Figure 1; Borley Rectory, 'The Most Haunted House in England' with Rev. and Mrs. H.D.E. Bull on the verandah and seven of their daughters on the lawn.
The great ancient elms that stood at the top of the long hill leading to the village overshadowed it and gave it a somewhat gloomy and dark appearance. Soon after the Bulls moved in, strange things started to happen which could not be accounted for. They seemed, to Henry Bull, to be paranormal in origin. But he would surely not have dreamt that for more than a century after his death it would be the subject of endless controversy; scores of television and radio broadcasts; five full length books and a book-length report.
1940 saw the publication of 'The Most Haunted House in England' now very rare and hard to find. It was written by Harry Price, the chief Borley investigator, (of whom more anon). It was a best seller. Harry Price was somewhat disappointed however, with the small number of copies that were printed. But, his 1946 publication of 'The End of Borley Rectory' which claimed to be 'no more than a continuation of the story' made up for that with copies going out to all parts of the world and in great numbers. Harry Price was preparing a third book at the time of his death. Although the task was undertaken by Peter Underwood, Mrs. C. Cecil Baines, and Sidney H. Glanville to finish the monograph, it never came to the public eye because of Paul Tobori's prolonged absence in America and the subsequent death of Sidney Glanville.
'The Haunting of Borley Rectory' appeared first in the form of a report by the Society For Psychical Research and secondly in the publication of a book. This was a vicious attempt on the part of one of the co-authors, Trevor Henry Hall to destroy the integrity of Harry Price and the whole Borley legend. In 1969 the same society launched another report which vindicated Harry Price and was named 'An Examination of the Borley Report,' although most commonly termed 'The Hastings Report', as the author was Robert J. Hastings. This tended to point towards a certain amount of the 'phenomena' at the Rectory being genuine. In 1973 a book by Peter Underwood and Paul Tobori titled 'The Ghosts of Borley' claimed to be 'the first complete record of the unique Borley Rectory hauntings.' It lists many events that have happened at Borley and concentrates extensively on the haunting of Borley Church as well as phenomena that have happened on and around the rectory site since the place was gutted by fire in 1939.
Figure 2; after the fire and damage by gales.
Students of Borley were to wait another 26 years for the next Borley chronicle namely 'The Enigma of Borley Rectory.' In this book, the author Ivan Banks, adds much self research and suggests many new theories for the phenomena at the Rectory. This is probably the most comprehensive of all the Borley monographs.
Trevor Hall did much research into the life of the elusive Marianne Foyster and altogether bound his research into six typed manuscripts, which were never published. There was also an autobiographical outline in the words of Marianne Foyster. This was written by Iris Owen and Pauline Mitchel and was never published.
In 1992, Duckworth publishing commissioned Robert Wood to continue work started by Trevor Hall on the life of Marianne Foyster and his book shortly appeared titled 'The Widow of Borley.'
Figure 3; Rectory from the lane; the bricked up window is visable right of tree.
Reverend Henry Dawson Ellis Bull
What happened in 1863? Slavery ended in America, there was an uprising against Russian rule in Poland and the constuction of the first of London's undergrounds began. Behind the smokescreen of national activity such as this, there was the sleepy countryside of East Anglia and it was here that in the same year unwittingly, the future of one aspect of psychical research was formed. When the rectory was built, ghosts did not attract hords of people or the attention of the press; in a time when people were a lot more superstisious, they were common place, with the few exceptions such as the famous Berkley Square case where there had been several deaths in 'mysterious' circumstances. So when he moved into the Rectory with his wife, Henry Bull was not disturbed by the stories that circulated about 'strange doings at Borley.'
One of the first reported incidents concerned that of two of the Misses Bull. They were in the rectory grounds when they sighted two friends walking in the nearby field. A little way in front was a girl who the Bull girls did not recognise as being local. This was a time when everyone knew everyone, and this is still the case in small country places such as Borley. When they next saw their friends they asked who had been in the field with them on the day in question and they replied that no one was in the field at that time. There is a curious parallel connected with this which occured many years later whilst the rectory was actually on fire. Several villagers reported the figure of a girl in either blue or buff standing at the window of the Blue room. This can, however, be partically accounted for in that falling beams and other things that would be in the process of being destroyed would cellulite against the inferno and give all sorts of shapes and even the impression of the colour being, among others, blue or buff.
A friend of Harry Bull's who went to Cambridge with him, used to stay at Borley during the long summers and testified to witness a wealth of strange happenings. In a letter to Harry Price, Mr. P. Shaw Jeffrey says that he '…had many small adaventures at the rectory…' including stone-throwing, sightings of the Nun phantasm and the mysterious coach and horses. But the 'big adventure' as he put it concerned the disappearence of a large French dictionary. It was missing for several days and he had searched the rectory from top to bottom. One night after he had retired to bed, he had layed there for several minutes when there was a bump in the pitch blackness. After he had lit a lamp, he looked onto the floor where he thought the sound had eminted and there was his dictionary, a little battered but, apart from that it was fine! His door was locked at the time so it would have been impossible for any mortal being to have entered the room without Mr. Jeffrey discovering it. He also relates how a brother of Harry Bull was having trouble with a poltergeist at Pentlow – a hamlet a couple of miles away where the Bull's originally came from and which family had held that living for several generations. Pentlow rectory was also where Henry was born in 1833.
A Mrs. E. Byford who came forward when the original Daily Mirror articles went out in 1929, worked at the rectory during 1886, (the same year that Mr. Jeffrey was there), testified to 'hearing the ghost.' She had been told that the rectory was 'haunted' but did not take much notice of it. A couple of weeks into her employment, she was awoken in the night to hear footsteps coming along the corridor outside her room. She thought that it was the head nurse coming to rouse her as she did, but no one entered the room. The next morning she asked the other rectory workers if they had come to her room and they replied negtively. The steps persisted on other occasions and she felt so disturbed that she left. To give some idea of how they took things was that in a letter to Harry Price she said that her grandparents, (who she lived with), refused to allow her to pass the rectory after dark as 'apparitions' were commonly seen at the bottom of the garden and on the lane.
The Bull family went to extautionate lengths to keep the story of the haunting inside the family. One suggestion was that they even bricked up the dining room window which faced the road because of the Nun's persistency of staring in at the family during meals.
Figure 4; Dining Room, 1890
Guests would be invited to breakfast, dinner, but never to tea, as this is when the Nun most regularly appeared. Henry Bull was interested in the occult and especially that which was associated with his own home. He even went so far as to build a summer house which stood opposite 'the Nun's walk' so that he could sit and watch for her appearance; she reportedly graced them, (Harry used to watch as well), with her presence many times. 'The Nun's Walk' was a grass path that ran through the garden and which the Nun was to appear walking along each July 28th. She was of course seen in many other places. It was now almost 30 years since the rectory was built. Henry Bull was 59. He had lived in the building for that whole 30 years. He died on June 9th 1892 of Locomotor Alaxia which is almost definitely connected with life in his now dark, damp, cold and rambling rectory.
Figure 5; Rectory from lawn in 1890
Reverend Henry Foyster Bull
Soon after the death of Henry Bull, his eldest son, Henry (Harry) Foyster Bull took over as rector; he had been curate since 1889. Harry had been curate at a number of places previous to Borley including Westoe, County Durham. One of the first reported occurences after Harry had taken over as rector was the persistent opening and closing of the back door of the rectory which would have faced the back of the Old Coach House. No explanation was ever found. On the 28th of July 1900, (the anniversary of the Nun), we have the most solid and reliable sighting of the Nun on her traditional walk. Three of the Misses Bull were returning via the main gate to the rectory when across the lawn they sighted a nun figure. They were quite scared because they had grow up knowing of the legend. This told of a monk, in the thirteenth century, from Borley monastery (which was supposed to stand on the site of the rectory) and a nun from the nearby nunnery at Bures attempted to elope in a carriage hence the 'ghostly coach' but were caught; the monk was hung and the nun was bricked up alive; some stories say that he was beheaded along with the coach driver. There is, however, (a) no archeological evidence to suggest that a monastery ever existed at Borley and equaly thin evidence for a nunnery at Bures (b) that the traditional coach was not invented in Britain for centuries later and that (c) there is no evidence to suggest that punishments such as being bricked up alive were ever given to religious men and women who broke their vows. Anyway, one of the sisters ran into the house and fetched another sister, who, thinking that it was a visiting lay person, walked up to offer some refreshment where upon the figure stopped and abruptly vanished! There are two main factors that make this story so incredible; that the Bull sisters were no longer young girls but ladies of late twenties and early thirties and that they had lived in the rectory all of their lives up until that point so they would be used everything normal in the rectory and that four people saw the same apparition simmultainiously in direct sunlight and not one person in the gloom of darkness as is usually the case. To the author, this is the most convincing report of any of the rectory's phenomena. A couple of weeks later Ethel was also a cook when they glimpsed the same figure, this time stooped over the postern drive gate.
Figure 6; Waldergrave tomb, Borley Church
About this time, occurred an incident that has had two theories suggested about it. Miss Ethel Bull who lived well into her nineties, woke in the night to see a large darkly clothed man standing by her bed. Another time she awoke suddenly to a slap in the face and again she woke as she felt as though there was a presence in the room; there was an indent on the bottom of her bed. One day when she was walking through a first floor corridor, she met the same darkly clothed man as she had seen in her bedroom. Again he vanished. The two theories that have been put forward are that (a) the dark clothes that he was seen in were those of a monks robes (possibly the same 'monk' as in the elopement legend) and (b) considering the past history of Borley and the two previous houses that have been known to exist on the same site (the Herringham rectory and the Waldergrave house) and all the grief that has been connected with the Waldergrave family (a family with royal connections) it could be Sir. Edward Waldergrave who was imprisoned and died in the tower of ill health charged with herrasy. This seems a suitable theory and would tie the matter of the identity of the phantom up neatly as it would also be in the costume of the day.
Confirmation that Harry Bull saw the coach comes from a Mr. Carpenter who used to spend time with Harry Bull (he was Mr. Carpenter's superior officer) and one night he related how he had seen the spectre years before. On returning up the lane, the Reverend Harry Bull heard what sounded like a coach and four ascending the hill. As he turned he saw lights on the side of the carriage, he noticed nothing unusual at first but later as it drew further up the hill, he noticed that the two coachmen seated on the front were headless! On another occasion, he was in the Dining room through which was visible the verandah. Harry noticed a figure on the verandah who was identicle to the coachman he had previously sighted. He went to the verandah and followed the figure who was exiting. He soon vanished. Could this be the same figure that Ethel Bull saw in a corridor and her bedroom?
Another experience of Harry Bull's was one evening when he was returning to the rectory from the church after service. He suddenly turned and saw the Nun. She followed him through the churchyard and across the road; he hesitated as whether to leave the door open so that she could enter but decided against this. Harry Price seems to be under the impression that this was around 1900. But of course from the death of his father in 1892, Harry Bull had lived in Borley Place across the road. His sisters had stayed in the Rectory and were destined to be there until 1920 when Harry Bull and his wife Ivy moved back in. This uneasy state of affairs was because the Misses Bulls did not get on in the slightest with Ivy. From all accounts she was not a very nice person. For years in Borley village, there was a rumour that Ivy murdered Harry by poisoning him, so that she would be rid of him and his family! So could we assume that on this occasion, Harry was visiting his sisters?
The 'Old Coach House' as it takes it's present name, is considerably older than the rectory was and survives to this day, escaping the fire even though it was only about fifteen feet away. It is now a fine cottage but once only had living accomodation in the upper part, suitable for a groom cum gardener. Edward Cooper was groom to the Bull family and along with his wife, lived in the cottage from 1916-20. They testified to witnessing a wealth of strange happenings including a strange dark, dwarf-like figure, running around their bedroom which they could not account for. Literally every evening for about two years, they heard patterings outside their room. They investigated many times but to no avail. Then one night things came to some what of a head and there was a terrific crash. Mr. Cooper flew downstairs expecting to see every piece of crockery in the place smashed, but not even a tea saucer was chiped. On another occasion he saw the Nun cross by the cottage and then go over a metal plate that should have rattled if any mortal being crossed it but it did not. He summoned his wife to the window but by the time that he had got there the apparition had vanished. Then one brightly moonlight night, he saw a coach with headlamps lit, shoot by the rectory, swerve out of the gate, ramble through a hedge and along side the church – coincidently, it was following the path that the old road had took many, many, years before; neither Mr. or Mrs. Cooper new this at the time.
Figure 7; Rectory, 1926 - Harry Bull is on the left
It is with this that I conclude the Bull incumbancies – a period covering 65 years and two generations. Never was Borley to see such a long family period even to the present day. However, I include as part as this last incumbancy, the experiences of Fred Cartwright. Harry Bull had died on 7th June (1927) and it was now the Autumn. Fred was a journeyman carpenter who was staying in Sudbury and had to pass the rectory every day just as it was getting light as he had to walk to Clare, a distance of about five miles, where he was presently working. On the second day that he had walked, as he neared the rectory, he saw a 'sister of mercy' by the right han drivegate. This was a Tuesday. On the following Friday she was again stooped over that same drivegate, and her eyes were shut; Fred concluded that she was tired and continued on his way without a second thought. He also saw her on the next Wednesday and this time she looked ill. Fred thought that he would turn and see if she needed assistance. As he did so he saw that she had gone; he thought that she must have entered the rectory and without a backward thought continued to Clare. On the Friday he again saw her and decided that it was high time to talk to her. He was preparing to say 'good morning' when he saw that she had vanished; he did not see her vanish but one moment she was there and the next moment she was not. He searched the grounds immediately around the rectory but could not find her. She did not have time to have entered the rectory, and anyway, the rectory was deserted as Harry Bull had died in the spring and Mrs. Bull had moved away. Thoroughly bemused, he continued his journey. It was not until he related his experiences to his friends in Sudbury that he learnt the story of the rectory.
Reverend Guy Eric Smith
With the departure of the famous Bulls of Borley, a new era began. Although the Smiths stayed in the place a mere nine months, their stay was to signify THE most important landmark in the whole history of the Borley saga. This was to call their national paper, The Daily Mirror, who immediately sent a reporter and telephoned Harry Price. At the time, Harry Price was in discussion with a friend on the subject of poltergeists when a maid came through to say that the editor of the named paper wanted him on the telephone; it was a matter of some urgency. The editor sounded quite excited and informed Harry that the most amazing things were occuring at a rectory in the Suffolk countryside. He informed the editor that he would attend as soon as possible. Mr. Price, his secretary named Miss Lucy Kaye (later Mrs. Meeker) and others arrived at the rectory on June 12th 1929. The press reports appeared from the Mirror's 'special correspondent' on June 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th. Such titles as "Ghost Visits to a Rectory – Tales of a Headless Coachman and a Lonely Nun – The Elopers – Mysterious Happenings on Site of Old Monastery" and "Haunted Room in a Rectory – Old Servants Story of a Midnight Visitor – Laying the Ghost – Psychic expert to investigate a Suffolk Mystery" appeared. The 'Old Servant' was ofcourse Mrs. Byford who's experiences were related earlier and the 'Psychic Expert' was Harry Price. On his first visit to the rectory he interviewed The Smiths about their experiences. They related how they had had trouble with a light which stood in a disused wing of the building; when it was investigated nothing was found and yet it was still visible to on lookers outside. They had constantly heard shufflings, the gliding of a skirt which was described as that of 'Miss Bull's gown' although no 'Miss Bull' was ever in the house, and strange whisperings over the second bathroom area which Mr. Smith had converted into a small ornate chapel. Only once he could desepher the words and they were "Don't Carlos, Don't." Strangely enough a surname that was given to Henry Dawson Ellis Bull (who had died 37 years previously) as a nick name! Why a panicking voice should tell him to not do something is beyond me but the causes are suggested in The Enigma of Borley Rectory. He also interviewed several of the servants about what they had claimed to have seen especially one who was named Mary Pearson (later Mrs. Tatum). She said that she had seen a 'funny old coach' out on the lawn at least twice. She described it as 'like a big cab.' She also said that she had seena man out in the shrubery and thinking that it may be a poacher, went to see him off. When she got outside and he emerged, she was shocked to see that he was short of a head! She actually chased him out of a gate (through which the man ran without opening) until he soon vanished. The Smiths also related how the servant bells would all ring at once. Then they would simmultaniouly stop – as though they had been clasped by a unseen hand. Then one day, whilst Mrs. Smith was cleaning out a cupboard, she chanced upon a small brown parcel. When she unwrapped it she found, to her great shock, a human skull. It was later interred in the churchyard. Another time when Mrs. Smith was peering out of the kitchen window, she saw a low stooping figure in a misty form by one of the drivegates. Could this have been the Nun?
After interviewing the Smiths, Price, along with the Mirror reporter, inspected the rectory from the damp cellars to the dusty rafters, and proved the date of the building of the rectory as he found beams inscribed '1863.' After doing this, he searched the grounds and then set up watch in the garden by the summerhouse. Price was watching for the mysterious light of room number seven and V. C. Wall was watching for Nun along her so called path. Suddenly, after some time, the Mirror reporter grasped hold of Price's arm and pointed emphatically in the direction of 'the Nun's walk.' He declared that he could see a shadowy figure; Price thought that he could see it too. The too men hurried over to where they thought they sighted the spectre but by the time they had arrived, it had disappeared into the dark overgrown shrubbery of the Rectory grounds. The light failed to appear.
Figure 8; From church tower
Later that evening, two of the Misses Bull (Ethel and Freda) came over from Great Cornard and the first formal séance was held in the Rectory – in the infamous Blue room. In attendance were Harry Price, Guy Smith, Mabel Smith, Lucy Kaye, V. C. Wall, Ethel Bull and Freda Bull. Just as they thought that they were wasting their time, knocks started that seemed to eminate from the back of a mirror. When the Smiths moved, they took this mirror with them, but later suggested that it should be returned to the rectory in case it should produce further 'phenomena;' a little strange comment for people who do not believe in ghosts! Anyway, after establishing a contact formular, the séance proceeded thus;
1) Is that the Nun who is said to haunt the house; No (one knock)
2) Is that the Reverend Harry Bull; Yes (three knocks)
3) Are you Happy; No
4) Do you mind Mr. and Mrs. Smith being here; No
5) Is there money trouble; Yes
6) Were you killed; Yes
That Harry Bull should present himself in such a way as this is not surprising; he was a very frontal gentleman. There were rumours that Harry Bull was murdered by his wife and also that he actually commited suicide. This would answer the latter response. With his sisters being there, the matter of how he had died would be a rather touchy subject. Miss Ethel then questioned the spirit about family matters and recived such responces that convinced her that it was indeed the former rector. During the séance, Mabel Smith reports that Harry Price saw the figure of Harry Bull standing behind her husband. This cannot be taken one hundred percent as (a) Price never claimed to see him in any of his books and (b) Mabel Smith's memory has been known to be faulty and confused on many subjects, after her husbands death, especialy concerning Borley. That night, all the bells in the house rang simultaneously and all the keys dropped from their locks. We do not have a definate date but once when Price volunteered to sleep in the Blue room, he woke his secretary in the middle of the night. He asked for a lift to the station. After being told that the last train had left, she managed to get him settled. She later told Mrs. C. C. Baines 'he was so scared.'
Reverend Lionel Algernon Foyster
When the Smiths left Borley at the end of 1929, the Reverend Lionel Foyster and his enigmatic wife, Marianne entered into the living. Lionel was Harry Bull's cousin. He had previously visited the rectory. After suffering a heart attack whilst carrying out missionary work in Canada, it was feared that he may not survive another harsh Canadian Winter. And so they decided to look for a living in their native country of England. They stopped with the Bull's for a while and conducted Borley from there. Soon they moved to the rectory and the poltergeists started a new era. Bottles smashing, candlesticks flying down staircases and the phantom of Harry Bull – such were the non-stop happenings at Borley Rectory when the Foysters moved in. I describe Marianne as enigmatic because of her strange life. Born in England, emigrated to Ireland, at fifteen she married a clark named Harold Greenwood giving her age as seventeen. With no trace of a divorce she married the Reverend Lionel Algernon Foyster in 1921. In 1944, whilst still married to Lionel, but passing him on as her 'invalid father,' she married Henry Fisher and took him for all the money that he had, he had a nervous breakdown, Lionel died, and she married Robert O'Neil, they emigrated to America, repented and did charity work, worked until she was 91, never told her adopted son anything, and died 18 December 1992 aged 93.
Figure 9; Marianne Foyster, 1922
Her adopted son, Vincent, had a painstaking search for the truth, and continues it today. He was not rich, and had to save to come to England and Borley. He set up a website on the internet. This can be found at http://www.borleyrectory.com. You can find his e-mail address on the website.
Lionel kept a diary of the manifestations. He called it 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House.' He had an idea that if he published a monograph then it would provide for his and Marianne's future. He must have had the idea from the great Amherst mystery which Walter Hubbel published a book about in 1898. It made Hubbel loads of money. One of the names that he gave to the residents was even the same as one in the Amherst mystery book. Harry Price borrowed it and promised not to publish any of the material. He broke his pledge and notes can be found in 'The Most Haunted House in England.' The full thing was never published.
Strange writings appeared on the walls appealing for 'light mass and prayers;' one simply said 'Marianne please help get.' They were mainly addressed to Mrs. Foyster. These are one of Borley's phenomena that has had more enduring controversy than any other.
Figure 10; Wall Writings
On meeting the Foysters, Price heard their accounts of the happenings. He then did his routine check of the Rectory and grounds and then re-entered the Rectory. He produced a bottle of wine which was poured into cups. They were just about to drink when it turned into ink! Price was a master conjurer and it was later described by Marianne in the 1970's as 'one of Harry's jokes.' The party retired to the Bull hotel, Long Melford, and the phenomena was discussed. It was decided that Marianne could be responsible for an amount of the phenomena. They went back and told Lionel the next day that his wife was constantly out of sight when the phenomena occurred. Marianne denied it and Lionel chucked them out. There was never to be another visit by Harry Price and co. during the Foyster occupancy. In October 1935, Lionel collapsed in the pulpit of Borley church in the middle of his sermon; he was soon bed ridden and forced to retire.
They left in October 1935 – exactly five years since this strange couple had arrived.
Harry Price
Never again was the rectory to house a rector as it was considered unsuitable. As soon as he heard this, Harry Price jumped at the chance to rent it. He advertised in The Times and organised a rota of 48 observers. These were intelligent and cultured men who's professions ranged from engineers to doctors. They were soon at work in the rectory and the operation was a success. Funnily enough, the Nun was never seen, and neither was she seen during the Foysters were at Borley. This may not be strictly true as there was a figure reported by one observer as 'a low stooping figure' seen by the summerhouse at twilight one evening. For a complete version of the reports see an appendix of 'The Most Haunted House in England.' The chief inspector and Harry Prices deputy was Sidney Glanville. His son and daughter were also involved in Borley. Between them, Price and Glanville drew up a 'blue book' of instructions that was given out to each of the observers. There are still a couple of dozen copies around and it is entitled 'The Alleged Haunting of Borley Rectory.' I am not wanting to dwell on the tenancy of Harry Price much as he had a large effect on what happened there and as a result of what has come to light since his death, it is wise not to. I will mearly say that this was the period when the most documenting by many independent observers was carried out. Many of the reports can be relied on as they were carried out during periods when Harry Price was away from Borley. This was the year when the most documentations and observations were carried out in the whole annuls of psychical research.
Gregson and the Fire
The Rectory's last tenant purchased the property in December 1938. He held it for approximately ten weeks until it was gutted on 27th February 1939. Whilst there they witnessed a wealth of apparently inexplicable happenings that they could not explain. Captain William Hart Gregson had a dog and one evening took it out for a time on a leash in the courtyard that the rectory almost comprised with the original building and the extra wing that was added from 1875-6. Gregson heard footsteps behind him, and on turning could not see anything, but at that time the dog apparently went mad. It howled and barked and pulled with such force that it tore the leash out of the captain's hand. Soon after, the captain purchased another animal, which reacted in exactly the same way. There is a theory that suggests that animals have a kind of psychic sense on Borley Green and was promptly shot; the second was run over by a car near Borley church. Rather spookily, around Christmas time, tracks were found in the snow on the rectory lawn and were identified as those of a traditional coach. As related before about the monk and Nun legend, it is highly improbable that a monastery ever existed at Borley and equally thin evidence for a nunnery a Bure St. Mary, seven miles away over the river in Suffolk. However, there was an order of Benedictine monks just at the bottom of the hill and over the river Stour (which is the border between Essex and Suffolk) and may have owned the land on which the rectory stood and at least two other buildings.
Figure 11; ......on Borley Green
Figure 12; A rare pictorial representation of the coach and nun
On the stroke of midnight, February 27th 1939, Borley Rectory The Most Haunted House in England caught fire and within a few minutes was a blazing inferno. Sudbury fire brigade were called from Borley Green at 12;15 am and arrived shortly afterwards. A witnesses account of the fire described it as '…like a blast furnace…' It was always an isor by day and with the flames and the added effect that it was pitch black, it must have seemed truly magnificent; as he recalls in 'Haunted Borley,' Reverend A.C. Henning could see the inferno from his home down in the Stour valley at Liston. Phenomena was apparently occurring whilst the rectory was actually on fire. A girl was seen at the window of the Blue room; this was discussed earlier. A policeman also enquired with Captain Gregson who the cloaked lady and gentleman were who were seen swiftly exiting the building. They were never accounted for.
Figure 13; Gregson outside bricked up Dining room window
The actual circumstances have been debated many times. One (of more stupid and sensational reports) has been that lamp was knocked over by an entity. There was a planchette message that the rectory would be gutted but that was predicted for eleven months before. I have no great faith in mediums as they have no scientific basis. For example there was a prediction that the church across the road would come to the same fiery end. As we have seen, it is here until this day. Harry Price also apparently contacted after his death, and a couple of days before the critique of Borley was published. He said that more bones would be found and that there would be a fatal shooting in a Cambridge bicycle shop; none of these predictions came true. The most popular belief is that whilst Gregson was sorting books in the hall, he accidentally over turned an oil lamp, which poured gas everywhere and which soon ignited. When he bought the rectory, Captain Gregson insured it for £10,000. That is still quite a lot of money in today's money but imagine how much it was then… In the end Gregson settled out of court for £750; he had still made a profit on the rectory. So it has been suggested that he actually torched the place for the insurance. His valuable things were compact in wardrobes. With no proper proof, it will probably never be known whether he did or not.
By the morning of 28th February 1939, Borley Rectory was a smouldering ruin. The fire brigade had left at eight that morning and had stayed an amount of eight hours. But had the Ghosts dispersed forever? Soon after the rectory was gutted, strange things started to occur, as we will see.
Later Borley
After the guttering of the rectory in 1939, many people visited the rectory and witnessed a wealth of strange happenings. A group of teachers and undergraduates from Cambridge organised regular trips to the rectory for investigations; they called themselves 'The Cambridge Commission.' They witnessed an 'eluminous patch' and several figures that they thought could be Harry Bull and the Nun. One was seen in the opening of the old chapel window where glass was now gone. Another experience concerned a daughter of the owner of Borley Lodge that is a fine building half way up the hill to where the rectory stood. This lady and some friends were exploring the ruins and after stood outside on the old lawn looking at the blackened brickwork of the old building. Suddenly, one of the group pointed to the blue room window and several of them saw what they took to be a girl just whisking away from the window. She was wearing blue or buff. This would be the identical figure to what was seen at the same window whilst the rectory was blazing. Could this also be the same phantom that was sighted by the Bull Girls so many years ago in the heyday of the house? This later period of the hauntings was severally attacked by three members of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) namely Eric John Dingwall, Kathleen Mollie Goldney and Trevor Henry Hall, in their 1956 report under the auspices of the SPR, called The Haunting of Borley Rectory but also termed 'the critique of Borley.'
Figure 14; Trevor Henry Hall
Later when these three detractors of Price were reduced to three (Goldney brought back her findings after a massive split) and when Dingwall backed Price, Hall was left to quarry on. And quarry into Price's life and make a massive drill into his reputation he did! Hall was malicious, a liar and a robber and would do anything to get his way 'fair or foul…he was universally unpopular.' This was passed onto me by a very reliable source. He died in 1991 aged 87. He was a man of 'immense energy and far above average intelligence.' In 1978, Hall wrote Search for Harry Price (a cynically entitled version of Price's own autobiography of Search for the Truth) which put serious doubt on Price's reputation. Price claimed that he was the son of a well-known paper manufacturer of Shropshire. He was in fact son of Edward Ditcher Price, an unsuccessful butcher and later commercial traveller; he was born in south London.
After a while, attention shifted to Borley's 12th century church just across the lane from the rectory cottage. It is a beautiful small parish church with clipped yews in the churchyard and great elms that hang over; on a summers day it looks a picture. In the church is the tomb of Edward Waldergrave and his wife Frances. One of the first reported happenings was by Rev. Harry Bull when he and a friend heard knockings. They traced them around the building and found that they emanated from the corner near to the Waldergrave monument. Many times figures have been seen disappearing behind yew trees and footsteps have walked the little ornamental path at day and night. One example of this comes from James Turner who occupied the rectory cottage from 1947 to 1950. He was a poet, author, gardener and painter, A great character and warm sole who loved the English countryside. He had his brother and his wife staying with him and Cathy (his wife) and so walked over to the church alone for some air soon after midnight. In all events he heard the gentle 'ding-dong' of St. Gregory's, Sudbury, strike one. Suddenly he heard footsteps come down the path towards him. He was somewhat relieved when they headed towards the priests door and halt near the east wall. Were they those of a former rector? He did not know.
In the 1970's, Jeffrey Croom-Hollingsworth and his team investigated Borley church. Among other things, they picked up raps, taps, moans and a rather chilling sigh. One day whilst Croom Hollingsworth and one of his companions was keeping watch on the rectory site in the 70's they saw the famous Nun. She passed through a garage and a load of bricks until finally vanishing in front of their very eyes.
Things are still reported in this remote country hamlet of Borley; right up to the present day. It is a peaceful scene. Old Borley Place stands in it's position next to the church, the rectory cottage is now a handsome detached house with four and a half acres of ground and farm buildings stand as they have always done, next to the site. New bungalows occupy the old garden, and there are various houses dotted about, some with ancient thatches. The old school hall is now the village hall and stands near Borley Hall, which was seriously damaged by fire in the 18th century and so is somewhat smaller then the original building. The great Bell that was hung in the courtyard of the rectory was first owned by Harry Price and now by Peter Underwood who also owns the border stone, which you can see, marked on the map of the grounds. Ivan Banks owns the old gateposts of which the Nun was seen standing beside many times. The present rector is Rev. Capt. Brian A. Sampson a very warm and affable fellow. The present occupiers of the rectory cottage and successive owners of the site are Colonel (rtrd) and Mrs. Dorey. Borley attracts visitors although sadly a lot of them drunk and mad sightseers; once a coach brought a load of Americans at two in the morning. Drunks some times come up after dark and make noises trying to scare each other.
Figure 15; back of cottage, 1984
Borley will always be known as 'The most Haunted Place in England.' Indeed, when Harry Price swung his car into the market place at Sudbury and enquired of the where abouts of Borley Rectory the gentleman who he asked replied 'O, you mean The Most Haunted House in England.'
Figure 16; the rectory courtyard
Banks, Ivan, The Enigma of Borley Rectory, 1996, Foulsham
Dingwall, Goldney & Hall, The Haunting of Borley Rectory, 1956, SPR. Vol. 51 Jan. 1969 & Duckworth
Hall, Trevor Henry, New Light on Old Ghosts, 1965, Duckworth
Hall, Trevor Henry, Search For Harry Price, 1978, Duckworth
Henning, A.C., Haunted Borley, 1948, Mason & Son
Hastings, Robert J., An Examination of the Borley Report, 1969, SPR. Vol. 55 March 1969
Paul, Philip, Some Unseen Power, 1985, Robert Hale
Price, Harry, Search For Truth, 1940, Longman Green
Price, Harry, 'The Most Haunted House in England' 1940, Longman Green
Price, Harry, The End of Borley Rectory, 1946, Longman Green
Tabori, Paul, Harry Price, 1950, Athenaeum Press
Underwood & Tabori, The Ghosts of Borley, 1973, David & Charles
Underwood, Peter, A Host of Hauntings, 1973, Leslie Frewin
Underwood, Peter, Hauntings, 1977, Dents
Wood, Robert, The Widow of Borley, 1992, Duckworth
Joe Olding,
1999