Although described by several sources, there is little agreement on the ghost's identity, what caused her death, or even what colour she is.

The Oxfordshire Village Book (1999) describes the ghostly figure as a 'woman in white who haunted the banks of the Letcombe Brook after drowning herself for love'.

In The Veiled Vale (2016), Mike White provides some more details, telling of a young bride whose husband-to-be abandoned her on her wedding day. The bride, distraught, alone and still wearing her wedding dress, threw herself into the deepest part of the lake and drowned.

Yet another version of the story claims that the young bride was actually murdered, pushed into the lake by her scoundrel husband. The woman's spirit then returned to the scene of her death, first in the form of a solitary swan, and later as a 'Grey Lady' who expanded her haunt to include halls of the nearby manor house.

In the 1950's, the manor house (not to be confused with the two other manors in the village) ceased to be a private residence and became Letcombe Laboratory, a large scientific and agricultural research facility.

According to Mike White, the 'Grey Lady' frequently made her presence known to laboratory staff while they were working late. One member of night staff named Bob claimed that, although he never saw the ghost, the site was plagued with strange happenings. While doing his rounds through certain areas of the site at night, lights which would turn themselves off and on again.

It would be tempting to dismiss this sort of thing as faulty wiring, but the same thing happened on this spot to the battery-powered torch that Bob carried with him as well! Perhaps the 'Grey Lady' was trying to make contact in any way she could?

A considerably less spooky and more amusing tale is connected with the old manor house. Apparently, during the 19th century a Classics-loving owner of the manor had two antique marble statues shipped over from Italy and placed next to the lake.

However, an Edwardian lady who later purchased the manor was so scandalised by the fact that the marble statues were (whisper it) naked that she ordered them both to be tipped into the lake and sunk out of sight! In 1982, the lake was dredged and one of the marble figures was retrieved and identified as a 2nd century Roman statue of the hero Hercules. It later sold for £28,000.

The other marble figure was never found, but was said to be of a woman. Could moonlight glimpses of a white marble statue underwater have inspired the legend of a 'Woman in White' near the lake?