THE BORLEY RECTORY

MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE Borley’s ghostly
problems began centuries ago. In
1362 Benedictine monks built a
monastery in the little village in Essex, south
east England. Local legend says that a monk
tried to run away with a nun from the nearby
Bures nunnery. Despite having an escape
plan organised and a carriage ready to
smuggle them away to safety, the two lovers
were caught. The monk was hanged, and the
nun was bricked up in the walls of the
monastery’s cellars.
The modern legend began in 1862, when
Reverend Henry Bull became rector of Borley
and built the rectory a year later in 1863.
Villagers knew of the mournful nun who

could be seen, walking sadly round the land
near the old monastery – and it seems
Reverend Bull grew accustomed to her too.
In 1875 he added a new wing to the rectory
overlooking what was known in the village
as the ‘Nun’s Walk’ so that he could watch
the ghost. However, the nun eventually
became an annoyance, particularly as she
had a habit of staring in the windows of the
rectory, scaring many visitors.
Henry Bull died in May 1892 in the Blue
Room of the rectory. His son Harry took over
the building and, if anything, the tales of
haunted happenings increased. Four of
Henry’s sisters saw the nun walking along
her path, and in addition to the nun
apparition, there were new sightings of a
ghostly coach and horses arriving in the
rectory drive. Harry Bull died in June 1927,
also in the Blue Room; before his death he is
claimed to have said he had experienced
‘communications with spirits’, but his
passing marked the end of the Bulls’
physical, earthly tenancy with the rectory.
In October 1928 the Reverend Guy Eric
Smith and his wife took over residency of the
rectory. The Smiths knew about the house’s
history and soon began experiencing their
own strange phenomena. Objects were
moved around the house, lights were
switched on and off, stones were thrown,
there was even the sound of strange whispers
mentioning Henry Bull’s nickname – Carlos.
The Smiths finally wrote to the Daily Mirror
for help, and the paper dispatched the
paranormal investigator, Harry Price, to the
rectory.
Price recorded incidents of many unusual
activities including inexplicable bell ringing
and the strange appearance of a Catholic
medallion. The Smiths moved out of the
building and then left Borley altogether in
April 1930, but the October of that year saw
the start of a period Harry Price would refer
to as ‘the most extraordinary and best
documented case of haunting in the annals
of psychical research’. Reverend Lionel
Foyster, his young wife Marianne and their

adopted daughter Adelaide moved into the
rectory and immediately the phenomena
worsened.
Marianne faced the worst of the poltergeist
attacks – objects were thrown at her, and
messages addressed to her appeared
scribbled across the walls. One message
read, ‘Marianne, please help get. Pleas for
help and prayers’. The Reverend Foyster
decided to have the rectory exorcised and
things settled down for a short time,
although the hauntings returned and
Marianne was repeatedly thrown from her
bed by spiritual forces. Reverend Foyster
finally decided to move his family away
from the area, and all subsequent rectors
have refused to live in the house.
By June 1937 Harry Price himself decided
to rent the building and installed a team of
observers. On 27th March 1938 a séance was
held in the rectory. A spirit voice said the
rectory would catch fire in the hallway, that
very night and burn down. It did not. Price’s
tenancy expired and the house was taken
over by Captain William Gregson and his
wife. On 27th February 1939 Captain
Gregson was in his library when a lamp in
the hallway fell over. Eleven months later
than the spirits warned, Borley Rectory burnt
to the ground. Witnesses saw strange
apparitions dancing in the flames, and the
nun’s face was said to be seen staring from an
upper window.
Before the rectory was razed in 1944, Price
returned to the site and was hunting in the
cellars when he found the jawbone of a
young woman. He believed it belonged to the
infamous nun, and gave it a Christian burial.
However, it has not stopped the strange
occurrences and many locals now believe
the spirits inhabit the Borley church and
churchyard across the road.