Local BBC Sites

Page last updated at 14:28 GMT, Monday, 13 July 2009 15:28 UK
The legend of Nora the Nun

The story of 'Nora the Nun', ghostly faces caught on camera, creepy sounds and a ruined castle all help to make Wepre Woods a legendary place...

Ghostly faces at Wepre Park
Ghostly faces (bottom right) caught on camera at Wepre woods, Connah's Quay

Paranormal investigator Andrea German offers her theory about Wepre Park's spooky legend, asking whether so-called Nora the Nun could be Gwenllian, the last Princess of Wales.

My husband took a photo [above] on the bridge in front of the waterfall in Wepre woods. When he got home and took a closer look at it, in a tree to the side of the waterfall were lots of impish faces looking at him. Strange but true!

Bev Smith, Connah's Quay

Online encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org explains much about the life of Gwenllian, the only child of the last Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, who built Ewloe Castle - the ruins of which lie in Wepre Park.

After the death of her mother, Eleanor de Montfort, in childbirth and the execution of her father, Gwenllian was at the mercy of the English king, Edward I, who confined her to a priory in Lincolnshire for her entire life to keep her out of the spotlight.

For Gwenllian was descended from two Royal bloodlines; the daughter of the Prince of Wales, and her maternal great-grandfather was King John of England, therefore, possibly making her a symbol for rebellion in Wales and any off-spring potential Welsh rulers.

Says Andrea: "I've studied the legend of Nora the Nun over some time now and it has taken me back to the 13th Century. Gwenllian was made to live her life as a nun so there were no heirs to the Welsh rule and no threat to Edward I.

Ewloe Castle
Ewloe Castle - atmospheric ruins

"So, is Nora the Nun actually Gwenllian the nun trying to track her late father, Prince Llywelyn, at Ewloe Castle? After all, there's no evidence of a convent in Wepre.

"Gwenllian was made to be a nun. She would be possibly wearing the attire of a 13th century nun, but not the black and white we're used to.

"Spirits tend to visit places they are linked to. They don't really have to have been born or died there. Just to have emotional links is enough. She never truly met her father, so is she still trying to find his spirit?

"I rubbish the thoughts of twisted tales of a nun holding a bloodied baby on the 'red rock' at Wepre. The stories tend to get added onto with time. But I do believe that there is a nun."

Your sightings of Nora the Nun

Hugh Williams, Connah's Quay: "I can remember seeing Nora the nun in the late 80s. In the summer months I had gone fishing to the Rosie. This was when there was no path around the pond. It was 3 O'clock in the morning and it was heavily wooded. I had set up my fishing gear and was waiting for daylight when my dog started growling. It was a clear moonlit night when I saw this ghostly figure floating across the pond from left to right going around the island across the rest of the water through the bushes and into one of the cottages that back onto the pond from Wepre Lane."

Stephanie, Queensferry: "I've seen Nora the Nun. She was on the top of the waterfall and when I went there she was on the bottom of the waterfall."

Beverly: "Ten years ago me and my partner went for a late evening walk in Wepre woods. As we approached the waterfall we heard a humming sound and when we looked around there was nobody there. Following the humming we looked up and saw a womanly ghost figure walking across the top of the waterfall. As me and my partner walked away my partner felt cold hands on his shoulder and the humming became louder. Looking up at the waterfall the shadowy figure had gone!"

Chris, Deeside: "I was walking through the woods past the waterfall one day with a few friends - we were no older than 11 - when I saw a nun stood on top of the waterfall. Not knowing what to say I just pointed. My friends didn't see what I saw and just carried on walking. That night when we got back to my friend's house, his mother told me about Nora the Nun. I had no knowledge of Nora yet I saw a woman of the convent on top of that waterfall."

Hazel Kerr: "My grandmother used to work at Wepre Hall and spoke to my mum about Nora. The story I was told was that Nora was put behind a wall alive for a misdeed, now whether that was true or not I don't know. My gran worked at the hall after the death of her husband in the early 1900s. If any one else has any reference to this story maybe they could enlighten me."

Americas Africa Europe Middle East South Asia Asia Pacific