I'm afraid with today's weather this is one from my locker. Hope you like the story.
This is Maude’s Cottage, which is also called Church Cottage because it is situated just next to St. Lawrence’s Church, Swindon Village, Cheltenham, it was built sometime in the 17th century. It’s a timber framed structure with painted white brickwork and thatched roof, and these materials would have been available locally at the time of construction.
According to a legend this picturesque cottage was once a home to Maude Bowen, a local girl who was wrongly accused of her uncle’s murder and her own suicide. She lived in the cottage with her mother Margaret, both working as spinners. One day she carried the results of her work to Cheltenham market and she never returned. Her body was discovered face down in the stream and another body was found, that of Maude’s uncle Geoffrey, with an arrow through his heart. The coroner decided that the unfortunate girl first murdered her uncle and then committed suicide by drowning in the stream. She was buried as the custom of the time required on non-consecrated grounds at the nearest crossroads with an elm stake driven through her remains.
Best viewed with the magnify button above the picture.
Well that's a cheery story. I'm not familiar with the elm stake bit. Did they find the murderer? Lovely photo. I love thatched houses. It reminds me of the southerly most thatched cottage in the UK. It's past the Lizard in Churchtown, Cornwall.
http://www.twistedtree.org.uk/legend_of_maude.htm