Rosamund the Fair was the beloved mistress of King Henry II who hid her in a secret bower in Woodstock, where she was watched over by the King's knight, Sir Thomas. Around the bower was a maze of intricate paths making it impenetrable except by a silver thread.

When King Henry was called away to go to war against his son in France, Rosamund begged to be allowed to go with him. But he rejected her pleas as he wished her to have a life befitting a lady. She knew she was never to see her beloved Henry again and it was indeed to be so...

"Fair Rosamund", by J.W. Waterhouse (detail)

Queen Eleanor came to the secret bower, killed Sir Thomas and stole the silver thread from him. With this she gained entry to the bower and forced the Fair Rosamund to drink a poisoned draught.

When Henry returned and learned what had happened, he had a magnificent tomb erected over her coffin in the convent nearby at Godstow. Some 20 years later, a scandalized Bishop visiting from Lincoln had her remains placed outside the church, which shocked the nuns as they had known Rosamund to be a sweet and pious creature. So they laid the remains in a perfumed bag in a coffin in the Chapter House.

The ghost of Rosamund the Fair is said to haunt the waterways around Oxfordshire.