Borley Rectory, in the village of Borley, Essex, United Kingdom, had the reputation of being "the most haunted house in England" and, possibly, the world. Built in 1863,^[1] the house was destroyed by fire in 1939,^[2] but remains a source of controversy. , Borley is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. ... For other meanings of Essex, see Essex (disambiguation). ... Reputed ghost of a monk. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Year 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

Borley Rectory was constructed near Borley Church by the Reverend Henry Dawson Ellis Bull in 1862,^[3] and he moved in a year after being named rector of the parish^[4]. The large brick building was built in a style influenced by Pugin, that replaced the rather earlier Georgian house built for a Reverend Herringham, which Henry Bull demolished. The rectory would eventually be enlarged to house a family of 14 children. The word rector (ruler, from the Latin regere) has a number of different meanings, but all of them indicate someone who is in charge of something. ... People named Pugin include: Augustus Charles Pugin (1768/9 to 1832): French born English artist and architectural draftsman Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852): son of the above, architect and advocate of the gothic style Edward Welby Pugin (1834-1875): eldest son of the above and also an architect This...

Borley Rectory in 1892

The church dates from the 12th century and serves a rather scattered rural community making up the parish. There are several substantial farmhouses, and the fragmentary remains of Borley Hall, once the seat of the Waldegrave family. Ghost-hunters like to quote the legend^{[citation needed]} of a Benedictine monastery supposedly built in this area about 1362, according to which a monk from the monastery carried on a relationship with a nun from a nearby convent. After their affair was discovered, the monk was executed and the nun bricked up alive in the convent walls. It was confirmed in 1938 ^{[citation needed]} that this legend had no historical basis and seems to have been invented by the rector's children to romanticise their red-brick rectory. The story of the walling up of the nun was probably taken from a novel by Rider Haggard. Image File history File links BorleyRectory1892. ... Image File history File links BorleyRectory1892. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... For the college, see Benedictine College. ... Monastery of St. ... Centuries: 13th century - 14th century - 15th century Decades: 1310s 1320s 1330s 1340s 1350s - 1360s - 1370s 1380s 1390s 1400s 1410s Years: 1357 1358 1359 1360 1361 - 1362 - 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 See also: 1362 state leaders Events Under Edward III, English replaces French as Englands national language, for the... For other uses, see Monk (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Nun (disambiguation). ... This article is about an abbey as a religious building. ... Sir Henry Rider Haggard ( June 22, 1856 – May 14, 1925), born in Bradenham, Norfolk, England, was a Victorian writer of adventure novels set in locations considered exotic by readers in his native England. ...

Hauntings

The first known reports of paranormal events appear to date from about 1863. At this time, a few locals later remembered hearing unexplained footsteps within the house. On 28 July 1900, four of the daughters of the rector reported seeing what they thought was the ghost of a nun from 40 yards' distance near the house in twilight: they tried to talk to it, but it disappeared as they got nearer.^[5] Various people would claim to witness a variety of puzzling incidents, such as a phantom coach driven by two headless horsemen, through the next four decades. Henry Dawson Ellis Bull died in 1892 and his son, the Reverend Harry Bull, took over the living.^[6] In 1911, he married a younger divorcee, Ivy, and the couple moved with her daughter to nearby Borley Place until 1920 (when he took over the rectory), while his unmarried sisters moved to Chilton Lodge a few miles away. Paranormal is an umbrella term used to describe a wide variety of reported anomalous phenomena. ... Year 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Ghost (disambiguation). ...

On 9 June 1927, the rector, Harry Bull, died and the rectory again became vacant.^[7] In the following year, on 2 October,^[8] the Reverend Guy Eric Smith and his wife moved into the home. One day, soon after moving in, Mrs Smith was cleaning out a cupboard when she came across a brown paper package, inside which was the skull of a young woman.^[9] Shortly after, the family would report a variety of incidents including the sounds of servant bells ringing (on which the strings had been cut), lights appearing in windows and unexplained footsteps. In addition, Mrs Smith believed she saw a horse-drawn carriage at night. The Smiths contacted The Daily Mirror to ask them to put them in touch with the Society for Psychical Research. On 10 June 1929, the newspaper sent a reporter who promptly wrote the first of a series of articles detailing the mysteries of Borley. The paper also arranged for Harry Price, a paranormal researcher, to make his first visit to the place that would ultimately make his name famous. He arrived on 12 June.^[10] Immediately, objective "phenomena" of a new kind appeared, such as the throwing of stones, a vase and other objects. "Spirit messages" were tapped out from the frame of a mirror. Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses of Skull, see Skull (disambiguation). ... A bell is a simple sound-making device. ... Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a British tabloid daily newspaper. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Harry Price (January, 1881 - March, 1948) was a British psychic researcher and author He was educated in London and Shropshire. ...

Finally driven from their home by the poor state of the house, the Smiths left Borley on 14 July 1929 and, after some difficulty in finding a replacement, the Reverend Lionel Foyster, a first cousin of the Bulls, and his wife Marianne moved into the rectory^[11] with their adopted daughter Adelaide on 16 October 1930. Lionel Foyster wrote an account of the various strange incidents that happened, which he sent to Harry Price. Price estimated that, between the Foyster's moving in and October 1935, many incidents took place there, including bell-ringing, windows shattering, stones, bottle-throwing and wall-writing, and their daughter was locked in a room with no key. Marianne Foyster reported to her husband a whole range of poltergeist phenomena which included her being thrown from her bed.^[12] On one occasion, Adelaide was attacked by "something horrible". Twice, Foyster tried to conduct an exorcism, but his efforts were futile. In the middle of the first, Foyster was struck in the shoulder by a fist-size stone. Because of the publicity in The Daily Mirror, these incidents attracted much attention at the time from several psychic researchers who investigated, and were unanimous in suspecting that they were caused, consciously or unconsciously, by Marianne Foyster. Mrs Foyster later stated that she felt that some of the incidents were caused by her husband in collaboration with one of the psychic researchers, but other events appeared to her to be genuine paranormal phenomena. Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Saint Francis exorcised demons in Arezzo, fresco of Giotto Exorcism (from Late Latin exorcismus, from Greek exorkizein - to adjure, correctly pronounced exercism) is the practice of evicting demons or other evil spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed (taken control of). ...

The Foysters left Borley as a result of Lionel's ill health, and Harry Price, after a gap of more than five years, renewed his interest in the house, renting the building for a year from May 1937 to May 1938.^[13] Through an advertisement in The Times on 25 May 1937,^[14] and subsequent personal interviews, he recruited a corp of 48 "official observers", mostly students, who spent periods, mainly at weekends, at the Rectory with instructions to report any phenomena which occurred. In March 1938, Helen Glanville conducted a Planchette séance in Streatham in south London.^[15] Price reported that Glanville made contact with two spirits. The first was that of a young nun who identified herself as Marie Lairre.^[16] She said she had been murdered on the site of Borley Rectory. Her answers were consistent with the local legend (see above). Her French name, though, was a puzzle. She was a French nun who left her religious order, married, and came to live in England. The groom was supposedly none other than Henry Waldengrave, the owner of the 17th-century manor house. Price was convinced that the ghostly nun who had been seen for generations was Marie Lairre, condemned to wander restlessly as her spirit searched for a holy burial ground. The wall writings were her pleas for help. The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1788. ... A planchette is a triangular board supported by casters which when lightly touched by the fingers is supposed to spell out supernatural messages. ... Look up séance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The second spirit to be contacted identified himself by the name of "Sunex Amures".^[17] He claimed that he would set fire to the rectory at nine o'clock that night. He also said that, at that time, the bones of a murdered person would be revealed. The predictions of Sunex Amures came to pass, in a way, but not that night (27 March 1938). In February 1939, the new owner of the rectory reported that he was unpacking boxes when an oil lamp in the hallway overturned.^[18] The fire quickly spread, and Borley Rectory was severely damaged. An onlooker said she saw the figure of the ghostly nun in the upstairs window. The burning of the rectory was investigated by the insurance company and determined to be fraudulent. Harry Price conducted a brief dig in the cellars of the ruined house and, almost immediately, two bones of a young woman were discovered. A subsequent meticulous excavation of the cellars over three years revealed nothing further. Antique bronze oil lamp with Christian symbol (replica) An oil lamp is a device used for lighting or for preserving a flame that is fueled by animal, vegetable or mineral oil. ...

Aftermath

Since the destruction of the rectory, the events there have been investigated and argued from various angles. After Harry Price's death in 1948, three members of the English Society for Psychical Research, two of whom had been Price's most loyal associates, investigated his claims about Borley and published their findings in a book, The Haunting of Borley Rectory, in 1956, which concluded that any evidence for a haunting was hopelessly confused by Harry Price's duplicity. The "Borley Report", as the SPR study has become known, stated that much of the phenomena were either faked or were due to natural causes such as rats and the strange acoustics due to the odd shape of the house. Subsequently, Robert Hastings, an SPR member, discussed several of the charges of duplicity and falsification of evidence made against Price in a paper to the SPR called An Examination of the "Borley Report", without being able to rebut them convincingly. Hastings's report was never published in book form and is often overlooked. Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further books on the Rectory hauntings have appeared over the years, including a collaboration in 1973 by ghost-hunter and author Peter Underwood and Price's literary executor Paul Tabori entitled The Ghosts of Borley, which is generally sympathetic to the idea of paranormal activity at Borley and defends Price against accusations of fraud. A similar approach was taken in Ivan Banks' The Enigma of Borley Rectory of 1996. In 1992 Robert Wood published a study of Marianne Foyster and Borley entitled The Widow of Borley, which was in a similar vein to the "Borley Report". The bibliography continues into 2000 with Louis Mayerling's largely fictional We Faked The Ghosts of Borley Rectory. For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... This article is about the English parapsychologist. ... A literary executor is a person with decision-making power in respect of the literary estate of an author who has died. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ...

References

1. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 16
2. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 13
3. ^ Bury and Norwich Post August 1862
4. ^ Suffolk Free Press February 20 1862
5. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Pages 28-30
6. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 16
7. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 16-17
8. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 17
9. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 20
10. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 19
11. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 17
12. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 36
13. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 38, 40
14. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 38
15. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 276-280
16. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 276-280
17. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 279-280
18. ^ The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, 1946. Page 13

Bibliography

The End of Borley Rectory, Harry Price, Harrap & Co. Ltd., hardback, 1946.

External links

• Harry Price Website - Contains a comprehensive section on Borley Rectory
• Local History site for Borley- Has a comprehensive historical analysis of the Borley Rectory affair
• Complete text of a book on the Borley Rectory affair written by a local Historian. The Bones of Borley
• Large collection of photographs of Borley Rectory and the various participants of the affair