking for work. The Earl and his family were away in London but the steward and his wife willingly agreed to find her work to do. But there was so much involved that she had not finished by the end of the day so she was offered to stay the night and complete the jobs the next day.
However the staff were not above a bit of mischief. Knowing that the woman was a devoted Methodist they decided to test her faith and showed the seamstress to a room already reputed to be haunted. The room was rather grand but she settled down with her little Welsh Bible for comfort in the candlelight. All went well until the door of her room slowly opened and an opulently dressed man with a gold laced hat and a waistcoat entered. He walked over to the window and leant on the sill as if in thought but said nothing. After a while the man walked back and went out of the room closing the door behind him.
The seamstress guessed that she was seeing a ghost and recalled how the servants had acted as they took her to the room but she was too afraid to speak. The visit was repeated a little later and again no words were exchanged between the woman and the strange visitor. A little while later the spectre made a third appearance and this time the seamstress summoned enough courage to ask him who he was and what he wanted. And the spirit instructed her to take her candle and to follow him and he would tell her everything.
Bravely she followed until they reached a small room where the ghost started to pull up a floorboard, uncovering a locked casket hidden beneath. The ghost also showed her an alcove where the key to the box had also been hidden. He then instructed her to have the casket and the key sent to the Earl’s address in London and promised that if this was done he would never return. The instruction was complied with and the Earl told of the circumstances of the finding. No one knows what the box contained but the Earl and his family were so delighted they rewarded the seamstress and saw that she was looked after comfortably for the rest of her life.
And the ghost was also good to his word and has never been seen roaming the castle since. Not that the castle is entirely ghost less because there are also reports of hauntings by a woman in white seen in another of the bedrooms. An unidentified man has also been seen many time in one of the ground floor rooms and a horseman has been seen in the castle grounds. The castle looks so peaceful in the daylight and even though otherworldly things may lurk in the shadows none of the castle’s spectres appear to be malevolent.