The Most Haunted House in Britain

Heol Fanog- Image courtesy of Mark Chadbourn 

Recently I listened to a rather fascinating and honestly terrifying podcast on BBC Radio 4, called the Witch Farm. It’s a lesser known, supposedly true ghost stories and centers around this farm in rural Wales called, Heol Fanong. The acting, the way its told and the sound effects all combine to make it one of the scariest podcasts I’ve listened to. It’s even been called the Welsh Amityville and Hellfire Farm. I recommend you listen to it yourself before reading this because I’m going to go into spoiler territory, as I’m going to do a quick run down of the case. 

In 1989, Bill Rich, his wife, Liz, and Bill’s son Laurence from a previous marriage, move into a remote farmhouse in the Welsh countryside. The house seems fine enough and they’re both excited to start a new life for themselves. Liz is pregnant with their son Ben, and Bill is excited to work on his art from the secluded farm house. The house is idyllic, located in the Brecon Beacons national park, its quiet and secluded, a dream to many.

Brecon Beacons - courtesy Pixabay 

Except their dream would turn into a nightmare. It started small, one night Bill hears some loud footsteps on the landing, like boots running up and down the stairs. Although, like many of us would, they kind of just brushed it off because nobody else heard it. That was until they got their first electricity bill. 

It was over 700 pounds, which is just insane for a small family in 1989. When they contact the electricity provider, they send someone to come look at it, but the company find absolutely nothing wrong with it. There was no leakage and it didn’t look like anyone was stealing their electricity, the meter would just run, all day and night. But these electricity surges would usually be followed by some kind of paranormal activity. Like something was charging itself up. 

It was soon after this that the family reported having feelings of being watched. Swarms of flies and insects would congregate on the farm and they also reported smelling some awful odors throughout the house. Such as rotten eggs. Bu there was also the occasional smell of incense. This was also followed by cold spots and times when the house would just become unbearably hot. Not even the animals were safe. Most wouldn’t last long on the farm, pets, pigs, goats, even a guinea pig would seemingly meet gruesome fates or simply just run away. 

Although one the most chilling tales would come from one of Bill and Liz’s neighbors, which would give a chilling explanation for the activity. They alleged that the old farmhouse Bill and Liz had moved into, had been built from gravestones from a local burial ground. Even the neighbors weren't safe from the farm's curse. 

You see, Bill was an artist and one of the local farmers had commissioned a painting of his favorite horse, Eco. Bill however had struggled to complete the painting, noting how deformed the back leg looked in the painting. But soon after the painting was completed, the horse would die, in the same part of the pasture it had been depicted in.

The locals soon believed that Heol Fanong’s curse had spread to them. There were also reports of an old woman dressed in black appearing in the house. During the 6-year stint they lived on the farm, Liz had two kids, Ben and Rebecca and even the children reported seeing this woman while they played in the nursery. Laurence was also showing some behavioral changes, he’d become withdrawn and angry and would often swear and spit at his parents. 

Eventually Bill and Liz brought in physics and mediums in an attempt to rid the house of its ghostly inhabitants. These mediums informed them of Heol Fanong’s history of witchcraft, reporting that a coven of witches had performed rituals on the farm in the past. They also uncovered evidence of a murder that took place on the farm as well, in which a young man was attacked and killed on the farm with an axe and later buried on the grounds. They also recommended sending Laurence away for a while, as they believed the spirits were trying to take hold of him. 

These mediums would try and perform the first of many exorcisms on the house, but to no avail as the activity would just continue. Bill would also start to show behavioral changes, he would drink more, spend more time alone in his studio and would become angry and withdrawn. His art would also become more and more disturbing and abstract. He has since passed but Liz would come to believe he had become possessed by the house itself. The family eventually moved out of Heol Fanong altogether. 

The farm had a reputation for being haunted well before the Rich family moved in and the locals seemed to be aware of it. Previous occupants had also tried in vain to exorcise the house in the past. A new family now reportedly lives there, but no activity has been reported by them and they wish to remain private.