Transcript with links for bonus mini episode 3
Welcome to weird in the wade’s first mini episode, a minisode if you like. A short and hopefully sweet snapshot of something spooky or unexplained. A fleeting tale that flits through your ears in a flutter of bird’s wings. It may leave you wanting more but still be satisfying none the less.
Today’s mini episode was composed, and the soundtrack recorded whilst I walked in the grounds of Wrest Park at Silsoe in Bedfordshire. I went out not long after dawn, the sun was shining, and the dew soaked the hem of my skirt as I wove my way through trees and along riverbanks. You’ll hear the bird song change as I moved around the park, from rooks and jackdaws to song thrushes, finches, robins, black birds, pheasants, and waterfowl.
Welcome to Weird in the Wade’s first Mini Episode: The Silsoe Grey Lady.
I have heard versions of this tale before, in other parts of the country, attached to other grand houses. It is a tale as old as time itself. As ancient as the green sand ridge, which sweeps from southwest to northeast across Bedfordshire. It is that familiar tale of forbidden love. Of star-crossed lovers, of societal taboos being broken and the consequences for being so disruptive.
Our story begins in the undefined past. There is no year or era specified. It is just a long time ago. But as Wrest Park and the George Inn at Silsoe play a part in this tale, it must be no earlier than the 17th century and most probably, if it did occur, took place in the early to mid-19th century, when the inn and the big house were newly developed, sparklingly modern and fashionable.
It is said that there was a young woman called Elizabeth living at Wrest Park, a younger daughter of the Earl or the Duke though I can find no record of her, but I’ll admit I’ve not searched exhaustively. Elizabeth was living in this beautiful stately home, surrounded by wooded grounds and water, just a short walk from the village of Silsoe which had a hotel and pubs, and a quaint round lock up for criminals, called the cage, because Silsoe was and still is far from the towns of Luton or Bedford.
It would have been Elizabeth’s duty to study the lady like pursuits of needlework, dancing, literary appreciation, a little art and music, gentle gardening and how to manage the servants. All in preparation for her marriage one day, to the son of a duke or an earl, or maybe a self-made man with money, if the family was in need of some.
But Elizabeth had different ideas. She had fallen in love with a handsome coachman. Probably the coachman of a nearby dignitary, the coachman to a friend of her father’s. Who she met when he conveyed his master to her house.
I have two accounts of this story which differ slightly but they both agree that Elizabeth fell hard for this coachman and he for her. And that their love was impossible, a forbidden love breeching the most English of societal taboos and constraints at the time, that of class.
Here is where the stories differ. In one version, Elizabeth herself runs away and hides out at the George Inn at Silsoe, where she can be with her coachman lover. In the other version, she hides her coachman at the George. Which seems an infinitely more sensible thing to do. A coachman lodging at the hotel would not be an unusual occurrence, whist a young noble woman known to the village living there would surely have been spotted pretty quickly.
So, let’s take the version where our coachman was staying at the George Inn, and Elizabeth would sneak away each day and possibly at night to visit her love.
They spent two blissful weeks together at the George Inn. Maybe Elizabeth felt she could actually have her cake and eat it. Keeping her lover at the George just a short walk from her home. Sneaking in a visit to her coachman, after her charitable visits to the village poor, or as a detour to one of her long constitutional walks. Her coachman was there waiting for her, whenever she had the opportunity to escape the confines of her home.
But even sneaking into the Inn has its risks and after a couple of weeks of their assignations the illicit lovers are found out.
Elizabeth and her coachman decide to make a run for it. They bundle themselves onto the coachman’s coach, and take off at a pace, rocketing down twisty tree lined lanes. They are pursued by Elizabeth’s farther and his men.
The chase becomes frantic and the young couple career off the road and the coach, horses and they both crash into a lake. Both Elizabeth and her coachman are killed. Drowned in the deep cold water.
But our story does not end here. It is not enough for the lesson of this tale to be that disrupting the status quo will lead to your downfall. Know your place coachmen and daughters of the aristocracy. No, if you choose to go against society’s norms your fate will be worse than death. For your spirit will never rest.
Not long after this tragic accident the staff and guests at the George Inn at Silsoe began to experience strange and unsettling phenomena. It started with footsteps on the stairs and outside the guest’s bedrooms. But these footsteps could not have been made by a living soul as the stairs and the corridors were empty of life when checked. Then there were the thumps and moans heard coming from empty rooms. There was a sad and uncomfortable atmosphere, remarked on by visitors to the George. And finally, some bar staff and guests even said saw a young woman dressed in grey move silently in front of them and then just disappear. She became known as the Grey Lady ironic as in life her name was Elizabeth de Grey. They said she could not rest and returned to the last place she had been happy with her love, the coachman. She is doomed for eternity to search for him and that lost blissful few weeks they spent together at the George.
This haunting continued for over 100 years until in 1959 the landlady of the George had had enough. Marjorie Vera Bilham, who had run the pub with her husband Daniel George Rees Bilham until the year before, called in a priest to perform an exorcism. Maybe her husband had a passed away, and now solely in charge she could finally do something about those footsteps, that melancholy atmosphere and the apparition of the lovelorn lady in Grey.
But the reports say the exorcism did not work and in that same year Marjorie left, defeated by the Grey Lady, handing over the George to Aiden Frederick Farwell to run. The George stayed open until at least ten years ago but was put up for sale by the brewery in 2016. The locals tried to buy it, to run it as a community pub and village hub. But their bid failed. The site was redeveloped into homes and sold. I don’t know if any of the current residents have seen or heard the Grey Lady’s presence.
As always, I did try to corroborate this story with historical records. I found the ghost story on the mysterious Britain website and in a lovely leaflet produced by Bedfordshire libraries on local ghost stories. I can not find any mention of a Lady Elizabeth having such an accident in the Wrest Park estate information. And as I mentioned earlier this story of a lady of the manor falling for a young working man, and running away with him before tragedy befalls them, seems to be a common one. I am sure it served its purpose in its day as a lesson to young working men and wealthy young women, to keep to their stations in life. Whether they listened to such lessons is another matter.
There are other darker tales where the situation is reversed. A young working woman is seduced or attacked by an aristocratic man, Tess of the D’Urberville’s being the most famous literary version of this tale. And these power dynamics and abuses of power still play out today, it’s just different people with different types of power, whether it’s movie moguls, your boss at work, politicians, or leaders of other kinds. Abuses of power are still a problem to this day.
But our Grey Lady is a gentler, subtler version of a story exploring the dynamics of power. Both she as a woman at the time, and he a working man were disenfranchised in different ways and had differing levels of power at their disposal. It is portrayed as consenting relationship, frowned upon by others, but they themselves were in love. Their tale is more about disrupting the order of things. The church and those in power at the time discouraged such rebelliousness and tales like this remind the people of the consequences of headstrong passions and disobedience.
I did discover one curious thing. There is a carriage accident connected to both Wrest Park and the George Inn. On Tuesday 14th November 1848 Mr Mason, steward to Earl De Grey, and the landlord of the George Inn, Benjamin Carter crash Earl de Grey’s gig (a type of horse drawn carriage) into a cart on Chapple Street Luton. I’d love to say that these two men were running away together, and we have another tale of star-crossed lovers, but it seems unlikely. The men were not injured, though the horse sustained cuts to one of its front legs after, jumping through the window of a draper’s shop in fear. The quick-thinking draper bandaged the horse’s leg with colourful ribbons. It sounds like the gig and the cart were badly damaged though. I can’t imagine that this carriage accident involving Wrest Park’s steward and the George Inn landlord inspired our Grey Lady’s accident, but it’s interesting none the less.
And finally, this news story about the gig accident in the Hertford Mercury and Reformer has a strange little ghost story printed above it. Reported as true, set in a church in Luton and referencing Sir Walter Scott and a noon day hag. Our next mini episode, out in June, will tell you that strange little tale. So if you haven’t already follow the podcast to make sure you never miss out on one of our tales.
Don’t forget that on Monday 5th June the next full-length episode of Weird in the Wade will be available. Flying saucers over Biggleswade can be heard wherever you get your podcasts. Or visit the weird in the wade website or blog for more details. Links are in the show description or visit weirdinthewade.blog
Today’s mini episode was written and presented by me Nat Doig
Our theme music was composed by Tess Savigear
Weird In The Wade 