Castle Hotel Bored With Ghost Being Called Maud

As Halloween approaches, a Northumberland castle hotel is hoping the story of its own supposed ghost – the ‘grey lady’ – is told accurately, having itself exploded the myth relating to erroneous tales about the mysterious figure during the first Covid lockdown.

Langley Castle Hotel, located near Haydon Bridge, discovered that the ghostly figure who, for decades, had been named as Maud de Lucy,  a widowed and weeping woman, mourning her husband’s death to the extent that she jumps from a window, could not possibly be Maud.

Having delved into the genealogy, it found Maud de Lucy had twice married, with her second husband being Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland.  This took Maud to Alnwick, transferring the Langley estate into the hands of the Percy family, through marriage.  Maud then passed away before her second husband, so was never a grieving and suicidal widow.

On closer examination, Langley Castle deduced that, if the ghostly figure was anyone, it could only be Agnes de Beaumont (born 1323), the second wife of Langley Castle’s founder and first owner, Thomas de Lucy, and stepmother to Maud. 

This figure is extremely illusive.  All Langley Castle knows is she was the daughter of Henry de Beaumont and a relative of King Edward III, who urged Thomas de Lucy to marry her in 1343. They had no children.  Despite attempts to discover her fate, there are no details of when or how she died, but it is said to have been after 1359.

In contrast, there is a wealth of information about Maud and her brother, Anthony, who were identified as the mysterious St Bees Man and Woman, discovered buried together in a lead coffin in Cumbria, by archaeologists carrying out a project in 1981.

Langley Castle’s genealogical conclusion was reached following an examination of the family tree and because Langley Castle was unoccupied after 1405, so any ‘ghost’ had to have been in residence prior to this.  In that year, the then King, Henry IV, is likely to have ordered the arson attack that burnt its roof, as punishment on the Percy family’s opposition to him.  The castle was not then lived in for around 500 years.

Despite having proven the fallacy of the Maud story, stories continue to be published on the topic of the ghostly Maud.  Langley Castle wants to put this story to bed and concentrate on what could be more historically probable.

However, it is still, three years later, on the hunt for more information about Agnes.  Any attempts to find out more about her death and place of burial have failed miserably.  That could possibly give more credence to the story of the grey lady’s death and the jump from a window.

“We hope that nobody will name our grey lady incorrectly this year and that we can instead start to find out more about Agnes and whether she had a sorrowful end,” says Langley Castle’s executive general manager, Margaret Livingstone-Evans.  

“Our grey lady has reportedly been seen by a few people here and, we believe, inspired the Grey Lady character in the Harry Potter series, after J K Rowling visited Langley Castle.  We think it only right that we do not do her a disservice by misnaming her as Maud.  It would spook anyone to be the victim of a case of mistaken identity.”

Anyone with further details about Agnes de Lucy (nee Beaumont) should email manager@langleycastle.com.

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Editors notes

Langley Castle, built in 1350, is located in Langley-on-Tyne, Northumberland and is one of the few authentic, fortified medieval castles in England. It has a rich history, with strong links to Jacobite rebellions, is located just a stone's throw from the World Heritage Site of Hadrian's Wall and boasts features including battlements, seven-feet-thick walls, window seats set into the walls and the best example of medieval garderobes in Europe. It is one of the most exquisite wedding venues in the north and also offers a wide range of options when it comes to exclusive use, with the castle being available for weddings, family celebrations, Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs, D&D-style events and a wide variety of corporate functions.