YOU may have to be braver than usual when you take on a Gwent property project which is being sold at auction later this month.
Some renovation and a bit of building work may be required and then there are the ghosts and the coffins in the cellar….
A property project would normally require calling in various experts for advice. In this case one of your first calls could well be to the Ghost Busters.
Surveyor Debra Bisley, who is handling the sale for Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, said: “Taking on a property may require an investor to be brave and confident but if you buy the Pontypool’s Hanbury Arms you may need that extra bit of bravery to complete the work.
“The refurbished pub, on Clarence Street, Pontypool, on the main road into the town, has a well-documented history of paranormal goings on over the years with one particular legend concerning nineteenth century hangings in the building and the appearance of a former executioner.”
A man, believed to be a former executioner at the 1830’s building where it’s said criminals were once hanged, is reported to be an occasional eerie visitor.
Staff at the recently-closed pub are said to have previously captured evidence of the paranormal goings on videos, which appear to show weird “orbs” of light darting about the bar.
It’s also been said that beer glasses have spontaneously smashed, lights have switched on and off with no one in the room and barrels of cider have burst open in the pub’s subterranean cellar.
Workmen refurbishing the building upstairs downed tools, claiming they felt a bitterly cold presence, accompanied by an oppressive feeling of dread.
A previous owner of the pub invited paranormal experts to case the joint who were reported to have said they were convinced of the spirits’ presence.
A former manager claims to have heard whispers coming from the empty cellar and refused to enter certain parts of the pub alone. Other staff reported a strong smell of garlic in certain places.
And perhaps most scarily of all, the souls of a little girl named Emily and a small boy in Victorian dress, are said to be regulars.
The Hanbury Arms, with cellar, ground floor bar area and first floor apartment and four additional bedroom, along with a range of ghosts and a selection of coffins in various sizes in the cellar, is listed with a guide price of £140,000-plus. The property, which dates from 1830’s, traded as a public house until last year.
The next Paul Fosh Auctions online sale, when this property among some eighty others will be offered for sale, starts at 12 noon on Tuesday, April 27 and ends from 5pm on Thursday, April 29.
www.paulfoshauctions.com