The Story of Margaretta Greene & Maude Carew
To listeners of Astonishing Legends, also known as Legenders, it should come as no surprise that a simple story can be something that sparks a fire that burns bright and impacts all who see it. This is the story of Margaretta Greene & Maude Carew. Margaretta Greene was raised in the building that had once been a part of St. Edmund’s Abbey in Bury, England…but decades earlier it had become a magnificent house.
Everyone knew this history of the ruins and churchyard that the houses sat on top of and between. So, when Margaretta wrote a story that was said to be inspired by her childhood filled with unexplainable happenings…people believed her.
The novella was called simply, The Secret Disclosed: A Legend of St. Edmund’s Abbey by ‘an inmate.’ It was published in 1861 and was the perfect Victorian story. It had unrequired love, political conspacires, murder, poison, and, most importantly secret tunnels that ran throughout the town connecting all the religious buildings. The protagonist of the story was named Maude Carew. She was a young nun and to make a short story shorter, her unrequited love for a monk at the Abbey eventually leads her to murder Humphrey, the Duke of Gloucester. Notably, the Duke of Gloucester really did die in Bury in 1447. It was said that the tortured ghost of Maude would haunt the churchyard only at a very specific time: The 24th of February at exactly 11:00pm.
What’s more? Margaretta took no claim in actually authoring it. In fact, Margaretta had claimed that she heard footsteps one night in her home and followed them. When she had made it to the end, she discovered a casket that contained a manuscript. And it was this manuscript she had transcribed and published for all to bear witness.
How could it not be based on a true story? Or so the townsfolk thought.
The novella had swept through the town so, on February 24th 1862, everyone gathered at the churchyard. The crowd grew restless as the moments ticked closer to 11:00pm. They wondered what would Maude look like? How would they feel? How long would she linger? But as 11:00pm came and passed, the crowd became confused, and then outraged. Some people had claimed to see a ghost, whereas others were furious at the idea that they had been tricked by Margaretta. At the height of disruption, Margaretta’s brother pulled on a sheet and ran across the churchyard. He was instantly pursued and barely made it out without a serious injury.
Margaretta was, in a word, shocked and would never write another book.
The Secret Disclosed was out of print for over 150 years, until 2019...when a critical edition of the original text was published. After years as just a rumor of a night that went awry, the book is finally available to read and view the text that started a near-riot.
There is a ghost, called the Grey Lady, that has been witnessed hundreds of times in the century and a half that have passed. While some have confused her with the protagonist, Maude, others believe she pre-dates the Victorian ghost story, whereas even more believe the ghost is of a different woman.
The blog image is a copy of a painting of the interior of St. Mary's Church, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Courtesy of the Spanton-Jarman Collection of the Bury St Edmunds Past and Present Society.