The Old George Hotel, Silsoe

The Old George which probably dates from the 18th century (and largely rebuilt in the 19th century), is associated with a Grey Lady, which is locally identified as the ghost of Lady Elizabeth Grey of Wrest Park. The story goes that Elizabeth fell in love with a coachman, much to her father’s disapproval. In order to protect her lover from her father she hid him at The George. After a fortnight he was discovered and the couple fled in a coach which, unfortunately veered into a lake and all the occupants were drowned. Hence Lady Elizabeth is said to haunt the building.

In 1959 the landlady of The George is said to have arranged an exorcism in order to put the haunting to rest and in 1960’s an apparition of a young woman dressed in grey and wearing a hat apparently strolled past a workman.

The following extract is from an article entitled ‘Bedfordshire’s very own ghostbuster to probe haunted sites for documentary’ which appeared in the ‘Bedfordshire On Sunday’ 6 May 2014. The article is about Michael Noel Doyle and mentions his experience whilst investigating the haunting at The Old George Hotel.

‘One of Michael’s most memorable encounters was in the Old George Hotel in Silsoe and involved a well-known ghost nicknamed the ‘Grey Lady’.

He was setting up his equipment on the first floor, where many people have claimed to have seen the figure of a lady dressed in grey, when he felt a presence behind him.

“I began to feel hands press down on my shoulders, delicately at first, and then with more pressure,” Michael said.

“I stood utterly still and it was then that I suddenly felt a sharp tug that pulled from the crown of my head. I immediately turned around to see that the heavy door to the corridor had slammed shut.

“That’s when I ran downstairs to see if my team had picked anything up on the web cam.”

When he got downstairs, the team checked the footage and found a picture of a floating veil.

“The picture was investigated by forensics who concluded that there had been no digital manipulation involved,” he added.’

Note: There was an earlier George Inn close by that was mentioned in legal documents as far back as 1613.