The Lady of the Mist Ghost Story

A castle belonging to the Dukes of Lancaster once stood overlooking a ford on the Wiltshire bank of the river in Kempsford. All that is left now of the castle is a raised and fortified terrace converted into a green walk in the garden adjoining the church.

Henry of Grosmont, 4th Duke of Lancaster had married Isabel, the daughter of Henry Lord Beaumont in 1330. Together they had three children, Henry, Maud and Blanche and it seems that they must have spent some of their time at Kempsford for Henry, poor lad, was drowned there while still a boy.

Lady Maude, Henry’s eldest daughter, married twice and had one daughter who died in 1356. Maud herself died of the plague on 10th April 1362 aged only 23. Blanche became the patroness of Chaucer and married John of Gaunt in 1359.

The memory of Lady Maud is kept alive in Kempsford by the tangible reminder afforded by Lady Maud’s Walk.

The green walk, or Lady Maud’s Walk as it is called, is believed to be haunted by Lady Maud. The villagers also know her as the ‘lady of the mist’ because she is usually seen floating above the river in the pale moonshine where it is said she waits for the return of her young brother, Henry, from the cruel embrace of the treacherous ford.