Amy Robsart

 THE GHOST OF AMY DUDLEY 

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 On 8th September 1560, Robert Dudley was with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, when his wife Amy, died.

Members of Amy's household were attending a fayre in Abingdon.
Upon their return they discovered Amy lying dead at the foot of the staircase.

Initial reports claimed Amy had died from head injuries and a broken neck.

 The coroner ruled that her death was due to 'misfortune'.

It is generally believed that she was depressed, and this led to suggestions that if her death was not accidental, it may have been suicide.

However, rumours started that Amy may have been murdered in order for her husband, Robert Dudley to marry Queen Elizabeth I.

Queen Elizabeth I of course, did not marry Dudley.
In fact Elizabeth never married anyone ~ and the exact cause of Amy’s death may never be known.

 Amy's restless spirit reportedly haunts the manor house, and in particular the staircase where she was found dead.

The atmosphere at Cumnor Place has also been described as oppressive and uncomfortable.

Could this heavy, dark atmosphere be related to the story that Amy may have been murdered there?

 Sightings of Amy’s ghost at Cumnor Place has terrified residents.

There were reports of scary noises and an angry spirit throwing objects, before the house was abandoned.

Amy continued to haunt Cumnor Place every Christmas, until the house was demolished in 1810.

Her ghost then moved to her parent's home at Syderstone Hall.

 There is another piece of folklore attached to the supposed exorcism of Amy's ghost.

The story suggests that nine Oxfordshire parsons came to Cumnor because of the haunting, and laid Amy’s ghost to rest in a nearby pond.

This pond, however, never froze over again.
A fact which the locals took as a sign that her ghost was still trapped there.

 Before she was buried at The University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Amy’s body was kept at Gloucester Hall.
This is now part of Worcester College.

Her spirit is said to haunt the common room, where it is thought her body was laid before the funeral.

 A separate legend states that Amy's ghost appeared to her husband Robert Dudley, nearly 40 years later.

Dudley was out hunting at Cornbury Park near Charlbury in August 1588, when he became separated from his hunting party.

The spectral shape of his wife loomed before him, and with a great laugh his phantom wife told him they would be reunited in 10 days.

According to the legend, this prophecy came true. Dudley died 10 days later, on 4th September 1588......

Haunted History

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 Sources - darkoxfordshire/a-royal-murder-at-cumnor-place
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mysteriousbritain/hauntings/cumnor-place.

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 Portrait of Amy Robsart by William Clarke Wontner
c.1900