The Most Haunted House in England

From the book about; The Story of Borley Rectory.

Borley Rectory was a religious leader’s house, that was reported to be haunted. The ghost lore surrounding the property involved a nun that was haunting the grounds. And apparitions of a horse drawn coach with two headless men at the controls.

          A book was written about the para-spiritual activity there called;” The Most Haunted House in England,” by Harry Price, in 1940.

         Harry was a psychic investigator. At one time he headed the Ghost Club and he was a previous member of the Society for Physical Research. Harry rented Borley Rectory in 1937, for a year, conducting paranormal investigations there.

       The Rectory in Essex County, England, was built in 1862. Before that, a monastery was there from the 1300s. And there was also a nunnery in the nearby hamlet of Bures. The story of the nun and coach went back to the middle ages.

There was a young novice from the nunnery and a groom who worked at the nearby monastery in Borley. Grooms were men who groomed and took care of horses. The young nun and groom fell in love. They were to run away together and elope. The young man’s brother acquired a couch and two horses for the couple to escape. They were chased and caught by monks from the monastery. The brothers were beheaded. And the young woman was returned to the nunnery, where she was sealed up in a wall, whilst still alive.

         There was a séance at the Rectory in 1937. Answers to questions were given by rocking a table back and fourth. The ghost of the first Rector of Borley, Rev. Harry Bull,(who had died in 1892), told them; the nun was buried there in 1667, in the garden where the Rectory was later built, about two hundred years later.                    

         For over 70 years, there were sightings of a spectral couch and phantasmal horses, headless men and a nun moving through the garden and leaning over the gate. The area outside became known as the “nun’s walk, where she was seen many times over the years.”

         

          There was a lot of poltergeist type activity at the Rectory  in the early 1930s. Objects were thrown and rolled down stairs. Things disappeared, hurled, glass broken and bells rang on their own. Furniture was moved around. There were young children staying there in Borley at some of the periods when unusual phenomena was occurring. It is possible that a small child could have had some psychokinetic abilities and could have caused some of the disturbances, with of their mind. Psychic phenomena are also considered to be supernatural and paranormal. One of the former Rectors suggested many of the experiences could have come from a person with psychic faculty.      

       Whilst other manifestations, like the appearance of specters and disembodied voices, were probably more of ghostly manifestations. There were shadowy figures and black shapes of incorporeal entities.  As well as mist and the luminous phenomena of ghost lights witnessed in the old house.

Also the presence of apports, objects that appeared mysteriously and disappeared. And automatic, spirit writing on the walls was observed by many investigators.

       One of the wives of a Rector, was hit on multiple occasions, by an unseen assailant. Injuries sustained by the woman may have indicated the presence of an evil, demonic essence. 

       Apparitions of a couch and horses, sounds like a residual haunting. It was an event in history that was recorded in time and space, and plays itself back, over and over again. The galloping hooves were heard many times, outside the Rectory in Borley.

       There was also the sighting of a young lady, after the house had burned. Several people in the area saw a small woman in the window of the ruins. She was dressed in blue/white cloths. The phantasm then disappeared into a wall. A girl had been killed there some 70 years before. She was climbing up to the window sill of the bedroom when she fell to her death. She was dressed in white or blue attire.  And there were sightings of the ghost of an old gardener that had worked there centuries before. 

       Harry Price, wrote in his book about the spirit hypothesis, which states that “some people may survive the dissolution of the body, for a limited time”. The author believed that Borley Rectory was haunted. However, he did not think that the spirit hypothesis could explain the apparitions of the couch and horses. Animals can have spirits too.  A psychic phenomena called PSP; Precognition Sentient Phenomena;  is where an external force or intelligence, can  send an image into a person’s mind, like virtual reality, or a hologram, acting as a trickster. Perhaps ghosts might be able to project an experience they had with a vehicle, like a couch, that they remembered from their time in life.

The author also did not consider the findings of several mediums presented there to be reliable.

       

       Borley Rectory burned down in a fire, in 1939. And the buildings were completely demolished in 1944. All that remains is a cottage that was on the grounds, and a nearby church across the road.

       There were many occurrences of a supernormal manner at the old home of the resident clergy, in the early twentieth century. Incarnate occupants witnessed discarnated inhabitants and beastly things. People experienced much frightfulness at  
"The Most Haunted House in England."

      

       

Author's Note

Analysis of this book attempts to answer a few of the questions posed by Harry Price, over 80 some years ago, about Borley Rectory.

Reviews

[AYVID N]

“some people may survive the dissolution of the body, for a limited time”. Interesting but can we be really sure of how long the time span of that survival. After all, no one really ever came back to confirm anything. These hauntings seem to be a sturdy proof of life after death or paranormal existence. Science cannot explain everything and sometimes we just have to take things as they are and believe what we cannot analyze.

[Clif]

Spirits are believed to be a form of electrical energy. Radio waves can continue to broadcast through space for many years, decades, or even centuries. There are near death experiences where people come back to report what they experienced. And there is also reincarnation, some people have memories of past lives. You are right, it comes down to what you believe.

[AYVID N]

So true. I am a believer in reincarnation as I really want to believe it. I know it's a fancy notion but if one relates to it then why not.

[Clif]

You have some good ideas. Thank you.

[AYVID N]

I enjoyed your post. I'll return for more. Have a great day.

[Another Relic]

I remember watching a show on youtube about it. It's an interesting and spooky story with a lot of mystery and intrigue. You did a good job writing this Clif.

[Clif]

Thank you Tim.