The Ghost Of Gladstone Villa

[Andrew Dexter]

My family and I lived at a property called Gladstone villa in the former mining town of Bargoed which is in the Caerphilly county borough of the South Wales valleys.

From 1969 to 1978 we experienced activity that defied rational explanation such as very mild poltergeist activity like lights going off and on and the television, we also witnessed electrical cables being pulled by unseen forces and my grandfather Bill once claimed to have had a glass bottle thrown towards him, ....missing him by inches as he entered the bedroom !!

There was also the occasional sighting but this was very rare indeed, so rare in fact that in all the years we were there I never actually saw it, but my mother Caroline saw it on at least two occasions.

One night she told us she saw the full solid figure of a monk standing close to the doorway, she later described as a monk with typical brown habit complete with hood over the head, so she didn't see the face !!

We heard footsteps in the main bedroom which would occur every evening, sometimes during the day when we'd all be downstairs watching television, one of us would turn the volume down to hear it more clearly as it walked slowly above us and my grandfather Bill would point to the ceiling just to try and make it where the noise was coming from.

For nine years solid, my family, our friends and I heard things that left us in no doubt that Gladstone villa was indeed haunted, in fact, this property actually convinced a skeptic and a non believer so this place is well worth looking into and really does need to be documented !

We lived relatively normal lives as the activity wasn't going on all the time so it wasn't quite as dramatic or spectacular as what you might see in films that are said to be based on true events.

What I have said here is true, and I wouldn't share this if I couldn't possibly back it up or if it couldn't be verified by a thorough research, which is what I did many years later after leaving Gladstone villa in the Summer of 1978, the place has quite a history.

I challenge any hardened skeptic and firm non believers to stay at the property and I can assure them that that will indeed question their beliefs, of that I have no doubt what so ever !! as a matter of fact, I'm quite certain, 100% positive. For a much more detailed account of what we experienced there you can find it by searching : '' THE GHOST OF GLADSTONE VILLA''. A genuine case that really did happen to me, our family and our friends, I am very sincere in what I say. Thank you.

 

[CuriousIdent]

Hi Andrew Dexter.

Not terribly familiar with that part of Wales. Much of my geographical knowledge is of the North of Wales and small bits of Swansea and The Gower.

I've done a very quick search, and while I can find references to posts you have made online relaying your experiences what I have been unable to do is pin down a property named 'Gladstone Villa' in Bargoed or Carephilly.

Is it possible that the building has changed its name? Or do you have a rough street address for it? Something we could used to track it down.

 

[catseye]

It's over at Reddit on the #NoSleep forum which I always understood to be for fiction...

 

[CuriousIdent]

It's over at Reddit on the #NoSleep forum which I always understood to be for fiction...

Aye. Link below:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/6zec0h/johnny_the_ghost_of_gladstone_villa/

 

[Andrew Dexter]

Hi Andrew Dexter.

Not terribly familiar with that part of Wales. Much of my geographical knowledge is of the North of Wales and small bits of Swansea and The Gower.

I've done a very quick search, and while I can find references to posts you have made online relaying your experiences what I have been unable to do is pin down a property named 'Gladstone Villa' in Bargoed or Carephilly.

Is it possible that the building has changed its name? Or do you have a rough street address for it? Something we could used to track it down.

First of all, thank you so very much indeed for your very welcome reply, I'm really delighted. Right, yes, I'm sorry, please forgive me. My story was rather brief here. but you can actually find it on youtube by searching,: '' THE GHOST OF GLADSTONE VILLA''. Yes, the place did change name when two local business men by the name of John and Aldo Ricci bought the Gladstone villa property and it was converted into a small hotel, its name became ''Reds parc hotel'' The staff there also spoke of their own personal experiences, Redz closed down in 2014 and is now owned by Gethin Mills. I sincerely hope that helps, best wishes.

 

[Andrew Dexter]

Hi Andrew Dexter.

Not terribly familiar with that part of Wales. Much of my geographical knowledge is of the North of Wales and small bits of Swansea and The Gower.

I've done a very quick search, and while I can find references to posts you have made online relaying your experiences what I have been unable to do is pin down a property named 'Gladstone Villa' in Bargoed or Carephilly.

Is it possible that the building has changed its name? Or do you have a rough street address for it? Something we could used to track it down.

The location of that property is Cardiff road, Bargoed. Caerphilly , South Wales.

 

[CuriousIdent]

The location of that property is Cardiff road, Bargoed. Caerphilly , South Wales.

Thanks, Andrew.

For those interested, it's located here:

Google Maps link shortened for conciseness

That's a pretty imposing building! Not to be trite about it but it certainly has something of a Bates Motel vibe to it... It looks the part.

And what a terribly tawdry thing that "Red'z" rebranding looks to have been, Andrew. At least It's done now, I suppose. Have you any idea how long the building has been there? Clearly a very different era to the rest of the area...

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

That house looks as creepy as the Amityville house...

Andrew, did you ever look into the history of the area? Was there, say, any medieval monastic order in the area? Anything that could account for it being specifically a monk, in that particular place? Or a church with a hermitage attached? A few monasteries/abbeys disappeared with hardly a trace. Sorry if this is an ignorant question - I know nothing about the history of monks in Wales!

ETA: Read your Reddit now - I can see you did research into it! If you know the order, you can see if it's likely they wore brown although lay brothers often did wear brown, whatever the order, I think..?

 

[Andrew Dexter]

Thanks, Andrew.

For those interested, it's located here:

Google Maps link shortened for conciseness

View attachment 10590

That's a pretty imposing building! Not to be trite about it but it certainly has something of a Bates Motel vibe to it... It looks the part.

And what a terribly tawdry thing that "Red'z" rebranding looks to have been, Andrew. At least It's done now, I suppose. Have you any idea how long the building has been there? Clearly a very different era to the rest of the area...

This is indeed the very place, as you can see, Redz closed down in 2014. Gethin Mills has it now but won't allow any paranormal team to investigate. This Cardiff rad area of Bargoed , Wales is reasonably well rumoured to be haunted. This place has since been modernized yet again, looks really posh. I can see what you mean by ''Bates Motel'' LOL. The ironic thing is, my family an I watched ''Psycho'' on the BBC in there LOL . Even recently there were reports of female staff saying it was haunted, they didn't like going down the cellar alone. Mr McBurney heard noises there at night and naturally thought someone was trying to break in, but when he looked around there was nobody there.

 

[Andrew Dexter]

Thanks, Andrew.

For those interested, it's located here:

Google Maps link shortened for conciseness

View attachment 10590

That's a pretty imposing building! Not to be trite about it but it certainly has something of a Bates Motel vibe to it... It looks the part.

And what a terribly tawdry thing that "Red'z" rebranding looks to have been, Andrew. At least It's done now, I suppose. Have you any idea how long the building has been there? Clearly a very different era to the rest of the area...

PS, to answer your question to how long it's been there, I did indeed check, it was there during the 1900's, I also checked the map of Bargoed of 1900's and it was there then, I also found out of the previous people there which is readily available elswhere, in 1924, the Kimmiett family were there, they were newly married in 1924, by 1924 they had a son by the name of Elvin Kimmiett, sadly he died at Gladstone villa, he was just for months, I found that out from the Western mail archives of that year in Bargoed library. A large family also lived there by the name of Jones during the first world war, Henry Jones son was taken prisoner, all this information is on facebook if you type in Gladstone villa, Bargoed, you will see how the Gladstone villa property looked long before it was Redz parc hotel, please check all this out, it's a black and white photo. Thank you.

 

[Andrew Dexter]

That house looks as creepy as the Amityville house...

Andrew, did you ever look into the history of the area? Was there, say, any medieval monastic order in the area? Anything that could account for it being specifically a monk, in that particular place? Or a church with a hermitage attached? A few monasteries/abbeys disappeared with hardly a trace. Sorry if this is an ignorant question - I know nothing about the history of monks in Wales!

ETA: Read your Reddit now - I can see you did research into it! If you know the order, you can see if it's likely they wore brown although lay brothers often did wear brown, whatever the order, I think..?

Thank you for your welcome question, yes, as I say, I did indeed do a thorough research into the property and that part of the Bargoed area. Directly opposite the former Gladstone villa property is a public house called '' THE RAFA CLUB'' One of the oldest buildings in the town of Bargoed, dating back to the 16th century, a priest hide is said to be there but it's sealed up , so the owner Rob Powell told me. A paranormal investigation is to take place there soon as it seems Rob has agreed to it, and it will be on youtube, check it out ''The Rafa club'' Bargoed, it was on ITV Wales news as having the best beer in Bargoed. You will also find out more about this on the ''Bargoed town council site'' Also in Baldwin street, very close the the Gladsone villa and Rafa club properties was a monastery , some of the remains are said to still be there, so this explains the monk my mother saw. Sincere best wishes, I will indeed be most delighted if you looked up all this and told me what you think, Thank you.

 

[CuriousIdent]

This is indeed the very place, as you can see, Redz closed down in 2014. Gethin Mills has it now but won't allow any paranormal team to investigate.

Hi Andrew,

Well, that's a bit of a shame, but you have to respect their wishes. Its natural for a new owner to be reluctant to hold some kind of publicly known about investigation, especially if they intend to continue to use it as a hotel.

I mean, sure, you can sell such a place to Paranormal enthusiasts, but most peoplwe probably would see it as potentially negative publicity.

This Cardiff rad area of Bargoed , Wales is reasonably well rumoured to be haunted. This place has since been modernized yet again, looks really posh.

Well, it is an impressive period building. It would be a shame not to do something with it.

I can see what you mean by ''Bates Motel'' LOL. The ironic thing is, my family an I watched ''Psycho'' on the BBC in there LOL .

Ha! Ironic indeed.

Even recently there were reports of female staff saying it was haunted, they didn't like going down the cellar alone. Mr McBurney heard noises there at night and naturally thought someone was trying to break in, but when he looked around there was nobody there.

Any more recent sightings of the Monk, Andrew? I saw on your Reddit post that there had been a monastery relatively nearby. That interests me. I was wondering if there had ever been any evidence to support a direct route between the monastery and the House? Either the line of the modern day road or something long since gone.

 

[Ghost In The Machine]

Thanks, Andrew.

For those interested, it's located here:

Google Maps link shortened for conciseness

View attachment 10590

That's a pretty imposing building! Not to be trite about it but it certainly has something of a Bates Motel vibe to it... It looks the part.

And what a terribly tawdry thing that "Red'z" rebranding looks to have been, Andrew. At least It's done now, I suppose. Have you any idea how long the building has been there? Clearly a very different era to the rest of the area...

If Gladstone Villas was its original name, apparently Gladstone died 1898... And just looking at it, I'd have put the original part at late 19thC/early 20th...

 

[David Plankton]

Any photos of it 'back in the day'?

 

[Andrew Dexter]

Any photos of it 'back in the day'?

Yes, absolutely. You need to go on facebook though and type in ''Gladstone villa, Bargoed' and you'll come to a page called ''Bargoed past and present and you will see an old black and white picture of Gladstone villa and how it looked when my family and I lived there, that is my photo , before that eyesore of an extension was added in the 1990's when it was Redz Parc hotel. You may also find a that photo elsewhere if you just type in ''Gladstone villa, Bargoed''. Thank you, tell me of you find it !

 

[CuriousIdent]

PS, to answer your question to how long it's been there, I did indeed check, it was there during the 1900's, I also checked the map of Bargoed of 1900's and it was there then.

My hunch would be about a century earlier. But I'm no expert, by any means.

I also found out of the previous people there which is readily available elswhere, in 1924, the Kimmiett family were there, they were newly married in 1924, by 1924 they had a son by the name of Elvin Kimmiett, sadly he died at Gladstone villa, he was just for months, I found that out from the Western mail archives of that year in Bargoed library.

Which *could* plausibly tie up with that phantom sound of a baby crying in the house. That's a little unnerving a thought, isn't it? But you never know.

A large family also lived there by the name of Jones during the first world war, Henry Jones son was taken prisoner, all this information is on facebook if you type in Gladstone villa, Bargoed, you will see how the Gladstone villa property looked long before it was Redz parc hotel, please check all this out, it's a black and white photo. Thank you.

Would this be the one?

Where did the image come from? It would be interesting to try and tie down a date for it.

 

[Andrew Dexter]

My hunch would be about a century earlier. But I'm no expert, by any means.





Which *could* plausibly tie up with that phantom sound of a baby crying in the house. That's a little unnerving a thought, isn't it? But you never know.





Would this be the one?

View attachment 10601

Where did the image come from? It would be interesting to try and tie down a date for it.

I see you found the photo of Gladstone villa, long before it as converted to Redz Parc hotel. I didn't take this photo but this is how it looked when I lived here, this is possibly the 1960's.