WHOOSH!

Okay… this one’s a bit weird. Like, REALLY weird. So weird, I might need to sit down and catch my breath!

Because right here, on this very spot, someone came back to life.

Wait… WHAT?!

Yep. This is the true tale of a guy called William Cragh — also known as “Scabby William.” (Gross nickname, but hey, I didn’t make it up! Scabby in Welsh is Cragh!)

Now listen closely, because this one’s WILD…

Back in the year 1290 — that’s, like, 700 years ago! — William was a poor young man from Gower who got caught up in a big rebellion. He fought against some lords, got in a lot of trouble, and things ended badly. Really badly.

He was sentenced to be hanged. As in, properly murdered. They tried …. not once, but TWICE — because the first time, the big beams of wood broke when they tried to hang him! (Yikes.)

Everyone thought he was 100% completely done-for. Dead as can be. Finito.

But then… something amazing happened.

A kind noble lady called Mary de Braose asked if she could take William’s body to a chapel that once stood right here where Matthew’s House is — where this garden is now. She and her household prayed and prayed… and after a little while…

William started breathing again.

Then he MOVED.

Then he SPOKE.

And everyone went AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

Was it a miracle? Was it magic? Was William just really, REALLY good at playing dead? We’ll never know. But guess what — the church and many others believed it, and even made the saint they prayed to — St Thomas de Cantilupe — officially holy, because of this story!

And right here — on this very soil — this mind-blowing moment became part of Swansea’s history.

So yeah… pretty cool that you’re standing in a place where someone actually came back from the dead, right?!

💬 STAMP IDEA: Draw a cartoon William waking up with a confused as people tried to bury him!

Whoa… we need a minute after that one. Catch your breath, time travellers — next stop, we’re heading into the graveyards of Greenhill, where the stones have stories to tell…

WHOOSH!