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General
Kempston lies to the southeast of Bedford town centre to which it is now effectively joined, though it is still a town in its own right. It is the site of the Bedfordshire Police headquarters. The present day parish population stands at 16,970 (as given in the 2001 Census).
Within the town is the Saxon Centre which is a shopping precinct that has been built on the site of a Saxon cemetery. All Saints' parish church sits beside the River Ouse; inside can be found two medićval panels depicting Adam and Eve.
The name derives from the Old English words camm and tun meaning 'Crook farm/settlement' as it is located on a sharp bend in the River Ouse. In the Domesday Book the name appears as Cameston and Camestone.
Kempston
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Bell End
At Bell End, Kempston ghostly bells have been heard. They are said to ring in honour of a murdered sexton who was hanged by a bell rope then thrown in the river.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
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The Causeway
Unusually a ‘Green Lady' haunts a path in Kempston which starts at the end of Church Walk and runs past the River Great Ouse to All Saints Church. In 1968 a newspaper article told of how the ghost would jump out at children from behind the trees that lined the path or sometimes she would be seen gliding in ‘a sinister fashion' through the mist that was rising from the river. It became so bad that bell-ringers and Cub Scouts stopped going to their evening meetings at the church for fear of meeting her.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
See also - Bedfordshire - Kempston -
Robert Bruce School
To view images see:
Kempston Album
To view a report about The Causeway see:
31-03-2006
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Hillgrounds Road
In the area off Hillgrounds Road lie the ruins of Kempston manor and a boathouse belonging to Kempston Youth Club/Outdoor Activity Centre. Whilst working at the site back in the 1980s Clem Tite, a storeman/technician, had several ghostly experiences. “Almost every afternoon in the Summer I used to hear footsteps in the building. I used to search the place, but there was never anybody there. Other people also heard footsteps: on one occasion one of the youth workers bought her dog in. She went down the passage to a room at the end of the corridor where she was hit by an absolutely freezing sensation as if she had walked into some giant fridge. It spooked the dog. It howled, its hair stood on end and it ran off with its tail between its legs.”
To view a map of the area click on the button below
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Kempston Manor
One evening the owners of nineteenth century Kempston Manor were returning home after attending a Christmas Eve Ball. As they approached the house their young son heard the sounds of the carriage and ran out to greet them. Unfortunately this resulted in his being trampled to death under the horses' hooves. Now on Christmas Eve can occasionally be heard the sounds of the carriage, the neighing of the horses and the screams of the boy.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
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Ladies Walk
An area in Kempston known as Ladies' Walk is said to be haunted by numerous female spirits. Two are those of girls named Sophia and Frances (see the last paragraph of this section) who used to walk the area hand-in-hand and still do so after death. Other ghosts include Lady Snagge (see the entry under Cranfield: Wood End Lane) who is heard calling for her lost son, and another girl mourning the death of her Cavalier lover.
Initially we were unsure as to the exact location of Ladies' Walk; all we knew was that it was supposed to run alongside a Roman road but we were unaware of any in Bedford. From a description it seemed likely that it was actually the same path as that which runs from Church Walk to All Saints church in Church End. From an email we received we were close but not close enough.
We would like to thank Nigel West who lived in Kempston and who sent us details of the actual location. Nigel tells us that Ladies' Walk is actually the short path which runs from Cemetery Road (the B5134) to the north of the Bury to the Causeway beside the river. This is the location shown on the map which can be accessed from the button below. In addition Nigel pointed us to information that is very relevant to one of the hauntings. This information was regarding the manor of Kempston Hastingsbury.
In 1736 the manor of Kempston Hastingsbury was inherited by Robert Kendall who later changed his name to Cater and who was knighted in 1738. When he died in 1739 the manor passed to Beckford Kendall Cater. In 1749 it was in the possession of his son John Kendall Cater after his marriage to Margaret Beaumond. John died in 1778 and the estate passed to his son, also called John. This latter John died intestate and the manor passed to his three sisters. One sister was called May and the other two, who were twins, were named Sophia and Frances, the very two who are said to haunt the path. In 1796 Sophia married Robert Sherbourne and Frances married the Rev. Oliph Leigh Spencer with each taking a third of the manor. In 1801 the three sisters sold the manor to William Long.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
See also - Bedfordshire - Cranfield -
Wood End Road
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Robert Bruce School
We would like to thank Nigel West, who lived in Kempston, for the following information.
…in the late sixties/early seventies I attended Robert Bruce County Secondary Modern school in Kempston, which abuts the grounds of Kempston Manor. I remember one particular term (probably in 1970) there was a spate of supposed dinner-break sightings of the ‘Green Lady' (or possibly ‘White Lady'?), moving around in the grounds of the manor. It was all rather surreal, with a couple of hundred children in the school playground looking towards the manor and the river. I certainly didn't observe anything and I suppose that it would be termed today as ‘mass hysteria'. It even went so far as the headmaster addressing us in morning assembly, admonishing us for believing in such stuff. That didn't stop a group of teachers making a surreptitious night-time visit though………………!
Could this be the same Green Lady who is said to haunt The Causeway which lies only half a kilometre away to the west?
To view a map of the area click on the button below
See also - Bedfordshire - Kempston -
The Causeway
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