Borley Rectory: The Most Haunted House in England

For decades, Borley Rectory in Essex held the title of “the most haunted house in England.” The Victorian mansion, built in 1863 and destroyed by fire in 1939, generated more paranormal investigation, more controversy, and more claims of supernatural activity than perhaps any other British location. The story involves ghostly nuns, poltergeist activity, unexplained fires, messages from the dead, and a cast of investigators whose methods and conclusions remain debated to this day.

The Building and Its History

Borley Rectory was built in 1863 by the Reverend Henry Dawson Ellis Bull to serve as the home for the rector of Borley’s parish church. The large, gloomy Victorian building was erected near the site of an earlier structure, itself reportedly built on land associated with a medieval monastery.

Local legend held that a nun from the monastery and a monk from a nearby monastery had conducted a forbidden love affair. When discovered, the monk was executed and the nun bricked up alive within the monastery walls. Her ghost, according to tradition, walked the grounds where Borley Rectory now stood.

The Bull family occupied the rectory for decades. Henry Bull lived there until his death in 1892, followed by his son Harry Bull until his death in 1927. Both Bulls reported supernatural phenomena during their occupancy, including sightings of a ghostly nun walking in the garden.

The Smith Period

After Harry Bull’s death, the Reverend Guy Eric Smith and his wife became the new tenants. Almost immediately, strange events began. Footsteps were heard in empty rooms. Lights appeared in windows. Objects moved without visible cause. Most famously, the Smith family reported finding a skull wrapped in brown paper in a library cupboard.

The Smiths contacted the Daily Mirror, which in turn contacted Harry Price, a famous ghost hunter of the era. Price visited Borley in June 1929 and immediately began documenting paranormal activity. During his first visit, a candlestick allegedly flew through the air, pebbles rained down, and a glass candlestick exploded.

The Smiths departed in 1929, unable to endure the disturbances.

The Foyster Period

The Reverend Lionel Foyster, a cousin of the Bulls, moved into the rectory in October 1930 with his young wife Marianne. The haunting intensified dramatically. Marianne, in particular, seemed to be the focus of supernatural attention.

Objects were thrown, fires broke out spontaneously, and Marianne was allegedly thrown from her bed by invisible forces. Most remarkably, messages began appearing on the walls—written in pencil or scratched into the plaster—addressing Marianne directly. “Marianne please help get” and “Marianne light mass prayers” were among the fragmentary communications.

Marianne claimed to have been attacked physically by invisible entities. She reported having conversations with the spirits. The activity was relentless during the Foysters’ five-year occupancy.

The Foysters left in 1935, and questions about Marianne’s role in the phenomena have lingered. Some researchers believe she may have produced the writing and staged some events. Others find her accounts credible.

Harry Price’s Tenancy

In 1937, Harry Price leased the by-now-empty rectory for a year and organized a systematic investigation. He recruited a team of observers who maintained round-the-clock surveillance, documenting everything that occurred.

Price’s team reported numerous phenomena: temperature drops, objects moving, unexplained sounds, and possible apparitions. Through a planchette session (similar to a Ouija board), Price claimed to receive messages from a spirit called “Marie Lairre,” a nun who said she had been murdered on the site.

Price published his findings in “The Most Haunted House in England” (1940), which became a bestseller and cemented Borley’s reputation.

The Fire and Afterward

On February 27, 1939, the rectory was destroyed by fire. The new owner, Captain W.H. Gregson, reported that an oil lamp mysteriously overturned, starting the blaze. Some connected this to a message Price had received during a séance, predicting the house would burn down.

Even after the fire, the haunting reportedly continued among the ruins. Investigations were conducted in the remains. Price published a second book in 1946 claiming the haunting persisted.

The Controversy

After Price’s death in 1948, his methods and conclusions came under intense scrutiny. The Society for Psychical Research published a highly critical report in 1956, suggesting that Price had manipulated evidence and possibly staged phenomena to enhance his reputation.

The criticism was devastating. Evidence suggested that Price may have faked the movement of objects during his initial visits. The “spirit messages” obtained through planchette sessions were questioned. The entire Borley case, critics argued, was a mixture of natural phenomena, deliberate fraud, and credulous interpretation.

Defenders of Price and the Borley haunting have pushed back against these criticisms. They note that phenomena were reported long before Price’s involvement and continued after his death. The Bull family’s testimony predates any possible Price influence. Marianne Foyster’s experiences, whatever their ultimate explanation, were not created by Price.

Archaeological Finds

In 1943, excavations beneath the ruins uncovered bone fragments. Price claimed these were the remains of the murdered nun, Marie Lairre. However, analysis suggested the bones were pig remains, possibly centuries old.

Later excavations in the 1960s found additional remains, including a skull that may have been human. The archaeological evidence remains inconclusive.

Legacy

Borley Rectory, though destroyed, continues to fascinate paranormal researchers. The site remains associated with occasional reports of apparitions and strange phenomena. The church and graveyard adjacent to the former rectory draw visitors hoping for their own supernatural experience.

The controversy surrounding Borley reflects larger debates in paranormal research. How do we evaluate historical testimony? When famous investigators are suspected of fraud, does that invalidate the underlying phenomenon? Can we separate genuine experiences from exaggeration and fabrication?

Whatever the truth of Borley Rectory, it earned its place in paranormal history. “The most haunted house in England” may have been oversold by Price, but the experiences of its occupants over decades created a legend that endures.