The Haunting of Borley Rectory

Borley Rectory was known as Britain’s most haunted house. Although the building has long since been destroyed, eager ghost hunters still flock to the site of the haunted house and still report strange goings on amidst the foundations.

Borley Rectory was a large Victorian Mansion, located in the small Village of Borley, Essex. Before it was destroyed by fire in 1939, it played host to the famous paranormal researcher, Harry Price, who wrote two books about the supernatural occurrences plaguing the rectory’s occupants.

Residents of Borley Rectory had reported strange occurrences such as scratching, banging, and even ghost sightings, from the moment the mansion was built, but it was not until 1929 when things really began to get hairy and more reports of strange phenomena were reported. Investigators from national newspapers were called in to witness the paranormal events for themselves.

This prompted Harry to get involved. During his time investigating the house, he reported a range of supernatural phenomena, including the ringing of phantom bells, strange rapping noises of no known origin, and objects which were able to float, slide, and propel themselves unaided. He was far from the only witness to experience the scary events taking place in the rectory.

Reverend Henry Bull

Reverend Henry Bull was a pastor at Borley Rectory in 1862. He was one of the residents most plagued by ghostly phenomena. Often, he would hear phantom footsteps when he was alone in the building. He would also hear sinister rapping noises which appeared to emanate from inside the walls of the large building, and he would even see strange lights dancing around the garden. He was also one of those unfortunate enough to be confronted by the sight of a ghostly nun who was spotted by several people over the years.

The phantom nun of Borley Rectory is said to be the sad spirit of an unfortunate 13th century nun who was having an affair with a monk at the nearby monastery. When they attempted to elope, her affair was discovered, and she was bricked up alive, in the walls of the rectory, as a punishment for her sins.

The Foyster Family

The next family to live at Borley Rectory were the Foyster family. Reverend Lionel Foyster and his Wife Marianne moved their family into the Victorian pile, and it was not long before their lives descended into terrifying chaos.

Not long after they had settled in to their new home, the Foyster family began to notice that all was not well in their home. Windows were smashed by unseen forces, doors were locked with no one inside, furniture would move when there was no one there to do the moving, and objects would disappear and turn up again in the most unusual of places.

Marianne seemed to be at the center of the hauntings. If there truly were spirits haunting that building, then it was Marianne they were out to get. Frequently, she would be slapped across the face by an unseen assailant and would be torn out of bed and tossed across the room by an unseen entity which would focus all of its energy on her. Sometimes, the angry ghost would even throw large, heavy objects at Marianne, causing her to flee in terror.

At one point, the walls of the haunted house were filled with ghostly messages, begging Mrs. Foyster to help. It was clear that the spirit of Borley Rectory wanted to get her attention.

This led to some of the reporters and paranormal researchers investigating the case to suggest that Mrs. Foyster herself was to blame for the phenomena. This was refuted, however, by many experienced researchers, including Harry Price, who had seen many strange things occur when Marianne was not even present.

The Foysters eventually had their fill of the barrage of supernatural assaults they had to endure on a daily basis, and they moved out of their haunted home in 1937, but that was not to be the end of the strange events in the mansion. Visitors to the most haunted house in Britain still reported strange rapping noises, moving objects, and the odd ghost sighting well after the Foysters had left – just as they had been reported well before they arrived.

In 1938, a séance was held at Borley Rectory. During the spooky session, a spirit was said to have told the sitters that the haunted house would be burned to the ground in 11 months. Just as predicted, the house was set alight and burned to the ground in 1939. When old bones were found in the ashes and debris of the fire, it was widely speculated that they belonged to the poor nun who had haunted the site since her cruel and untimely death.