The Black Lady of Bradley Woods is a

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

which reportedly haunts the woods near the village of Bradley,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Alleged eyewitnesses have described her as being young and pretty, around 5'6" tall, dressed in a flowing black cloak and a black hood that obscures her hair but reveals her mournful, pale, tear-soaked face. According to the legend she has never harmed anyone and has only ever proved to be a pitiful, if unnerving sight.

Origins

The story is known to have been told for many generations. It was once used by parents to frighten children; this appears to have been a common practice among parents in the area and children were warned that if they were not safely in bed by a certain time "the black lady will get you!". One theory that has been put forward is that the Black Lady is the ghost of a nun. She appears dressed in black and at nearby

Nunsthorpe Nunsthorpe (sometimes known locally as 'The Nunny', or by its nickname of Garden city movement, Garden City) is a suburb and housing estate in the western part of Great Grimsby, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between L ...

(now an area of Grimsby) where a convent existed until the Reformation. This theory gives no reason as to why the Black Lady should have moved from Nunsthorpe to Bradley, away. Also, though she may be dressed in black, few if any eyewitnesses have described her appearance as matching that of a nun. Another possible explanation is that she is a spinster who at one time lived a life of isolation in her cottage in the woods far enough away from the village. If village children had come across a woman living on her own in the woods, who became angry when her privacy and solitude was breached, then imaginary tales of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

could have exaggerated the legend. Neither of these theories ties in with the

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

The myth

During the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

, or alternatively the Barons' Wars, a young woodsman and his wife lived with their baby son in a cottage in Bradley Woods. Eventually the woodsman left his family to fight, leaving his wife to bring up the baby alone. After many months there was no news of the woodsman. Every day she held her child and walked to the edge of the woods, waiting for the sight of her husband coming home from the wars, until one day the enemy army crossed the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...

and marched through the area on the way to attack Lincoln. As she was leaving her cottage, the woman was set upon by three horsemen who brutally raped her before snatching the baby boy and riding off laughing into the woods. Heartbroken and humiliated, she wandered the woods searching in vain for her child and husband. After her death people began to see her wandering the woods, carrying on her never-ending search.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Lady Of Bradley Woods English ghosts English legendary characters Female legendary creatures History of Lincolnshire Borough of North East Lincolnshire Wars of the Roses People of the Wars of the Roses