The New Murrey and Blue blog

As you have probably gathered by now, I’m rather partial to a spooky story, and one that appears in The Folklore of Oxfordshire by Christine Bloxham is that of the very early 16^th-century Lord and Lady Tanfield and their ghostly chariot, in which they reportedly haunted Burford and Great Tew in Oxfordshire. A bit out of our period, I know, but in my opinion intriguing, if only for the patently dishonest inscription on their tomb in Burford church. Knowing the man’s true character, I’m surprised the inscription wasn’t defaced almost immediately.

Lord Tanfield and his wife Elizabeth lived at Burford Priory, which they altered to make a fine residence and moved into in 1575. They even entertained James I there in 1603, not long after the death of Queen Elizabeth I….”

On their tomb in Burford church, Lord Tanfield’s inscription is as follows:

“….In war and peace he was foremost among Englishmen, the pride of the Law, and of the Courts, famed as a wise lawyer and a just statesman. He was no venal judge who would yield to a scoundrel’s bribe….Under him no malefactor profited by corruption and no court made illicit gain, his wealth was honestly gained and his honoured was untarnished. He alone among rich men remained guiltless. He was equally worthy in his private life, conscientious and strict, but just, attentively overseeing his estates….”

My word, what a paragon, to be sure. Except that the long-suffering residents of Burford and Great Tew wouldn’t have agreed with a word of it! He was cruel and rapacious, seizing control from Burford Corporation, and making everyone’s life a misery. Lady Tanfield was reported to be just as bad. The hard-done-by people of Great Tew petitioned against Lord Tanfield in1624, in which year he died anyway.

Everyone’s relief must have been immense….until a flaming chariot appeared, flying over rooftops from street to street, driven by the judge and his wife and wreaking dread and havoc. It was to take no fewer than seven clergymen using bell, book and candle to eventually entice the Tanfields’ spirits into a glass bottle, which was sealed and dropped under the first arch of Burford bridge, which spanned the River Windrush.

It seems that all was well then until a very dry season reduced the level of the river so much that people feared the bottle would come to the surface and the Tanfields would escape to terrorise them again. So the residents added as much water as they could to increase the river level again and the bottle would once again be safely submerged.

I have this vision of Disney’s Magician’s Apprentice, with the terrified folk of the neighbourhood trooping to and from the river to empty their wooden pails into the river. Where did they get the water? Did they empty their wells? Dig trenches from nearby ponds to drain them? Or did they enchant all the brooms they could find to carry brimming buckets?

I can’t say I believe in the flying chariot, but I’m prepared to think people really thought the evil spirits had been conjured into a glass bottle. I also believe that wicked Lord and Lady Tanfield were atrocious individuals, but whether they became evil spirits is another matter.

You can read more about them at The Wicked Tanfields of Burford | Dark Oxfordshire (from which the image of the tomb effigies is taken) and A walk in Burford in the footsteps of Sir Lawrence Tanfield | Great British Life

PS: As commenter H.J. Hill has remarked below, something sturdier than glass might have been a better option anyway!