28 September 2003 BGS Newsletter Issue 63
Welcome to the sixty-third edition of the Borley Ghost Society Newsletter. Next month we celebrate five years of the Society.

The writing is on the wall

I've been looking at the handwriting links you suggested, and finally came up with a little comparison chart of the words 'Marianne' from your mothers' letters to you, and the words 'Marianne' from the wall writings. I've added it to the Sidelight, No Hand was Visible. I've also added that you do not recognise that the wall writings are in your mothers handwriting. It was most interesting studying those specimens of her writing. . . . I'd like to find examples of her handwriting which include the words 'get', 'please', 'help' or 'light'. Do such letters survive? That would clinch the argument one way or another. I searched through the letters you provided and found only the word 'getting'. It is inconclusive. It just bugs me that she was so definite in her denials of having written them, that Lionel did not recognise it as her writing, and that you don't either. You have to admit they are very similar! Obviously, the wall-writings were done with the non-preferred hand, and done thirty years before (I wonder if there are any signatures from the 1930s beside the one on the wall which is also M ari anne.) I'll have to go back an look at other words. That way of doing the M is very unusual. Why not set it up as a voting thing on the website? it is about time we had a bit of interactivity. Her handwriting (to you). . . . is a very British style-it was the way that was taught in schools. Schools were taught a cursive that was called 'Marion Richardson'. This was current from the start of the century and it is possible that Marianne was taught this type of cursive. 'Joined-up' writing was considered sloppy by the Johnson/Gill School of writing so generations of schoolchildren were taught this style. Actually, Marianne's handwriting is a debased italic which is not naturally joined as it is usually taught. (I used to be a primary schoolteacher.)
Andrew Clarke

Although I see some similarities between the two columns of Marianne signatures [in the Andrew Clarke Sidelight], I also see many differences.
Scott Cunningham

[While reading her leters to me, I once asked out loud, "Where did mum learn to write - breaking her letters apart like that? Surley it would give me a clue to her background." More of her letters will be posted later. Associates may vote yea or nay about whether or not they feel Marianne was responsible for the writings.]

The mystery is in the yard

I saw the picture of the nun photograph what eddie brazil took it was great
karen fowler

The comment about Eddie's Picture being faked - I hope he really wouldn't fake a picture unless it is a "test". or a trick or treat.
KATHY RAGEUR

The cold spot is in the well

I’m going to introduce overlapping theories concerning Borley Rectory’s cold spots. It almost looks as if the Rectory's main well would have been under or quite near the Harringham Rectory. Is this possible? Or is it possible that Rev. Henry Bull is the one who had the main well dug? Maybe the well is simply not indicated on the 1841 map. Also, it looks like the angled walls in the Bull Rectory cellar were not remnants of the Harringham Rectory. What do you or Mr. Clarke think about this? Finally, would the pond shown have been in the area of the tennis courts, or possibly the verandah?
Scott Cunningham

Guy's history is strange

A link to a short biography of Guy L'Strange has been added to our roster of Borley-related people, courtesy of Andrew Clarke.

The bottles were not trapped

'The Demented Female' Sidelight has been updated with the evidence from two of the official observers that there was a second entrance into the cellars which led from the courtyard via a trapdoor. This would have allowed Frank Pearless, or whoever the accomplice was, to get into the cellar in order to 'spook' the members of the Marks Tey Spiritualist Circle with bottle-throwing stunts.
Andrew Clarke

The location is a mystery

Hi there, i joined your web site several weeks ago and have read a lot with great interest , i live in basildon which is in essex but i have no idea where the rectory is and would love to go and see it , if you would kindly send me details of where borley rec is id be real greatfull. Thanks for a great site
bartholomew simpson

Where was Borley Rectory? This may seem a silly question, since we know where the monstrous brick building was. Fine, but where was the splendid Georgian rectory built for the Herringhams? and what about the previous rectory that must have been on the site? How did it link with the cellars? And how old is the Rectory Cottage? See a new Sidelight, Locating the Rectory.
Andrew Clarke

Eddie Brazil has replaced one of his photos from a neighbor's garden in order to give a better perspective.

Marie not buried at Borley

I've added a new Sidelight, 'The Well-Tank bothers me'. It turned out to be quite an exploration, taking quite a bit of research. I found a friend of a chap (sadly now deceased) who worked at Borley Place in the farm, and watched the excavation in the cellars by Harry Price. It turned out that he knew quite a bit, and cleared up the mystery of why Marie Lairre was buried at Liston, not Borley. Some more sidelights still to come.
Andrew Clarke

The report is in the works

Scott Cunningham is continuing his work on the Hanted Borley Report and encourages your comments. Updates will be published about the 28th of each month through July of 2004. Send your comments directly to Scott.

Letters to the editor

Regarding the visits to Borley from various interested persons on certain days of the year. It has been labeled as "disruptive." Imagine instead if the visits were embraced as a part of a service project? The visitors would arrive early in the day for a day of sweeping, raking, pulling weeds, and such. Then at night they'd sit quietly enjoying the breeze and then go home.
Bill Vicars

Thanks for . . . . posting the essay, ABSOLUTE INTEGRITY – SIDNEY GLANVILLE AT BORLEY onto the website. . . . It really is a general run through of his involvement with Borley with reference to the way he is viewed/portrayed by the various writers on the subject. I hope to put together a sort of bulletin on what I'm up to regarding my Glanville project & what information I've got back from recent enquiries which I'll send along in due course. I really do think SHG is an important character in the Borley story & putting something like this together is quite exciting. I am continuing working on the Glanville project & have several lines of enquiry underway. I am concentrating on the Price tenancy especially & hope to be able to put together a commentary on this period. I hope to do four essays each covering three months at the Rectory & at the moment am looking at the period from mid-May through to the end of August 1937. I have a particular affinity with Sidney Glanville and find his role and work at Borley is of ever increasing interest. Glanville must have had good reasons for answering Harry Price’s advertisement and for applying himself in the way he did. I have been in touch with Harry Brown in connection with SHG's relationship with Trevor Hall & he has kindly agreed to help as much as he can. I am also arranging to pay a visit (almost a pilgrimage) to the Harry Price Library to consult Price's Borley papers there for SHG-related correspondence. I have to say that the resources & contacts available on your website are invaluable. How about a BGS Convention for 2004 (at Long Melford or close by) with a programme of visits out to Borley & lectures on the whole subject of Borley Rectory by BGS Associates?! It would be splendid for serious like-minded Borely enthusiasts to meet up & discuss the case. I would certainly be up for anything of the sort. got an e-mail from Eddie this morning with some nice feedback on my article. His new Borley churchyard photograph is very curious. I get the impression that there is a distinct female form visible in the shot & as I mentioned in a reply to Eddie, the lower half of the 'figure' appears to be behind the paling fence, which appears to rule out some sort of smear on the lens. I find this photograph far more impressive than some of the other Borley church photographs in recent times that purport to show phenomena or extras in the shots.
Best wishes for now.
Paul Adams

Regarding Eddie Brazil's questions in the newsletter, this doesn't directly address how the expression "nun's walk" originated. But the most detailed (factual?) account of this "annual" event I have found is in the Baines material. Also, Peter Underwood's Borley Postscript p.13 indicates that Reverend Henry Bull and his wife Catherine were not only familiar with the ghost nun but had also seen it on several July 28's towards the late 1800's. I am assuming that all July 28 references to the nun concern the nun's walk. So even if Harry Price invented the "nun's walk" term it seems that he had reasonable justification for doing so. Finally, I have not been able to find the reference but the nun's walk had evidently been measured. This is presumably the distance from the area of the stream to the boundary stone a short distance from the SE corner of the Rectory. I want to say the distance was three hundred something yards but I don't remember. Could it have been 3?? feet? The figure is out there somewhere. This is another indicator that Borley's walking (floating) nun was perhaps seen on this path more than one time.
Scott Cunningham

Hiya there! I want to say thank you for making such a great web site. Its so interesting to learn about Borley Rectory, as it is full of suprise and interigue. I am doing a school project on The Borely Rectory, compiling Infomation and photos of the haunted site and past, so I have a favour to ask. Can I please use the Black and white photo of the Rectory for my personal project?? Thank you,
Charlotte Bloom xxx
[Thank you for your interest. Attached is the photo you requested, on condition you give proper credit. See "Student Report." Also, if you would send me a copy of your report, I will add it to the Bibliography, and post it on the web site.]

The picture of the little boy that no one knows who it is, is definitely Harry Bull. Notice the ear on the left is upright and close to the head, just like Harry Bull's ear is. The ear on the right is turned outward and downward, just like the picture of Harry Bull.
Kelly Dyer

I was very interested to read in 'Borley Rectory:The Final Analysis' by Edward Babbs, that the secret entrance to the crypt of Borley Church had been discovered in 1988. The book tells us that five members of a local psychical research group found the entrance,which was disguised as a grave. They discovered,under the 'dummy' tombstone,stairs which they then descended.'At the foot of the stairs there was a small chamber....and opposite to the stairs there was a large and ancient wooden door.It was heavily barred...and etched into the woodwork were the initials 'HFB' and the date '1921'. Now I was surprised to read that,apparently,all the group did next was to peer through the keyhole with the aid of torches! Does anyone know whether any attempt to actually open this door has been made,and if so,what was discovered inside the crypt proper?It does seem extraordinary that,having found the entrance to the long sought-after crypt,the group should not have taken the simple step of getting a locksmith to open it!!Odd. Does anyone know whether,subsequently,the door to the crypt has been opened,and ,if so,what was found in there? With best wishes to all my fellow 'Borleyphiles'
John Lane
[Wesley Downes described this ten years ago, "In 1987/8, a group of local investigators set out to find what they believed was an entrance to the crypt. . . . [it] was found to be directly under the present altar." See Downes, Wesley. The Ghosts of Borley: Legends, ghosts, hauntings, intrigues and unsolved mysteries. in the Bibliography.]

I have been looking through some of the photos you have grouped together. As an observation as to how easy it is to read more into an image than is there, I have found a second 'face' in the photograph on the 'sometimes a photo is just a photo' image (linked-to from Stephen Smith's analysis). If you mentally divide the photo into a 3 by 3 grid and look at the first square carefully, you can see a likeness of the 'Grinch who Stole Christmas'!
Regards,
Adrian Butcher

The Bibliography is incomplete

I have a copy of "Borderlands," but haven't gotten around to reading it. However, a scan of the index shows no mention of either Borley or Harry Price. An appalling omission, in my opinion! :) Good luck finding new Borley references -- I always keep my eyes open for them!
Linda Cody
[Associates were quick to respond that BORDERLANDS by Mike Dash does not mention Borley. What about The Ingrid Pitt Bedside Companion for Ghosthunters? This is a paperback book from Batsford.]

Yes, Borley Abbey is included in the Ghost Hunters book., linked by the investigations of Harry Price.
Simone Trace ( Sec. to IP)

Alexander, David S. Letters. Paranormal Review. July 2003. p. 12. (Mentions two previously published letters, "supporting my suggestion that the Society is not as active in its research as perhaps it should be." The first was by Oliver Knowles. "The other letter. . . .by Vincent O'Neil, demonstrates stagnant attitudes toward 'haunting.' Experts in the 'paranormal,' spiritism and, dare I say it, 'the occult,' have long since known that 'hauntings,' as opposed to poltergeists, are little more than 'recordings' or echo traces of the past, rather than 'living' spitrits. Surely if experiments such as Scole can truly open up communication with post-mortem humans, this is far more vital research than sitting around hopefully in a castle with a camcorder.") **

Latest from the Guestbook

Love the web site,real interesting havent been to borley although i have heard of the place,im sure to look it up on the map though,anyone want to chat about borley email me at cybersquirrel20@yahoo.com or use my icq 176581063 i would love to hear from peeps who have been to borley and would sure be interested in visiting the place myself. - cybersquirrel20@yahoo.com - basildon essex

I really enjoyed your website, - hendi - Germany

Just a little note to say how basic and easy to work with this site is. A great way and great site to check out if you wanna delve into the history of Borely. Well done and keep it up! - Chris Coombs - Essex

keep it up, see you soon. - peter - France

it's a beautiful website! - benjelloun - France

Congratulations for your website. It is the best I have ever seen about Borley Recory. - Alexandre - Paris area, France

hi there the beb site is so acurate in all ways been to borley, have haad sightings feelings and smells. its good to know that many too have had the experiencne of this very strange place. - steph holliday - bradfield st george

all my congratulations, for this good site. Till soon, bye. moriu - France

You've got a great site, keep up the good work! - chretien - Canada

I especially enjoy your site, greets. _ Colin - Belgium

your site is great, i'll come back. - maurin - France

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Founded October 31, 1998 by Vincent O'Neil to examine without prejudice any and all existing records and research related to the alleged haunting of the rectory and church of Borley, Essex, England. It is not the purpose of the Society to cause undue hardship, embarrassment, or discomfort to the present residents of Borley.