Borley Rectory Hauntings and Ghost StoriesGhost stories and accounts from the Borley Rectory Hauntings, one of England's most hunted houses before it was demolished in 1944.
Borley Rectory began life as a Benedictine monastery in the 13th century. Legend has it that a monk fell in love with a young nun from the nearby Bures convent. As they tried to elope and start a new life together, they were captured by a friend of the monk who was driving the carriage helping them escape. The coachman was beheaded, the monk was hung, and the nun was bricked up alive in the walls of the vaults beneath the rectory.
Ghosts of Borley Rectory
In the early nineteenth century, the monastery was sold off as a residence and bought by Reverend Henry Dawson Ellis Bull in 1862. Despite local warnings, he built a rectory on the site, believed by locals to be haunted. Over the years, Bull's servants and his daughters were constantly witnessing unexplained footsteps, phantom knocks and bangs and most frightening of all the manifestation of ghosts. Bull however thought the haunting was most amusing, and with his son, erected a summer house where they could pass away the time waiting for the phantom nun.
On many occasions, a young nun's face has been seen looking in through a window during dinner parties. It eventually became so bad that the windows were walled up. Bull's daughters often saw the nun walking along a path at the rear of the rectory, the path became known as "Nuns Walk". After Bull passed away in one of the famous rooms, the Blue Room, his son Harry inherited the property until he also passed on in 1927.
The property was then purchased by Rev Guy Smith, who was so unnerved by the paranormal events, that he sold the rectory just one year after moving in.
After Smith's hasty departure, it was the turn of Reverend Lionel Foyster and his wife, Marianne. The events in the house were now getting more and more common, and more intense. Without any explanation the Foysters would find themselves locked out of rooms and windows would suddenly smash. There were all manner of unnerving noises all over the house. As time went on these innocent events turned more aggressive and Marianne was physically assaulted one night. She was thrown off her bed and slapped by invisible hands. In the final event, she was nearly rendered unconscious by a mattress that was held over her face.
Borley Rectory Paranormal Investigations
Harry Price came to the scene when a local newspaper featured an article on the activity in the house. Harry Price was a famous paranormal investigator of the time and he investigated the events in the house. It was during this investigation the writing on the wall started to appear, usually when Marianne was present. "Marianne, please help get" and "Marianne light mass prayers" were two common writings.
When the Foysters moved out in 1935, Harry leased the house himself to deepen his investigation. He ran ads in the papers for others to help, and at the peak, he had 40 investigators trying to uncover the mysteries of the house.
During a seance, a spirit came through and identified herself as Marie Lairre. She informed the group that she was a nun from France and left her convent to marry Henry Waldegrave, the son of a wealthy family whose home had previously stood on the site of Borley Rectory. The tale turned grim when she told the group that her husband had killed her and buried the remains in the cellar. To Henry Price, she fitted the profile of the ghost that had been haunting Borley Rectory.
Almost a year later Borley Rectory had yet another new owner, Captain WH Gregson. He accidentally knocked over an oil lamp whilst unpacking and started a fire. The fire spread fast through the manor and the rectory was burned to the ground. Price decided to excavate the cellar which was now accessible. During the excavation, he found a few small bones which seemed to be those of a young woman. Was this the proof he needed to validate the story of the betrayed nun? The remains were gathered together and she was given a proper religious burial and finally laid to rest.
Every person who has resided in the rectory since it was built in 1863, and virtually every person who has investigated the alleged miracles, has sworn to incidents that can only be described as paranormal.Henry Price
