20 September 2004 BGS Newsletter Issue 75
Welcome to the seventy-fifth edition of the Borley Ghost Society Newsletter.

New testimony adds to legend

You will be interested to know that I am in touch with the elder daughter of Edith Evans (born 1906) who worked at Borley Rectory in the 1930s. . . . She knew all about the phantom coach and horses at Borley, and often heard bell-ringing when no human being was responsible. One night as she was getting into bed, she dropped a bottle in the bedroom that broke and she thought she would clear up all the glass in the morning as it was late. She shared the bedroom with another servant girl who was already in bed. During the night, Edith thought she had a dream in which she saw a man wearing a strange-shaped hat come to her bedside and beckon her to follow him. In the hall, he went toward a fireplace and disappeared. In the morning Edith (who died in 1987) remembered the dream as she awakened and thought she would tell her companion about it, but as she tried to pull her feet out of the sheets to get out of bed, she found them stuck to the sheets with blood - so she felt she must have been out of the bed in the night and cut her feet on the broken glass, and it was not a dream - and that really frightened her. She often saw unexplained figures in the garden and frequently experienced the smell of violets, completely out of season. Eventually things became so bad, so many unexplained happenings of kinds inside and outside the rectory, that she became upset and worried as to what may happen next, and she left the haunted rectory. I am seeing whether my informant or her sister have any other recollections of their mother's time at Borley. - Peter Underwood

Sidelights of Borley Rectory by Andrew Clarke

The Foxearth and District Local History Society has definitely decided to go ahead with my book on Borley Rectory. Should be lots of fun and I'll put all the work in progress on your site. I'm going to have to do quite a bit of work to the book as I often assume that the reader knows who everyone is. I'm doing a Sidelight on what the rectory was like when the Foysters moved in. It has to rely mostly on what Marianne says, but what she says has the ring of truth. It just needs ordering and splicing and a thin layer of commentary. I also need to tackle the seance material head on. I've been avoiding it because it seems so bizarre that educated people should have taken it all so seriously, and I know my bias will show. Our first book, Foxearth Brew, is selling well. We got a professional journalist to write it. It makes such a difference. This review tells it all! The Bull family (Henry) was almost certainly an investor in the brewery. They were close frinds of the Fosters (vicar of Foxearth) and the Wards (brewers). If we can get the money back from it (we had a £1000 donation) then the next publication is Sidelights of Borley Rectory. There is a move afoot to rename it 'The Bones of Borley, which seems rather good to me. We want to do one publication for each parish in the district if possible. Local History books are very popular here. Generally, you can sell 400 copies of a local history book, but no more than 800. If you can make a profit on 400 copies then you're in business. I suggested that we ought to print-publish your bibliography, which I think is a most wonderful piece of work, but it is too esoteric for local consumption. My friend Philip Holborn, who used to run the SPR (still very much involved even though in his 80s) thinks it would be reasonably easy to get a specialist publisher to do your Bibliography, if you wanted it to happen. The SPR publications sell very well, and I suspect that the specialist publishers tap into the same market. Our Foxearth Site is doing good business. It is mostly people investigating their family history, though there are always a few people searching for Borley stuff. Did you know that Capt. Brian Sampson founded the Foxearth And District Local History Society? He is a very keen amateur historian. . My friend . . . . . thinks it would be reasonably easy to get a specialist publisher to do your Bibliography, if you wanted it to happen. The SPR publications sell very well, and I suspect that the specialist publishers tap into the same market. - Andrew Clarke
[My first priority has always been to see Fifteen Months in the Most Haunted House in England printed, as it is the only publication with my mother's direct testimony in it. A bid has come in at $300 to help me type it out, but I do not have that kind of money right now. I wonder if some BGS associate might like to donate their typing skills?]

"IPSWICH MAN TO GO GHOST WATCHING"

I purchased a 1941 copy of Most Haunted House, and it came today. Yep! It's a '41 copy, and I'm happy! Wish it was a first edition though, duh. It seems to me the first edition I read years ago had a black cover, this one has a blue. Does that copy come with a black cover? At any rate it came with an old clipping in there. I'm going to copy the copy here because the photo I'm sending you isn't good enough to read it. Are you familiar with this article? I fig it must've come out 5 years after the fire. It's in perfect condition and must've been kept in the book I received all this time. The book itself came from Sudbury, and the bookseller was T.M Cawthorn, but the book itself has a name inscribed on the inside cover, A. Steward. - Barbara Clements

I'm not sure. If he was involved in the excavations of the Rectory cellars this would date his involvement to around the 1950s I would have thought, especially as it states the garden is a wilderness. Very interesting. A copy of The Haunting of Borley Rectory that I have has a small clipping in the front about a cat which played ghostly organ music in a church somewhere in the UK. Now, you have made me think!! I have a clipping which was inside a copy of EBR which I got a while back. Do you have this as I will send a scan when I get to the office on Monday. It is from the Herald Magazine dated April 3rd 1948 a week after HP died. It mentions Borley briefly but is mainly concerned with the Rosalie seance that HP attended. I also have another clipping from the Herald which is about the time that Henning & Turner carried out digging work in Borley church. - Paul Adams

Without a date, its going to be hard. I suspect its the East Anglian Daily Times, the style looks familiar and a National paper would mention the county as well. - Nick Rowland

I would think the cutting came from Suffolk and Essex Free Press produced in Sudbury, Suffolk. Len Rayner was one of the leading lights of the team concerned who carried out extensive excavations at Borely in the mid-1950s. - Peter Underwood

The End of Borley Rectory

I have been reading The end of Borley Rectory, and naturally the more one reads about Borley the more questions one ends up with. Why were the spirits so viscous to your mother? The missiles they threw seemed to be intended to harm. As Price put it, when the Foyster's moved in; pandomonium. If the nun was sympathetic to her, why would the rest of the poltergeists react violently? This is where I'm at so far [for my latest painting of the rectory]. The tree in the front of the place is most likely a walnut tree. I got this from a very interesting statement mailed to Harry Price from a famous English comedian, by the name of Gilbert Hayes. He answered an advertisement for a place that would be suitable to set up as a tea garden, it did not mention the address, but gave a p.o. box, he went out to what was the renamed Borley Priory and obtained the key from the cottage and went about the place followed by footsteps he supposed were his wifes, later discovering he toured the most haunted house in England, with something other than his wife. Decided against the sale. During his tour his wife did point out 'well there's the tree you've always wanted' and said it was the best example of a walnut tree he'd ever seen. At this point he was going to take it. Could've been interesting. I looked up walnut trees on the web and can see the tree leaf pattern likely confirms the tree in the front to be a walnut tree. How wonderful to find this out on the very day I am starting to paint it, because now I know how to do the leaves:) So that for me is one question answered. I love painting Borley, it's such a challenge and it's such a fascinating subject. . . . How high are the gateposts? I hope to soon be working on the nun and I don't want to find out I made her 9 feet tall, or 3 feet tall. I don't know how high to paint her over the posts. Got a new book, called Harry Price Ghost-Hunter, by Paul Tabori. "Chapter Twelve tells the story of Borley Rectory, said to be the most haunted house in England, and it is in connection with it that Harry Price's name became best known to the British public....It so happens that I am able to add a footnote to the question (regarding Borley and Price)... In the early 1950's the late Kenneth Allsop - who afterwards became a well known broadcaster but was then still a journalist - was sent down by a national paper to Lymington to interview me. Over lunch he told me what follows: His editor had sent him to investigate Borley and with him he took a staff photographer. They stayed for some nights in the then empty house and nothing in the least abnormal occurred. On his return to London he wrote his article declaring his belief that the so-called hauntings were either trickery or due to the over-excited imaginations of observers. He had just finished when the photographer, who had been developing his plates, came into his room, put one of the photographs in front of him, and said: 'what d'you make of this, Ken?' The photograph was of the Rectory, taken from the far side of the road that ran along one side of it. It was well established that at one time there had been a fence with a gate in it along the grass verge on the rectory side of the road. In the photograph, where the gate had been, was the clear outline of a nun. They took the photograph to the editor, but for reasons known only to himself he suppressed both the article and the photograph." I would love to have that photograph, as it would tell me exactly how to paint the nun.
I visited . . . ghostchat.com, and brought up the 'what are poltergeists' question and got the 'now' answer: ENERGY. It is all caused by little kids with third eye problems, hmmmm you know I suddenly realized Harry Price and his investigator team, and also everyone from that day, did not believe this. These days they would claim someone, (prob your mom) was deliberately or subconsciously causing things to fly. Actually they did say that didn't they? However these things flew for the Smiths as well, 10 years before she ever stepped foot in the place, but they would also ignore that, don't you think? I think todays people accept these 'pop' answers for explainations of things and we really don't have the proof to say such a thing concretely, and so the public can bypass the uncomfortable situation of having to face the fact that maybe there are things out there better left not met.
Well, anyhow, working on the painting, and obsessing about the place to get in the mood, came up with this idea: wouldn't a Borley calendar be great? Diff scenes for diff months and the calendar having listed upon it all sorts of events on the days they happened with the year mentioned of course. I'd love it. Only 11 more paintings to go.... Maybe I should keep the tree bare to show the sky, hate to cover up the beautiful sky with leaves. ? Then there is the matter of the nun, whom has never been seen inside the rectory. It occurred to me the wall writings asking for 'light, mass, prayers' were attributed to her. To write this she would have to have been in and outside of the place. Why would she not be seen in it once in all those years? In the book it mentions Harry Price also thought of the window tax, regarding the bricked up window but then remembered it was repealed in 1851, twelve years before the rectory was built. The fact that the book, Most Haunted House was released in 1940 and the house burned down in 1939 makes me think it would be a foolish thing for Captain Gregson to burn the house for the insurance, of which was a small amount, as he must've known there was a book regarding the place forthcoming and he could have made money on the place renting it out to psychics and the inquisitive public. I'm sure he would've made more the first year after the books release even if it didn't do well, and Harry Price was after all published in the paper. It would've brought some notoriety, and so it really doesn't seem likely he'd have set the fire himself. - Barbara Clements
[We can get an estimate at the height of the gate posts by looking at the posts out of the ground. Look for the line indicting how much was buried. (Not much help, since we don't know how high the shed is.) In the far right photo here the first hedge looks to be about waist high, so the gateposts look to be about four feet above the ground. The north gateposts seem to confirm this rough height at a little over four feet high - newer posts by the look of it. The Thurston Hopkins view would also seem to indicate about four feet high, as the rest of the fence is slightly less higher. The view from the church tower seems to confirms this guess. I started a calendar some time back, but the energy vs payback was too much for me. I an convinced our readers would LOVE 12 pieces of art from you - and we already have two - the nun on the home page, and my mother with Harry Bull.]

Spooks rout a rector By Frank Catton

First published in 1940, The Most Haunted House in England by Harry Price contains excellent pictures and illustrations. Included in this auction is an old article by Frank Catton entitled "Spooks Rout a Rector." It was stashed inside the book presumably by its owner, Hereward Carrington. It also has Carrington's bookplate on the inside cover. The condition of the pages are excellent. The binding is in good condition and the pages are held together very well. There is some damage on the cover (spine, see photo). This book was owned by Hereward Carrington. Hereward Carrington (1880-1958) was one of the great psychic researchers of the 20th Century. He was friends with Houdini, Crowley, and other greats in the magic and occult realm. Carrington wrote many books, including Houdini and Conan Doyle, along with Bernard Ernst. He was President and founder of the American Psychical Institute, had his own radio shows in the 1930s/40s, and his writings are still in publication today. Click here to read more Carrington and his work as psychic researcher and author. - Eric Gazin, eBay auction.

I just got the book. . . . The inside front page is . . . . .an illustration of Borley Rectory almost as if it were the frontpiece of the book. I was totally blown away by the article included in the book. It is amazing on several levels to me. One, it is from 1938, just before Price's book came out. Two; it is a whole page out of a paper. Three; the article makes a mish-mosh of things regarding Borley Rectory, naming the Smiths and then obviously talking about the Foysters. I have no idea who the reporter was but he must've felt it was a story so unimportant he didn't feel the need to get the names and facts correctly.....(?) Four, there is a story about the nun I've never heard before!!! Now with the credility which I just informed you, how much credence can be put into this story? I will send you a copy, but to make it nice and fast I'm going to type the whole article here for you:) One stipulation, please tell me what you think of the nun story, I'm dying...oops in this case I will say I'm ANXIOUS to know your opinion. Barbara Clements

Catton, Frank. "Spooks Rout a Rector." 1938. (Mishmash, getting names twisted in circles, but presents unique tale of nun in the hosue - the one and only such description - which is questionable, bearing in mind the other mistakes throughout the article.) ** photocopy courtesy of Barbara Clements

Associate Activites

I have just started work on finishing the cataloguing of the Harry Price Archives. A large degree of the material was completed before I arrived, although there was still a large amount to be done, mainly photographs, playbills, posters, press cuttings scrapbooks and artefacts. So far I have completed most of the work and am at present working my way through cataloguing the photographs, which include a large selection of Borley photos, many of which were uncatalogued and not available to researchers previously. Highlights include a wealth of photos of the Rectory, Church and village before the fire and a whole series of photos taken onsite of the fire damage, along with some quite amusing pictures of Peter Eton and Alan Burgess recording at the Borley site in 1947 for the BBC radio programme, 'The Haunted Rectory'. I have also managed to catalogue, conserve and make available a few other items, such as Ivan Banks' structural plans of Borley Rectory and a wonderful oil painting of Borley Rectory by H.E.Wilson. Perhaps I could contribute something monthly to the section of the site as there are a wealth of fascinating things within the archive that I'm sure the members would be interested in. Besides Borley, there are also a wealth of tales about Price's investigations that have kept me very interested (and often amused!) while working on the collection, such as the recreation of a black magic experiment on the Brocken in Germany with C.E.M.Joad in 1932 (which involved the attempt to turn a goat into a handsome young man!) and the case of Gef, the 'talking' mongoose on the Isle of Man. These may be fun to relate with some illustrations. I have also attached a couple of photographs of the Harry Price exhibition, that perhaps could be used on the page. I'm afraid the quality of the pictures is quite poor and blurry as they were taken with my VERY cheap digital camera. However, they may be of some use. Besides the Borley material, I have also been cataloguing photographs and other materials covering all other areas of Price's investigations which has been fascinating, from 17th century cuttings on conjuring to letters from Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle from the 1920s to videos containing documentaries concerning Harry Price or his investigations from British television in the 1990's! Perhaps I could write something for the Society before Christmas on whats happening with the archive and my experiences... I thought you may be interested (if you haven't seen it already) in this information on a small exhibition that is taking place at Senate House Library at the moment on Harry Price and his work. There is some more information and a downloadable brochure available. Best regards and thanks for the welcome to the BGS! - Stefan Dickers
[We are thrilled to have you on board. I have started a new section on the web site devoted to your work at the Harry Price Library!]

Letters to the editor

I am very fascinated by the history of this mysterious mansion. The ghosts within are not like the stereotyped ones in legends or in hollywood movies. I love the architecture of the rectory as well as the beautiful landscape around it. contact_aboutyou: I'm a junior in a Californian high school. California is a relatively new world, with few if not none historic sites. There are definitely fewer ghost legends. I love everything about England and other European countries, outside of my innate love for China, were I was born. - Chang Cai

Up until two days ago I had no idea such a fascinating place existed. Coming from the Midlands in Ireland I'm sure you can appreciate that I have visited and heard about many old houses, churches and castles with such amazing history and stories to be told. The reason I am writing is to mention that just a couple of days ago I was in Dublin when I flagged a taxi. Unfortunately I don't remember the taxi drivers name but he proceeded to intrigue me with a brief history of Borley Rectory (and that of your family history). He then went on to say that he is planning a trip to Utah to assist in the research of your new book on the subject. Maybe this is true...maybe he was pulling my leg...either way it has led me to your thoroughly fascinating and insightful website, that I must thank him for. Best of Luck with your work, and tell the Taxi driver (I apologise for not remembering his name) to enjoy his stay and thanks for the stories on Borley Rectory. - Siobhain Cunniffe
[That is quite interesting, as I don't have any appointments with anyone from Erie.]

I'm an Italian twelve-years-old student that fell in love whit English and ghosts stories. My name is Giulia Scuderi and I live in Catania, Italy, Sicily. I'm preparing to go to the third year of Scuola Media (your Junior High School) at Majorana School in Catania. My English's teacher, at the end of the scholastic year, gave me a very nice book, called "Ghastly Ghosts", edited by Black Cat, written by Gina D.B. Clemens. This book tell about 8 interesting ghosts's stories, one of them about Borley's rectory; I've find it really suggestive. So, to learn more, I've thought to go to the official website of the rectory; I've find a quite interesting and complete website. I think that the story of Borley is really bizarre and scary; in my opinion, Borley is really haunted by lots of spirits that cannot find peace. So now I want to ask you: why don't you try to talk to ghosts for listen their confessions? Maybe this could help them to find their peace and to leave Borley. Hoping that you could accept my suggestions and waiting for an answer, - Giulia Scuderi

Borley Rectory "home page"
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.