24 July 2002 BGS Newsletter Issue 49

Welcome to the forty ninth edition of the Borley Ghost Society Newsletter.
If any associates visit Borley July 28 to observe the observers, let us know what transpires!

Web site off-line

I take that things aren't going too well with the phone company, since borleyrectory.com is still off-line? Well, if it's any consolation, the site's being sorely missed and I've received a number of inquiries from your regular UK visitors asking what's happened! I tell them that there are technical problems and that it should be up-and-running in the not-too-distant future. Hope you manage to get it sorted out soon.
As ever,
Stephen D. Smith
[The ghostbooks.com web site is dead. The Borley related items will be transferred over to the Borley web site in the near future. The Borley web site was down from June 28 to July 24 for a change of server. Thanks for your patience. Qwest dropped the ball, and we tried for a long time to pick up the pieces, which became more difficult than finding Borley mauscripts. As time went on, I asked myself if it was worth the struggle to fight, or to let the site "rest in peace." As I charted both sides, the arguments in favor of continuing were two to one. Ever since I started the web site in August of 1995, I've had this gnawing fear I was creating more trouble for the residents. However, since 1995, I've created the Church Preservation Fund, which has resulted in several hundred dollars being donated; with constant persuasion, at least SOME visitors have responded to my appeal to be more coinsiderate; additionally, I have persuaded several people to not even bother visiting; others have indicated they appreciate an unbiased, centralized headquarters to discuss the issues, pro and con. That said, the effort WILL continue.]

Interactive Center added

All of the following have now been added as part of an Interactive Center. Guestbook - Forum - Chatroom - Voter's forum - Guest map - e-mail. I will meet you all in the chat room for our first official meeting 28 July at 2000 hours GMT. Depending on interest, we will schedule a similar meeting every time a newsletter is published.

New Sidelights

A Look at Trevor Hall and Borley by Guy Lyon Playfair. "People do not become as negative and destructive as he was without reason."

"Ghosts in our footsteps," by Scott Cunningham and Steven D. Smith. ". . . .consider walking away from the patio of the church, for example, and then turn around and take a picture of the empty(?) space behind you."

"Search for Trevor Hall," by Harry Brown. "In the course of preparing a biographical bibliography of Trevor H. Hall, I realized early on that at some point, I would have to deal with the "Hall vs Borley" controversy, no matter how much I would like to focus the work on the two dozen books Hall wrote which were not about Borley. . . .I would appreciate communications from BGS members who have opinions concerning the (somewhat obvious) hypothesis here presented -- or who have any information concerning Trevor Hall and his work."

Search for Trevor Hall

I have wondered about the circumstances of Trevor Hall's academic degrees, particularly in light of Ivan Banks' rather snippy comment in Enigma of Borley Rectory, "Trevor Hall, who calls himself Dr. Hall...." and Dr. Pafford's comment quoted by Mollie Goldney that Hall "claimed to be an M A of Cambridge, which he never was...."
Being an admirer of Hall's work. . . . but not blind to the fact that none of us is perfect, I wanted to learn more about his academic status, and took the obvious route of querying Leeds University, from which he claims in his published biographies in several places the MA and PhD. I [had the following correspondence with] the Leeds University School of English.
With all the best from the Deep South, land of hospitality and humidity!
Harry Brown
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"I am engaged in compiling a bibliography and literary biography of Trevor Henry Hall, a businessman and amateur scholar who was a sometime member (in the '70's) of the Brotherton Collection Committee, a guest lecturer in bibliography and textual studies, and who was awarded the M.A. and Ph.D. from Leeds university at some point.
"I am contacting you for two purposes: first, to ascertain if any of Hall's papers are kept by the University, and second, to ascertain the dates and circumstances of the awarding of his degrees.
"I realise these are vague requests, and I do not wish to impose on your time. It would also be of the greatest assistance to me if you could provide me with a contact within the University School of English who might have known Dr. Hall as a colleague, which would have been during the 1970's and later.
"Thank you very much for your assistance!
"Sincerely,"
Harry C. Brown
Jackson, Mississippi, USA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear Mr Brown,
"Thank you for your enquiry about Dr Trevor Hall, passed on to me.
"I regret to say that the Library does not hold any of his papers. We have only a number of his published works and five early works on conjuring and related topics presented to the Library by him. I have asked the University Archivist to see what material he may have concerning Dr Hall's degrees and I will let you know what, if anything, he finds in due course.
"I myself have a very dim memory of Dr Hall as a member of the Brotherton Collection Advisory Committee when I joined the University in 1979. He left the Committee soon afterwards, in 1981 I believe, and I had little opportunity to meet him. So far as I am aware, the only member of our School of English with whom he had much contact was John Horden, then in charge of the School's Institute of Bibliography and Textual Criticism, subsequently a professor at the University of Stirling. Professor Horden will have retired some time ago and, indeed, may no longer be living. I cannot think of a present member of the School who would have any personal recollection of Dr Hall.
"With apologies that this is not more helpful,"
Chris Sheppard
Head of Special Collections
Leeds University Library.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear Mr Brown,
"I can now pass on some information from the University Archive about Dr Hall's degrees from Leeds University.
"Trevor Henry Hall was accepted as an MPhil student in the School of English for 3 years from October 1967. His proposed subject of research was "A historical and bibliographical account of early English and American books on conjuring." After 18 months he was accepted as a candidate for the degree of PhD with retrospective effect from October 1967. He submitted a thesis titled "A historical and bibliographical study of books on conjuring in English 1567-1850" and was awarded the degree of PhD (in absentia) in 1970. Later that same year he was accepted as a candidate for the degree of MA in Bibliography & Textual Criticism, and was awarded that degree (also in absentia) in 1971. He enquired about submitting an application for the degree of Litt.D in 1976 on the basis of his published work but was advised not to proceed on the grounds that his application contained insufficient new material for the award of another degree. He made a revised submission in 1980; he was informed in June 1981 that the Senate had decided not to award him the degree of Litt.D. He resigned from the Brotherton Collection Comittee in June 1981.
"Yours sincerely,"
Chris Sheppard.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Here, at least, I had a skeletal outline of his academic career at Leeds. It will be recalled (as so well described in the "Class and Scholarship" Essay) that THH was not a "university man" (his otherwise traceable formal studies had been as an articled clerk in a surveying firm and, later, various real estate professional schools). But he did receive the degrees he claimed (if in absentia) although going for the MA after the PhD indicates that the work he could show was judiciously managed, but ultimately wouldn't stretch quite far enough.
As English academic customs have always seemed a bit murky to me, we need clarification on the merits of a degree "in absentia" and the precise meaning of the phrase...I take it to mean a degree awarded for non-resident research and study, but I do not precisely know how the process works across the Atlantic. He was, as Banks points out, "turned down" for the Litt.D, but he was entitled to call himself Dr Hall if he wished, assuming that "in absentia" is at least an academic notch above "hon.caus."
That being said, it will be noticed by even the most superficial textual critic that the archivists' note -- particularly the last two sentences, --is pregnant with implications as to the personality of the subject and other matters. I will leave that for you to judge, but I would be remiss if I did not highlight the date of 1976 -- the initiation of the Litt.D quest -- and the date of the second request -- 1980. "Search for Harry Price" was published in 1978, and also that Hall was very, and deservedly, proud of his position on the Brotherton Collection Committee, which has charge of a major library collection. He was also (since 1971) one of three trustees of the Leeds Library, of which an ancestor had also been a trustee more than a century before.
Perhaps readers can throw more light on this. I am still searching for non-anecdotal evidence that he ever claimed the MA (Cantab.), which I'm afraid would have been a very foolhardy thing to do. In view of his two years as a Perrott Scholar at Cambridge, and the fact that he had an MA since 1971, he might have sort of "elided" the two in conversation so that it would be interpreted by some that he was "an MA of Cambridge." Just a theory. I want to be shown where he made that claim in print, and I am of the opinion that such cannot be demonstrated.
Harry Brown

Bibliography

Thanks to research by Harry Brown the entry for "The Locked Book of Private Information" has been modified to reflect a copy is held by Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. It has also been changed to reflect the debate over WHERE the two copies are located.
Glanville, Sidney H. The Haunting of Borley Rectory.1937-38. Also known as "The Locked Book of Private Information."Unpublished. (Principal investigator on Price's 1937 team. Held seances. Firm believer. Used as resource by Price, Wood, and others, so some assume this book was in the Price Library. Dispute over exactly where the two original versions are located. On page 126 of New Light on Old Ghosts, Trevor Hall says it was "in my library." On page xviii of The Last Case of Sherlock Holmes, Trevor Hall quoted from a letter he reportedly received from Glanville, "I am sending you by registered post my original notes of the observations I made at Borley Rectory. I lent it to Harry Price and it found its way to London University to which he bequeathed his books. . . . It was returned to me when I asked for it at a time when I wanted to refer to what I had originally written, but as I never gave it to Harry Price I am free to do as I wish with it and I would like you to have it. This is because I feel that you should have it in your library, where it will be preserved and available at your discretion." It was believed by the curator of the Harry Price Library and by the Librarian at the Universiy of London that Hall sold it to an unknown American for a relatively small amount. - Alan Wesencraft - J.H.P. Pafford - Peter Underwood copied it verbatim for his own records and described it as a scrap book with "pasted-in photographs, cuttings, booklets, posters, tracings and plans." Bound in leather and fitted with a lock by Price. In The End of Borley Rectory, Price said "If all other existing records of Borley were to be destroyed, and only the Locked Book' was saved, it would form a complete history .. . of the haunting of Borley Rectory." (p. 117) Indeed, it has formed the basis for many subsequent studies with just over 161 pages. Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island lists the following in their catalogue: "Glanville, Sidney H. Author(s): Glanville, Sidney H. ; Hall, Trevor H. Publication: London : [Trevor Hall],; England; London. Year: 1952 Description: [5], 183 [i.e. 198] leaves : ill., plans ; 26 cm. Language: English. NOTES: One of two typescript copies, with additions, of Glanville's original typewritten manuscript. (etc.)

Cooper, Ashley. Heart of our History. Bulmer Historical Society, 1994. "500 years of village history along the Suffolk-Essex border." (Gives a very intimate portrayal of day-to-day life in the Borley neighborhood, told in the words of the people who lived it. No word of the haunting.) ** excerpts
Book courtesy of Andrew Clarke, who writes:
Ashley is a local farmer. He does a lot of lectures round about to local history groups and local societies. I know or knew quite a lot of the people he interviewed. Ashley has done three other books too which I must find and send you. Quite a bit about Borley Mill (again no hauntings).
You'll be interested to know that the famous Akenfield describes very well what life was like around here in the Bull era, although the stories came from quite a wide area (there was an excellent film made of the book). It was based in the locality. [The author] Ronald Blythe was born in Sudbury.
It is hard to imagine now how desperate life was for the farming community, in fact the whole east-anglian economy, in the 1920s and 1930s. This is so well illustrated when one compares life at Borley and Pentlow rectories in the prosperous 1860s with the gaunt and awful poverty of the 1920s and 30s. (They depended on the Tithe for their income).
I'm really enjoying Hugh Barret's 'Early to Rise', recounting his early farming experiences near Woodbridge. Magical stuff, sad and funny in equal dollops. Very similar to farm life around here (well, it is less than an hour's drive away) You'll remember that Marianne lived near there for a while.

Does any associate remember any mention of an interview with Nik Taylor? Time frame? Was it ever published?

Letters to the Editor

I greatly enjoyed Scott Cunningham's and Stephen D. Smith's remarks in their correspondence entitled, "Ghosts in Our Footsteps?" I thought both of the gentlemen brought up intelligent points, with much thought behind their words. What a fascinating topic -- if someone were to go to the spot where someone had experienced a ghost, and repeat as closely as possible the actions of the person at that time, might the ghost "materialize," drawn forth by the similar circumstances? I was keenly interested in the discussion, and appreciate the intellectual honesty and persistance of both Scott and Stephen in making their points. Well done, gentlemen -- any further thoughts on the issue?
I appreciate Gary Cooke's efforts to record Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) at Borley Church. I'm sure it was not easy for you to arrange this experiment, Gary, and I do wish you'd had more positive results, but of course this doesn't mean there wasn't "someone home" at the time. I hope you have better luck with your future experiments, whether at Borley or at other reputedly haunted spots. Thanks for the report!
Harry C. Brown's "Travels With Dr. Joad" is a fun read, a delightful portrait of an intelligent and eccentric man. The photo of Joad "in bed" with Harry Price is (no pun intended -- honest!) priceless. Thanks for taking the time to research this gentleman, Harry -- I think a biography of Dr. Joad might prove as interesting as one of Harry Price.
If, as the "Philip Experiment" (conducted by Iris and George Owen and others, and detailed in Iris' book, Conjuring Up Philip) suggests, poltergeist-like phenomena were demonstrated under controlled laboratory conditions, why hasn't the scientific community commented on this? It seems to be a far more remarkable proof of (at least) telekinesis than any other laboratory research has shown. And, if such phenomena (objects moving through apparently mental or supernatural means) were proven to occur without a doubt, wouldn't this lend more credence to Harry Price's efforts at Borley, and to other famous "hauntings" where poltergeist effects were observed? I'm afraid I haven't read carefully through Conjuring Up Philip, though I do have a copy, so I might be mistaken in thinking that the phenomena occurred under controlled conditions. If so, I do wish a group of serious researchers would attempt a similar experiment under the most stringent laboratory conditions, so we would have conclusive proof of the existence of telekinesis. I don't see why an extended experiment, over the course of a full year, at least, could not have similar results to the Philip endeavor. Such proof would be invaluable to ghost researchers, who would no longer have an automatic sentence of fraud delivered to them by the scientific community. If the action is not produced by a ghost, then perhaps it is telekinesis from one of the living? Could Marianne, Adelaide, Henry Bull, or Rev. Smith been unconsciously producing some of the knocking and stone throwing? Or even Harry Price? I think such proof, more than anything else, might finally give legitimacy to parapsychology, and also raise the possibilty that a spirit might be able to manipulate the material world, if a living person is capable of it.
I'm very interested in the "orbs" and mists photographed by Malcolm Mitchell, Gary Cooke and others, and the "upwardly mobile white blobs" commented on by Stephen D. Smith and Scott Cunningham. I'm still waiting on more evidence before I decide whether I believe in "spirit photography" or not, but it has been wonderful seeing the photos taken by some of our members. I myself find the "mists" more compelling than the "orbs," since I think the former are harder to explain away as raindrops or dust, or even cigarette smoke. The photo with the "red eyes" beside the young man is particularly compelling -- distant headlights, or something from the spirit world? I wish I lived closer to England, so I could try my own luck with photography at Borley and other "haunted sites." I will be visiting the Whaley House in San Diego early next month, which is one of the US's more notoriously haunted houses, and I hope to be able to take some digital photos of the interior. However, I rather suspect that ghosts do not like tourists or cameras, so I'm not terribly hopeful of capturing an orb, mist, or other possibly spectral manisfestation. I'll try, regardless, with apologies to whatever spirits may be present!
Linda Cody

I have been painting Borley Rectory for hours on end now. I haven't enjoyed doing a painting this much in a very long time. I play 'ghosts' while I paint a lot as it is the most relaxing. I love it when the Borley song comes around. Staring at Borley for so many hours is absorbing. Pentlow tower is supposed to be the right color but I am wondering was the Rectory Cottage, (seen in Chris Wrights visit, photos taken 1991-1995, from your book Borely Rectory Ghosts that will not die) the same color as Borley Rectory, because it seems the windows are exactly the same and I'm guessing it was a sister building, done in the same exact style and colors. I have read the Widow of Borley and it was deeply disturbing to me. I think the writer is a bitter pill, how could a woman do all that he claims and then be completely different in the U.S. She would have to have changed entirely, which is ludicrous. I think he must be a very dark person inside himself to see someone like her in that way. On the other hand I wish I had known her, she seemed to be a complex person. . . . In my opinion I think the house must've reacted to her in particular which is why the sudden increase in paranormal activity. She being young and Harry Bull being one of the influences in the house. I think that place has a dark side in the mix too though. I have to wonder if she didn't experience dissasociated states there under the influence of the house, which is pretty frightening, but I think it's possible. Do the other Borley writers think this may have occurred? Disassociated states. . . .are . . . . generally speaking when a person experiences a period of time with a kind of amnesia and they can be caused by great stress. But I'm only speculating regarding this happening to Marianne. I would think she could be influenced to enter one of these states and be controlled by whatever was living in that house that was causing all the disturbances, it seems reasonable to me, but it surely is speculation on my part. The problem with such a state is the person coming out of it has no memory of it. Missing time is one clue that you've been in such a state. Waking up in a place you can't account for is another. I started to wonder what on earth Marianne made for dinner, or did she cook?
Barbara Clements
[Ah, I don't think I used the word "pink?" Ivan Banks writes; "The cottage is older than supposed - it seems to be contemporary with the old Herringham rectory, which was demolished for Henry Bull's massive pile. . . . the 1841 tithe map, and the 1839 tithe list tell us that this building was on that site before the big Rectory was built. . . " pp. 24-5. Therefore, the brick preceded my mother's house by over 20 years. Pentlow Tower, on the other hand, IS contemporary, dating to 1859, and built by the same architect. Of course, the color of the bricks in the tower would be subject to changing color in the subsequent 143 years, but I would have no idea just how much fading would have occurred. I am absolutely thrilled by your desire to get it "right." THANK YOU!!!!!! There might be a danger in asking about "other Borley writers." I should think one must rely on the original record, as any author coming at it from an historical perspective could not possibly have a "feel" for what was going on. Certainly no writer AFTER the fire could "feel" what was going on, they would just be writing about what someone else had written. That leaves - Price, Henning, Glanville, Turner, Underwood (?) . . . . . . . . . "Dissassociation" is an interesting theory, and I appreciate your explanation. It would seem logical, that if she had this happened at Borley, it would happen elsewhere. It did not, even though we were living under stress in the US as well - albeit a different type. She is surely one of the most thoroughly investigated people in the history of parapsychology, and no research has ever mentioned this "symptom," or any other - quite the contrary, her lack of physical/mental abnormalities has been part of the "evidence" used to claim she was responsible for the alleged haunting. I would think there would be some sort of "residue," but none existed. She lived until age 93 with her full facilities. Thanks for bringing forward a few more memories, which have been added to Chapter 14 of The Most Haunted Woman in England. "I did enjoy her other cooking, though, and I know Mom liked creating fancy dishes. She would cut oranges up and make delicious marmalade, or bake luscious, flaky eclairs. When I was younger, she served our eggs in egg cups with the top cut off. I bought her a mixer when I was VERY young, so I must have been used to her cooking. Even though her kitchen was a mess, she miraculously managed to pull treats out of it until just about a year before she moved to Utah. She hated messing with chickens, but that was her best dinner - we even had a RARE guest or two to the house for her roast chicken! I don't recall her ever using a recipe - although she told me repeatedly that to be a good cook, all you needed to do was follow the directions. She must have cooked frequently somewhere along the line, because she had the recipes in her head. She loved to fish - and prepared everything either one of us caught, even though she did insist I clean them! Her favorite food was pork chops - pronounced 'poke-chops' in fun."]

Very many thanks for BGS Newsletter 48 - most interesting as always. More power to your elbow!
With regard to Lee Ferris and anyone else interested in photographs pertaining to the Borley Rectory case, my extensive collection of pertinent photographs, including photos of the Rectory and garden before the fire and later, the people who lived at Borley and some visitors, Borley Church, the investigations and excavations (especially those carried out 1954-59), the surviving coach-house/cottage, broadcasting interviews, Harty Price, etc., plus maps and plans - more than 600 items in all - are now handled by the Mary Evans Picture Library at 59 Tranquil Vale, London, SE5 0BS.
Chris Page may like to know that an objective overview of "The Important Langenhoe Haunt" is the subject of Chapter 8 (38 pages) together with seven photographs in my Host of Hauntings published by Leslie Frewin in 1973, and there is an eight-page entry for Langenhoe and a photograph in my A-Z of British Ghosts, Chancellor Press 1992. The case only came to light after the death of Harry Price and I first hear dof it from the Rev. A.C. Henning when he sent me a signed copy of his Haunted Borley in 1949.
I knew Dr. C.E.M. Joad and would like to see the piece on Joad and his adventures with and without Harry Price that Harry Brown writes about.
Best always,
PETER UNDERWOOD

In the Borley picture of the fireplace with the monk's there is a clock on top of the mantle. I happen to have a clock the exact same style. It is a Seth Thomas Adamantine, the year mine was made is 1899, I'm not sure if they reproduced the same style in other years. As little as the picture is I can see the shine of the punched metal emblem on the sides that is probably the same as the one I have, this is a picture of one of these clocks.
Barbara Clements

Here are two letters and five pictures the Parish Priest, Mr. Revd. Captain Brian A. Sampson sent to me. One picture shows himself. I'm very glad and proud to be in contact with him. He seems to be a very kind man and once again I call up on every BGS-member to contribute a little bit money to support the Borley Church Preservation Fund. It's for a good purpose! Kind regards from Germany to you and all BGS-members!
Birgit Brenner
[Part of the letter from Revd. Sampson reads, "Here are the pictures I promised you. . . Borley folk are so grateful for your interest in the Church! . . . .thanks for the letter with your donation. . . You mentioned in your letter that you had always found the Church locked when you came to Borley. This is required by our insurance company, as they have paid for repairing the Church after a fire on one occasion; for new communion vessels, a broken window, a broken altar cross and a broken down door on another occasion; and a broken stained glass window on yet another occasion. We have to take their advice or they wouldn't insure us any more. . . . The Churchwarden who looks after the Church gets very fierce with visitors until she knows who they are, because they will come round at night and ask for the key! When they come in the day-time and look like they really are interested, she still insists on showing them round herself. The Police have told us never to lend the key to anyone, or to let them stay inside on their own, especially in the dark. You would be surprised how many people want to stay the night 'to talk to the ghost.' Unfortunately, it is the antics of the silly ones that spoil it for the genuine ones. . . . Brain Sampson"]

Glad to see that the site is being kept so well updated! I was particularly glad to come across the church floorplan there. It agrees very well with my memory of our short visit there in Aug-Sep of 1953.
The visitor book is in the same location (how wonderful it would be if the one from 1953 could be checked to determine the exact date). I've mo recollection, however, of seeing any stove, organ, pulpit, lecturn, or choir area. Also, all of the natural light in the building seemed to come from the windows on the west and north sides. (It was around noon, and the yard on the south side of church WAS well sunlit.)
As I've mentioned before, that south yard seemed in heavy vegetation (more in keeping with those 1947-era photos than any before or since). Perhaps then a large boundary hedge was even obscuring much of the view of the church and its grounds from the road proper. Considering their "troubles" with "visitors', we WERE indeed lucky that they simply let us have the key to take a self-guided tour of the church interior.
I was aged 6-1/2 during that 10-15 minute visit into Borley Church so some things likely escaped my notice. The altar area seemed dimly lit, even though that 1947 interior photo shows a substantial window on the east end. There were some metal plaques on the south wall there. By contrast the much larger Long Melford church interior was very full of light but lacked the feeling of "intimacy".
Last December I finally added this section to one of my [web] sites with a link to yours. Too bad that we didn't take our camera along that day! We went on to the churches at Long Melford and Lavenham the same afternoon, and they were very photogenic as well.
Patrick Dyer
San Antonio, TX

Three friends and I travelled to Borley, arriving in the churchyard at 6.24pm. It struck me that this figure was also the date (i.e. 6/24) but, to be honest, that was the only "curious" thing about the trip. It was a rather warm day but there was a notable breeze, so the heat wasn't sticky or oppressive. One of my companions knew absolutely nothing about Borley; another had heard of it but had read nothing on the subject; and the third had read just a little about it. . . .On this occasion, both in daylight and at night, Borley seemed quite unlike any other time I have visited it. The atmosphere was somehow calmer and lighter. To be honest, I don't know, at this moment in time, if I shall return there again. Something tells me that either I have changed or Borley has and, therefore, perhaps it's best for me to remember the place as it was on this visit? This seems to have been a kind of closure for me. Perhaps a few ghosts - either mine or Borley's - have indeed been laid to rest.
With best wishes,
Stephen D. Smith
[Complete photo essay.]

I was wondering if u could send me some info on the paranormal! I'm asking this because I have recently gotten into the paranormal. megan bailie
[My sole - and dedicated - interest is the alleged haunting at the former Borley Rectory, where my mother lived for five years. You will find thousands of files devoted to that study on my web site. At one time, I kept a list of links to other allegedly paranormal phenomena, but could not keep it current due to the rapid changes. Still, you might find something worthwhile on that web page. Good luck!]

My name is Heidi and I am very interested in your site. I would like to know the address and directions to get to Borley Rectory.
many thanks
Heidi

i read up on borley rectroy in a book called the a-z of british ghots and i want to know the story about the nun that wa meant to have alked borley on my birthday 28th july if ome on can please let me know if they know the story.
macca2003
[The legend of the nun is scattered thorughout the web site in various places. Please refer to FAQs, and The Locked Book.

I'm . . . . enjoying the Newsletter as much as ever. The fact that it seems to be going from strength to strength is in no small part due to your tenacious and enthusiastic editorship. Long may you flourish!
Richard Lee-Van den Daele

Thanks for another excellent newsletter [#47]. Coming up on number 50! Advance congratulations.
Guy Lyon Playfair

At the risk of protracting even further my theories about the effects obtained when rain (or other moisture) and camera flashlights are brought together:
Here is a photograph I snapped at night with my digital camera through an open window in my house during a recent downpour of rain. I have to say that I cannot help but notice the similarity between the effects obtained in this picture and in other photographs on the Borley website.
I am NOT saying that rain/moisture accounts for all of the "blobs" or "orbs" or whatever else people may call them that are seen in photographs of Borley, but I do believe it is responsible for some and, furthermore, I suggest that my photograph provides ample evidence and reinforcement of this belief.
Let me state for the record that I am a believer in ghostly activity at Borley and that I am not simply out to "debunk" the alleged phenomena there. However, I do seek to separate the "natural" happenings from the "supernatural" ones.
With best wishes,
Stephen D. Smith

I think it could be a relative of the bulls maybe. I dont think he could be a gost could he?
K LESPAUL MAN 45

This photo would be late Victorian/early Edwardian - so around 1880. It would have to be late Victorian as the child would have much longer hair. The reason being is that in those days they used to dress up there young children(including the boys)in dresses.
My mum works at 'the Museum of Costume' and used to work at 'the Roman Baths' in Bath - where I live, so she knows much more than me. But I read a lot of history books too... I am absolutley facinated by ghosts, aliens, UFO's, Vampires and just generally the paranormal. I plan to visit Borley quite soon after a tour of 'the Abbey Cemetary' in Bath - (I have also Been to Highgate)... I've also had experiances with ghosts as well as my family; Objecst flying across the room, People being pushed down stairs and I have been 'chased' up my stairs by a ghost. The ghost in my house seems to have calmed down now since my last experiance.
Can you tell me how to become a member of the Borley ghost society, please? Carmen-Jade Hillier
[This is the most frequently visited page on my web site. It sounds like you are an excellent candidate for the Society! The server is being moved, and may suffer down-time during the next few weeks. When all is connected, please visit theBorley Ghost Society web page.]

I think this site is interesting and have a great fasination for ghosts and what happened to them to cause them to stay here in thier after life. I have a few questions I was wondering if you could answer
1) How did the fire at Borley rectory start ?
-was it deliberate?
-who was killed in it ?
Thank you for your time
J.T.Knowler
[You will find several versions of the fire inside the Background Tour. No one died, and the debate still goes on if it was intentional or not.]

Associate profiles

I live North of El Paso in NM. I decided to spook myself with ghost books at the library before I reached my teens. This was at least thirty something years ago. Take three or four ghost books off a shelf in a public library and what do you suppose the chances that Borley Rectory is shown on the cover of at least one of them is?
The Borley Rectory web sight resparked my interest in informally researching ghosts. I actually stumbled across Borley web site researching "Haunting of Hill House". Borley Rectory stands out because Borley Rectory literature is extensive and provides many perspectives. Indeed, plenty of experiences reported and opinions about those experiences to consider too.
If you haven't yet guessed I'm on the side of the fence that believes that science cannot yet satisfactorily explain everything that happened at Borley Rectory, not that practical jokes were never played there.
Scott Cunningham

Tips

If you see a news article, magazine, or web site about Borley, or with an interesting take on ghosts and the paranormal, drop the editor a line and your tip will be passed along. No, UFOs, please.

Feedback

Send your feedback via E-mail. The editor will love to hear from you.
Borley Rectory "home page"