Very little is known about the history of Elwy Bank, it was formally a farmers Bank and is situated on High Street, St. Asaph, it was built in 1760. The house is famous for its painted murals which cover all four walls of a room believed to have been painted around 1835 depicting Lord Nelson the Duke and Duchess of Kent and Queen Victoria's parents to name but a few.

St. Asaph (Welsh: Llanelwy) is a town in Denbighshire, North Wales on the River Elwy. It has a population of 3,491 (Census 2001).
The town of St. Asaph is surrounded by beautiful countryside and views of the Vale of Clwyd. It is situated close to a number of busy coastal towns such as Rhyl, Prestatyn, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno. The historic castles of Denbigh and Rhuddlan are also nearby.
The town is believed to have developed around a 6th-century Celtic monastery founded by Saint Kentigern, and is now home to the small 14th-century St. Asaph Cathedral, the smallest in Britain. This is dedicated to Saint Asaph, its second bishop. In the 13th century, the church which stood on the site of the current cathedral was completely destroyed by Edward I of England and his troops as they conquered Wales.
As the seat of an ancient cathedral and diocese, St. Asaph historically had city status. The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica refers to it as a city, but it is no longer considered as such.
St. Asaph applied for restoration of city status in the 2000 and 2002 competitions, but was passed over, in favour of Newport.
Every year the town hosts the North Wales International Music Festival, which takes place at numerous venues in the town and attracts musicians and music lovers from all over the UK. In past years, the main event in September at the cathedral has been covered on television by the BBC.
Other events held annually in the town include the Gala Day in August, the Beat the Bounds charity run in July and the increasingly popular Woodfest Wales crafts festival in June.
Despite the official lack of city status, the town is promoted locally as the 'City of Music'. The local community is passionate about St. Asaph's historic claim to be known as a city like its Welsh cousin St David's, and this has led to a number of local businesses using 'City' as part of their business name.
The past few decades has seen the local economy in St. Asaph thrive, first with the opening of the A55 road which cuts through the town and more recently with a business park being built, attracting investment from at home and overseas.
The crowded roads in St. Asaph have been a hot political issue for many years, with residents of the town repeatedly calling for a bypass road to ease the congestion. The National Assembly for Wales’s government rejected these calls in 2004, presenting a further setback for residents campaigning on the issue.
A number of famous people have strong links to St. Asaph, having been born, raised, lived, worked or died in the town. These include Canadian actor Richard Ian Cox, William Morgan who translated the Bible into Welsh in 1588, the first archbishop of Wales Alfred George Edwards, former Wales football captain Ian Rush, the journalist Henry Morton Stanley who famously said "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?", Dic Aberdaron, who taught himself Latin at the age of 11 and Felicia Hemans (September 25, 1793 - 1835), poet ("The boy stood on the burning deck").

Thrill seekers looking for haunted houses with actual historical accounts of spooky activity within need look no further than North Wales. Denbighshire in the heart of the North Wales countryside lies un-spoilt and largely undiscovered. Country houses and tiny villages are a haven for lovers of ghostly tales. Down the ages, many bizarre characters have produced an abundance of myths and legends. There are well over five hundred haunted sites in North Wales and of those which have been passed down through the ages by word of mouth, surviving centuries in the telling and forming a large and fascinating part of our heritage.

Superstitions have been a part of our everyday life since the dawn of time, and although they've undergone many changes they remain with us today.  North Wales is steeped in a rich history of Myth, folklore, legend and there are many haunted homes with a paranormal past. From one end of the country to the other, there are lots of haunted places to explore. People want to believe, not only would proof positive give them a confirmation of life after death, but would cement those who have a deep faith in the power of the soul. None of us want to believe that this is all there is. With so many ghostly sightings reported one can hardly discount the existence of ghosts and spirits.
For a family or individual who is living with a haunting the stress and psychological effects of coping with the unknown can be devastating. Whether the perceived phenomena is natural in your opinion or something supernatural the fear felt by some is very real and must be dealt with in an appropriate manner. It is highly beneficial to discuss what one is experiencing with others who understand what you are going through and can provide a sympathetic ear. You are not alone, many others are going through or have gone through what you are experiencing right now and have learned to come to terms with it. Remember that ghosts and hauntings have been reported for thousands of years and are indeed a natural extension of the human experience. You hear heavy footsteps in the upstairs hallway when you know no one is up there. Doors slam unaccountably. Commonly used items disappear and reappear without cause. The kitchen light turns on by itself. There's the unmistakable scent of a strange perfume in the air. These may be indications that your house is haunted. True hauntings are rare occurrences, and it may be difficult to determine whether or not any strange phenomena you are experiencing in your home might be due to a haunting. For one thing, no one really knows what a "real" haunting is - what causes it or why it starts. There are many theories, of course, which we have discussed in this space in the article but if you think your house may really be haunted, what can you do about it? The first step is to determine, as best you can, whether or not you truly have a legitimate case of a haunting. Not all hauntings are alike, and they may exhibit a variety of phenomena. Some hauntings feature a single phenomenon - such as a particular door slamming shut that occurs repeatedly - while others consist of many different phenomena, ranging from odd noises to full-blown apparitions.

Here's a partial list of phenomena that might indicate that your house is haunted: Unexplained noises - footsteps; knocks, banging, rapping; scratching sounds; sounds of something being dropped. Sometimes these noises can be subtle and other times they can be quite loud. Doors, cabinets and cupboards opening and closing - most often, these phenomena are not seen directly. The experiencer either hears the distinct sounds of the doors opening and closing (homeowners get to know quite well the distinctive sounds their houses make) or the experiencer will return to a room to find a door open or closed when they are certain that it was left in the opposite position. Sometimes furniture, like kitchen chairs, are perceived to have been moved. Very rarely will the experiencer actually witness the phenomenon taking place. Lights turning off and on - likewise, these events are seldom seen actually occurring, but the lights are switched on or off when the experiencer knows they were not left that way. This can also happen with TVs, radios and other electrically powered items. Items disappearing and reappearing - this phenomenon, which we have dubbed "the borrowers" phenomenon and it's the familiar experience of not being able to find a regularly used item - say, your set of car keys - which you believe you placed in a spot you routinely place them. But they're gone and you look high and low for them with no success. Sometime later, the keys are found - in exactly the place you normally put them. It's as if the object was borrowed by someone or something for a short time, then returned. Sometimes they are not returned for days or even weeks, but when they are, it's in an obvious place that could not have been missed by even a casual search. Unexplained shadows - the sighting of fleeting shapes and shadows, usually seen out of the corner of the eye. This phenomenon has also been discussed in some detail in "Shadow People" Many times, the shadows have vaguely human forms, while other times they are less distinguishable or smaller. Strange animal behavior - a dog, cat or other pet behaves strangely. Dogs may bark at something unseen, cower without apparent reason or refuse to enter a room they normally do. Cats may seem to be "watching" something cross a room. Animals have sharper senses than humans, and many researchers think their psychic abilities might be more finely tuned also. Feelings of being watched - this is not an uncommon feeling and can be attributed to many things, but it could have a paranormal source if the feeling consistently occurs in a particular part of the house at a particular time.

These are some of the most common experiences of those who think their houses are haunted. Yet even stranger things can happen...

The Investigation

It is interesting to note that when spirits show up during home renovations, they tend to disappear once the work is done. The fact that this sort of haunting tends to be short-lived supports the theories that the spirits are either trying to convey their feelings about the renovations or drawing upon the energy of the renovations in order to manifest. Of course, it's also possible that workers who come into a home to renovate it bring spirits with them who were not there before. With conscious ghostly entities, the increase in phenomena that occurs when new home owners start to renovate can usually be traced to how the spirits attached to the home feel about the changes that are being made. Just like people, some ghosts resist change and want to put a stop to things. They like things the way they have always been. This seems particularly true of ghosts who built a home themselves and/or ghosts who put a great deal of love and care into the home.

In some cases spirits will try and thwart the renovation efforts or at least convey displeasure with what was being done.

Many have felt very strongly about making certain particular changes such as painting a room a certain colour or pulling up carpet to reveal the original wood flooring underneath, and upon researching the house, later discovered that they unknowingly made things look very similar to the way they did when a former owner of the house lived there. Some have even found old furnishings or portraits in the attic and felt compelled to put them in certain positions in certain rooms and later discovered that those items were in those same positions when former owners lived in the house. Some home owners have stated that trying to resist these particular compulsions or take a break from renovations led to an increase in ghostly phenomena. There are other reasons why house renovations may stir up more ghostly activity. For one thing, many ghosts are basically sleep-walking through the astral, so they can remain dormant for years. (They exist beyond physical space/time, so they don't experience the passage of time as we do.) When we do something unusual, however, we can wake them up. Imagine that you are taking a nap at home, you may continue to sleep despite everyday noises and activities happening in your house, but if someone were to start tearing walls down, you would immediately wake up and wonder what in the world was going on. Further, if you weren't planning on doing any construction, you would probably be pretty perturbed to wake up and find your house under renovation.
Another possibility is that starting renovations attracts spirits who are curious to see what all the commotion is about. These may be "neighbouring" spirits who wander over to check out what's going on. Our medium was certain that this was what was happening because he was picking up on a gentleman who gave his name as Maldwyn Evans. Maldwyn claimed to have been a cobbler or shoemaker and lived and worked in his own shop on High Street, St Asaph, in the period leading up to the Second World War. Maldwyn not only haunts Elwy Bank he also moves around the whole street so no doubt owners of other premises in High street have also felt his presence or even seen or sensed him. Our medium described him as being a be-spectacled small but robust middle aged gentleman in brown tweed trousers a waistcoat and white shirt; he also came across as being a pleasant man with no ill intent whatsoever, for those of you old enough to remember, he described Maldwyn as an Arthur Askey look-a-like. Maldwyn apparently didn’t want to cross over and likes to walk and haunt High street except for a house at the bottom of the street occupied by a number of widows, he keeps well away from these women spirits. On entering the room with the painted murals on the wall our medium was initially drawn to a part of the room that in his opinion had a great deal of residual energy attached to it. He could see a woman who was heavily pregnant standing close to the wall with one hand resting on the back of a chair and a gentleman some yards away with a little girl just behind him. This gentleman walked over to her in an aggressive manner and an argument ensued between the pair. This scene seemed to be repeating itself over and over again. Our medium said it was definitely residual and not an intelligent haunting. This scene would repeat itself whether someone was in the room or not. This particular room registered very high EMF readings and our K2 meter flashed to orange on a regular basis. In one of the top floor rooms he also picked up on a seven year old boy by the name of Daniel who had allegedly died from consumption around the 1800’s. The K2 meter did light up on one occasion when we asked Daniel to make himself known to us. The owners asked if our medium could give them the name of the painter responsible for painting the wall murals, although he is not a psychic he had been successful in attempting psychometry in a previous investigation. The Christian name he gleaned was William but he could only get the letters Ro for the start of the Surname, but felt the Ro was not Roberts but a very short name and also felt he was a Welsh Artist. Another medium with the group seemed to be picking up on what was thought to be a tunnel and water. The owner said although there is no cellar, there is apparently some sort of small floor space that travels beneath the house and under the street, we have no idea what the purpose was for this conduit like floor space.

Ouija Board

Throughout the evening some of the female members decided to try and make contact with any spirits in the house by using the Ouija Board. The first message spelled out was for the present owners and it was “Hello” The group asked the question how many spirits are there in this house. The board spelled out the answer 9. A young girl by the name of Emily came through. Emily was allegedly born in 1939 and died that same year; she spelled out “Help Me” because she trapped here and wanted to be with her mother. Our group medium was called over and he sent Emily over to the light to join her mother who was waiting to meet her. Another spirit that came through on the Ouija Board was a gentleman by the name of Daniel Hughes and a date of 1867 was given. They asked him who the young boy was in the top floor bedroom by the name of Daniel and the Ouija Board replied Daniel Hughes Junior, so could this be his son that had died of consumption in the top bedroom. Another name to come out was that of a bride wearing a wedding dress, the name given was Hannah Tudor aged 23. The board spelled out that Hannah had committed suicide due to becoming pregnant by another man after being raped. Was this the angry residual haunting playing itself back over and over again in the fabric of the walls in the mural room? Another name that came through was an Elizabeth but without a Surname it is very hard to verify and find out who she was. Some of our group members do tend to be sceptical especially when dates are given, past experiences have been encouraging but for some reason dates are not always accurate.

Many personal messages from relatives belonging to Lynda and Alan the home owners had also come through.

Some people will tell you that the Ouija Board is bad. When users of the Ouija board put their fingers on it and begin asking questions, almost anything can happen, or so they say. Whether you believe the Ouija board can tap into the supernatural or merely our subconscious, there's no denying that stories of people's experiences with it are fascinating. We have gleaned an immense amount of information from it, some admittedly didn't make much sense, especially dates, but a great deal of information did. Mention the use of a Ouija board to a paranormal research group these days and you’ll get a lot of head shaking and statements about “opening portals” and “demonic entities”. Mention it to religious fundamentalists and you’ll practically see them shudder and back away on shaky legs, as if the board was created by Satan himself as a means of enslaving human souls. Some promoted the idea that the Ouija board was a conduit to dark forces. Previous to these Hollywood productions, the Ouija board was not generally regarded in this way. But the idea was also latched onto by many Christian fundamentalists, who tend to consider just about anything they don’t agree with as the work of Satan. Then many paranormal researchers also came around to this way of thinking, but I've never come across any convincing evidence that would lead to this position. Toy and game companies sell them by the thousands, but most people don't realise exactly what they are. Are they evil? No, no more than your Monopoly board is. Are they dangerous? Well, in the hands of someone who's untrained -- or an idiot -- they could be. Look at it as a spiritual version of the chat room, if that helps. There's nothing at all wrong with talking to thirty strangers… until one of them turns out to be a serial killer or a paedophile. And the thing is, you don't know who is what when you enter that room, it’s the same with a Ouija board.

The female members in the group placed marbles down as trigger objects in the hope that Daniel or any other young spirit would want to play with them. The marbles did roll across the floor, but it is very difficult to prove that it was anything paranormal.

Table Tipping

The group also tried table tipping which proved successful when they asked for Daniel to try and move the table, the table began to rock from side to side and when asked to stop rocking the table, it stopped immediately and then on the request to start again it would start rocking quite violently. Table tipping in the early days of the past century was really considered little more than a parlour game. The basic technique behind it is quite simple. A group of people simply sit or stand around a table, with each person resting his hands flat on the top surface. If everyone is patient enough, and prepared to possibly do this for several sittings, they will almost always be rewarded with some sort of phenomena. When starting out, it’s likely that the sitters will be startled by rapping and knocking noises but as the experiments continue, the table will likely vibrate and will eventually begin to move. As the number of sittings increase, the group will increase in power and the phenomena will increase along with it. It’s also possible that the table (as it did in the days of the home circles) will behave as with some intelligence. Once the group has begun to experience strange effects, it will be possible to ask questions and receive knocks, raps and event tilts in reply. When you experience this, it will be easy to understand why people believed the phenomena were caused by ghosts in the days of Spiritualism. Just remember though that the power of the human mind is a tricky thing, especially when you have an entire group focused on creating energy.

Unfortunately nothing was caught on our night vision camera located in the mural room.

Members attending the Investigation

Andrea Ellis, Vivienne Davies, Kate Lloyd, Lorraine Ellis, Mike Griffiths and Jimmy

Ellis

We would like to thank the owners of Elwy Bank, Lynda and Alan Kenyon for their hospitality and for giving our group the opportunity to investigate their home