Secret Abergavenny

Explore Abergavenny's secret history through a fascinating selection of stories, facts and photographs.

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Secret Abergavenny offers a unique insight into the sleepy Welsh market town, proving that there’s a lot more to the ‘Gateway to Wales’ than meets the eye. Did you know that Adolph Hitler’s deputy Rudolph Hess was kept in the town under lock and key during the Second World War, or that Abergavenny was declared its own nation in 1404 by Ieuan ab Owain Glyndwr in an arrangement that lasted approximately two weeks. John Lennon once landed there by helicopter to play a gig with the rest of The Beatles at the town hall, and Marty Wilde was so infatuated with the place he wrote a Top 40 hit called ‘Taking a Trip up to Abergavenny’ to express his love for the ‘paradise people’ who lived there. Local journalist Tim Butters takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the town’s past, introducing us to the likes of Potato Creek Johnny, credited with finding the largest gold nugget in the Wild West, as well as more nefarious characters such as ‘Abergavenny Alice’ who personally beheaded seventy Irishmen in revenge for killing her Norman lover.

It’s fair to say that for a little town, Abergavenny has a big history, and a lot of it remains largely unknown. Now’s your chance to find out more.