The uncanny experiences at Borley Rectory, Essex, can be dated through the British press to 1929 and a series of articles published in the Daily Mirror.
Daily Mirror - Monday 10th June 1929;
"Ghost Visits To A Rectory.
Tales of a Headless Coachman and a Lonely Nun.
The Elopers.
Mysterious Happenings on Site of Old Monastery.
Ghostly figures of a headless coachman and a nun, an old time coach drawn by two bay horses, which appears and vanishes mysteriously, and dragging footsteps in empty rooms. All these ingredients of a first class ghost story are awaiting investigation by psychic experts near Long Melford, Suffolk.
The scene of the ghostly visitations is the rectory at Borley, a few miles from Long Melford. It is a building erected on the part of the site of a great monastery which, in the middle ages, was the scene of a gruesome tragedy.
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| Borley Church |
The present rector, the Rev. G. E. Smith, and his wife, made the rectory their residence in the face of warnings by previous occupiers. Since their arrival they have been puzzled and startled by a series of peculiar happenings which cannot be explained and which confirm the rumours they heard before moving in.
The first untoward happening was the sound of slow, dragging footsteps across the floor of an unoccupied room. Then one night Mr Smith, armed with a hockey stick, sat in the room and waited for the noise. Once again it came - the sound of feet in some kind of slippers treading on the bare boards.
Mr Smith lashed out with his stick at the spot where the footsteps seemed to be, but the stick whistled through the empty air, and the steps continued across the room.
Then a servant girl, brought from London, suddenly gave notice after two days' work, declaring emphatically that she had seen a nun walking in the wood at the back of the house.
Finally comes the remarkable story of an old fashioned coach, seen twice on the lawn by a servant, which remained in sight long enough for the girl to distinguish the brown colour of the horses.
Headless Coachman.
The same servant also declares that she has seen the nun leaning over the gate near the house. The villagers dread the neighbourhood of the rectory after dark, and will not pass it.
Peculiarly enough, all these 'visitations' coincide with the details of a tragedy which, according to legend, occurred at the monastery which once stood on this spot.
A groom at the monastery fell in love with a nun at the nearby convent runs the legend, and they used to hold clandestine meetings in the wood on to which the rectory now backs. Then one day they arranged to elope, and another groom had a coach waiting in the road outside the wood, so that they could escape.
From this point the legend varies. Some say that the nun and her lover quarreled, and that he strangled her in the wood, and was caught and beheaded, with the other groom, for his villainy. The other version is that all three were caught in the act by the monks, and that the two grooms were beheaded, and the nun buried alive in the walls of the monastery.
The previous rector at Borley, now dead, often spoke of the remarkable experience he had one night, when, walking along the road outside the rectory, he heard the clatter of hoofs. Looking around, he saw to his horror an old fashioned coach lumbering along the road, driven by two headless men."
Bizarre stuff indeed, the next day another thrilling installment.
Daily Mirror - Tuesday 11th June 1929;
"Mystery light in Haunted Wood.
Rector Joins in Quest for Rectory 'Ghosts.'
Eerie Vigil.
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| Rev. G. E. Smith |
'Ghost laying,' to amateurs, is a nerve wracking business. With a Daily Mirror photographer, I have just completed a vigil of several hours in the 'haunted' wood at the back of Borley Rectory, a few miles from Long Melford.
This wood, and the whole neighbourhood of the rectory, is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a groom and a nun who attempted to elope one night several hundred years ago but were apparently caught in the act.
Although we saw only one of the manifestations which have, according to the residents, occurred frequently in recent years, this by itself was peculiar enough.
The Rector Volunteers.
It was the appearance of a mysterious light in a disused wing of the building - an appearance which simply cannot be explained , because on investigation of the deserted wing it was ascertained that there was no light inside - although the watchers outside could still see it shining through the window!
When we saw the mysterious light shining through the trees we suggested that somebody should go into the empty wing and place a light in another window, for the sake of comparison. 'You go,' we said to each other, and finally the Rev. G. E Smith, the rector, who does not believe in ghosts, volunteered to do it.
Sure enough, the second light appeared and was visible next to the other, although, on approaching close to the building, this disappeared, while the rectors lamp still burned. Then we left alone to probe the mysteries of the haunted wood.
The 'Apparition.'
Queer rustling noises, the sighing of the wind in the trees, the swish of disturbed dead leaves, all worked on our frayed nerves.
Then we had a terrible shock. Staring at a clump of trees, I distinctly saw a white figure flitting about in the gloom. Seizing my companion's arm, and wondering whether I should run forward or back, I stared at the apparition while the photographer frantically attempted to focus his camera, let off a flashlight, throw off any detaining hand, and erect his tripod all at once.
He failed miserably, but by the time he had disentangled from the legs of his tripod, and picked up scattered pieces of camera, I had seen the joke. For the 'apparition' was the rectory maid, coming to ask us if we would take coffee.
Then, when the maid had gone, stillness again, until, after having examined numerous tree stumps, which looked, at a distance, rather like nuns, we decided to abandon the vigil."
In the next installment, the news correspondent brings in the expert.
Daily Mirror - Wednesday 12th June 1929;
Haunted Room in a Rectory.
Laying The 'Ghost.'
Psychic Expert to Investigate a Suffolk Mystery.
"One of the leading British psychological experts is to investigate the mystery of the 'ghost' of Borley Rectory, Suffolk.
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| Harry Price and Friend |
In an effort to lay the ghost by the heels, and either prove or disprove its existence, Mr Harry Price, honorary director of the National Laboratory of Psychic Research, is to conduct the investigation. Mr Price is famous in this country and in America for his research work and his exposures of exhibitions of psychic 'phenomena.'
Striking confirmation of the weird experiences of the present and past occupants of the rectory is forthcoming from Mrs E. Myford, of Newport, Essex. In a letter to the Daily Mirror Mrs Myford reveals that forty three years ago, when she was a maid at the rectory, similar phenomena were quite openly discussed in the rectory and neighbourhood.
'Much of my youth was spent in Borely and district, with my grandparents,' writes Mrs Myford, 'and it was common talk that the rectory was haunted.'
'Many people declared that they had seen figures walking at the bottom of the garden. I once worked at the rectory, forty three years ago, as an under nursemaid, but I only stayed there a month, because the place was so weird.'
Something In Slippers.
'The other servants told me my bedroom was haunted, but I took little notice of them because I knew two of the ladies of the house had been sleeping there before me. But when I had been there a fortnight something awakened me in the dead of night. Someone was walking down the passage towards the door of my room, and the sound they made suggested that the were wearing slippers.
As the head nurse always called me at six o'clock, I thought it must be she, but nobody entered the room, and I suddenly thought of the 'ghost.' The next morning I asked the other four maids if they had come to my room, and they all said they had not and tried to laugh me out of it.
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| Borley Rectory Drawing Room |
But I was convinced that somebody or something in slippers had been along that corridor, and finally I became so nervous that I left. My grandparents would never let me pass the building after dark, and I would never venture into the garden or the wood at dusk.'"
The vigil of the Psychic Researcher.
Daily Mirror - Friday 14th June 1929;
Weird Night in 'Haunted House.'
Strange Rappings.
"There can no longer be any doubt that Borley Rectory is the scene of some remarkable incidents.
Last night Mr Harry Price, director of the National Laboratory for Psychical Research, his secretary, Miss Lucy Kaye, the Rev. G. E. Smith, rector of Borley, Mrs Smith and myself were witnesses to a series of remarkable happenings.
All these things occurred without assistance of any medium or any kind of apparatus, and Mr Price, who is a research expert not a spiritualist, expressed himself puzzled and astonished at the results. To give the phenomena a thorough test, however, he is arranging for a seance to be held in the rectory with the aid of a prominent London medium.
The first remarkable happening was the dark figure I saw in the garden. We were standing in the summer house at dusk watching the lawn, when I saw the 'apparition' which so many claim to have seen, but owing to the deep shadows it was impossible for one to discern any definite shape or attire.
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| Sunday Sun (Newcastle) - Sunday 22nd December 1929 |
Falling Glass.
But something certainly moved along the path on the other side of the lawn, and although I immediately ran across to investigate, it had vanished when I reached the spot. Then, as we strolled towards the rectory discussing the figure, there came a terrific crash, and a pane of glass from the roof of a porch hurtled to the ground.
We ran inside and upstairs to inspect the rooms immediately over the porch, but found nobody.
A few seconds later we were descending the stairs, Miss Kaye leading and Mr Price behind me, when something flew past my head, hit an iron stove in the hall, and shattered.
With our flashlamps we inspected the broken pieces and found them to be sections of a red vase which, with its companion, had been standing on the mantlepiece of what is known as the blue room and which we had just searched.
Mr Price was the only person behind me and he could not have thrown the vase at such an angle to pass my head and hit the stove below.
Raps On Mirror.
We sat on the stairs in darkness for a few minutes and just as I turned to Mr Price to ask him whether we had waited long enough something hit my head. This turned out to be a common mothball, and had dropped from apparently the same place as the vase.
I laughed at the idea of a spirit throwing mothballs about, but Mr Price said that such methods of attracting attention were not unfamiliar to investigators.
Finally came the most astonishing event of the night. From one o'clock until nearly four this morning all of us, including the rector and his wife, actually questioned the spirit or whatever it was and received at times the most emphatic answers.
A cake of soap on the washstand was lifted and thrown heavily onto a china jug standing on the floor with such force that the soap was deeply marked. All of us were at he other end of the room when this happened. Our questions which we asked out loud, were answered by raps apparently made on the back of a mirror in the room, and it must be remembered that no medium or spiritualist was present."
Daily Mirror - Saturday 15th June 1929;
Seance Held in Haunted House.
How Questions Were Asked and Answered.
"An informal seance at the 'haunted' Borley Rectory as a preliminary to an orthodox one with a medium produced astonishing results. This took place in the presence of the rector and his wife, Mr Price, Miss Lucy Kaye, and myself.
Mysterious replies to our questions were given by means of one, two or three raps on the back of a mirror in the room. Light in the room made no difference.
The replies came clearly and distinctly. At times we lit the lamp and sat around the mirror, with everybody in the room in full sight, but there was no hesitation about the answers.
Emphatic Yes.
The only unsatisfactory feature was our inability to get a complete message by spelling out the alphabet; the 'spirit' was either a bad scholar or was speaking in Hindustani. Our first attempts were naturally to ascertain the identity of the rapper. We asked if it were the nun in the legend or one of the grooms, and a single rap denoting 'no' was the reply.
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| Rev. H. Bull |
Then I suggested to Mr Price that he should ask whether it were the Rev. H. Bull, the late rector. I had hardly finished the name when three hurried taps came on the mirror, which meant an emphatic 'yes.'
The following dialogue then took place, sometimes with the lamp lit, sometimes in darkness;
'Is it your footsteps one heard in this house?' - 'Yes.'
'Do you wish to worry or annoy anybody here?' - 'No.'
'Do you object to anybody now living in the house?' - 'No.'
Smoking During Seance.
'Do you merely wish to attract attention?' -'Yes.'
'Are you worried about something that you should have done when you were alive?' -'No.'
'If we had a medium here, do you think you could tell us what is the matter?' - 'Yes.'
Here followed a series of questions dealing with the late Mr Bull's private affairs, to which no answer at all was received. The whole proceeding was entirely informal, and we even smoked and chatted as if we were in the rectory drawing room instead of the room that is supposed to be haunted.
The worst part about these 'manifestations', from the rectors point of view, is that Borley is fast becoming a showplace for the whole of Suffolk and Essex. Crowds of visitors arrive on foot and by motor car to see the alleged haunted house."
The Daily Mirror's last article on the subject of Borley Rectory came on the 17th June.
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| Harry Price |
Daily Mirror - Monday 17th June 1929;
Shy Ghost of Borley Rectory.
Rowdy Visitors.
"Borley's ghost failed to rise to the occasion at the specially arranged seance in the now famous rectory. While apparently willing to demonstrate at an informal sitting, it flatley declined to exhibit itself before two mediums brought down specially from London.
Mr C. Glover Botham and Mr Harry Collard, the mediums, waited anxiously for some phenomena to occur, and sat sometimes in darkness and sometimes with the lamp lighted. The rectory continues to receive the unwelcome attentions of hundreds of curious people, and at night the headlights of their cars may be seen for miles around.
Rectors Appeal.
One 'enterprising' firm even ran a motorcoach to the rectory, inviting the public to 'come and see the Borley ghost', while cases of rowdyism were frequent, the noise at times being plainly heard inside the rectory.
'I have no intention of forsaking the rectory because of what has happened,' the Rev. G. E. Smith told me today, 'but may I appeal to people to be a little more considerate when they come here?'
In view of the fact that according to the answers received at the first informal 'seance', the 'spirit' was that of the Rev. H. Bull, the late rector of Borley, the following letter is interesting;-
'In 1922 I resided for some weeks at the rectory with the Rev. H. Bull,' writes Mr J. Harley of Nottingham Place W1 'and I distinctly recall him assuring me that on many occasions he had personal communications with spirits.
In his opinion the only way for a spirit if ignored, to get into touch with the living persons, was by means of manifestation causing some violent physical reaction, such as the breaking of glass or shattering of other and similar material elements.
The rector also declared that on his death, if he were discontented, he would adopt this method of communicating with the inhabitants of the rectory.'"
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| The Smiths and the Foysters relax in the garden. |
The Smiths left Borley Rectory in the July of 1929 and the building was left empty for a while. Between 1930 to 1935 the Rev. Foyster and family moved in, they experienced a variety of poltergeist activity during their time there, all of their experiences were recorded and sent on to Harry Price.
Throughout the 1930's Borley Rectory was a magnet for all those interested in the supernatural. Between 1935 and 1937 the rectory was empty, Harry Price eventually took over a year long rental of the property in May 1937 to carry on his investigation.
Price took out an advertisement in The Times for "responsible persons of leisure and intelligence" to work shifts observing and recording and paranormal activity. More of the same occurred, a nun called Marianne was contacted through a seance session. Another spirit called Sunex Amures was contacted who gave a threatening response, the bones of a murder victim would be found, and apparently the rectory would be burnt down at 9 o'clock on the night of the 27th March 1938, it wasn't.
Fire!
On the 27th February 1939 Captain W. H. Gregson moved into the rectory, while unpacking boxes he had an accident.........
Nottingham Evening Post - Tuesday 28th February 1939.
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| Capt. W. H. Gregson |
No Ghost This Time.
Most Haunted House On Fire.
"Borley Rectory, Sudbury, Suffolk, reputed to be 'the most haunted house in England,' was badly damaged by fire today.
An oil lamp was upset in the main hall, and before the fire brigade arrived the ground floor and upper storeys were involved. For the last 50 years there have been reports of strange happenings at the rectory. The figure of a nun passing through the rooms, strange lights in windows, and articles of furniture moving, have been frequently reported.
Because of these happenings it has been untenanted since 1930, and has only just been reopened. (Not so, as we have seen.) In 1927 the University of London Council for Psychical Investigation took over the house for several months, but never solved the mystery. (1937, and it was Laboratory of Psychic Research!)
Mr Harry Price, secretary of the council, afterwards stated 'as a scientist I can guarantee you a ghost.'"
The house was ruined, the roof had fallen in and the damage was beyond repair, in May 1939 a well attended psychic fete arranged by the London Ghost Club was held in the grounds, the event was covered by the BBC.
In September 1939 the second world war broke out and the public's attention was drawn away from ghostly manifestations. In 1943 two bones that were thought to be the remains of a young woman were found in the cellar and given a Christian burial, many thought they were the bones of a pig, in 1944 the rectory was demolished.
In 1946 Price would publish his findings in his book "The End Of Borley Rectory." On the 29th March 1948 Harry Price died, almost immediately doubters of his investigations surfaced, accusing him of faking his findings and embellishing his descriptions of paranormal activity. Books refuting the findings of Price have been published ever since.
But the legend of Borley Rectory was not finished.
Chelmsford Chronicle - Friday 26th August 1949.
The Vanishing Lady.
New Ghost Seen At Borley Rectory.
"Another ghost has been seen at Borley Rectory, by a clergyman waiting to conduct a funeral service. He said he had been waiting in the vestry and then went to the west door to look for the Rector.
As he walked towards the porch he saw the figure of a girl of about 20, with a black veil over her face. As he looked at her she vanished.
The Rev. A. C. Henning, Rector of Borley, said on Tuesday that hitherto this other clergyman had disbelieved stories that Borley was haunted. On the same day it was found that the key, kept hidden in the pupit, had been moved."
The site of Borley Rectory remains a peculiar place, whether it is the history embedded in our conscious or something a bit more unreal is one I'll leave to the individual reading this, for me, I visited the area many years ago and wasn't unhappy to leave, I wanted to explore the place as I'd read about it as a child in The World Of The Unknown; Ghosts, but there was an unwelcoming ambience, maybe it was just me, who knows.
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