Haunted Hills of Monmouthshire: White Ladies & Death Omens

Did a ghost haunt the grounds of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant? Why was a man in a top hat seen walking a Monmouthshire hillside? Can a thorn bush really be haunted? And who was the Woman in White said to appear near Penallt?

In this episode of the Ghosts and Folklore of Wales podcast, I return to Monmouthshire to revisit accounts collected in the 1960s by archaeologist Stephen Clarke in his book Ghosts of Monmouth (check out the first episode here!)

These are not polished ghost stories, but newspaper accounts, local recollections and odd reports gathered from across the county – from pleasure grounds above Monmouth where a top-hatted figure appears as a possible death omen, to Penallt, where a Woman in White is said to retrace the story of her own death in a vanished millpond.

We also encounter one of the more unusual entries in the archive: a hillside thorn bush linked to a tragic story, where walkers reportedly heard the sound of a crying baby coming from the branches.

Alongside these are further fragments from rural Monmouthshire in the early 20th century – apparitions, death omens, strange sightings in daylight, and personal accounts passed down through one family and recorded decades later.

There’s no neat explanation tying them together. Just a series of unsettling reports from a county where people kept noticing things they couldn’t quite account for.

Tune in now… if you dare. 👻

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