Borley Rectory
Borley Rectory remains world famous as the site of the most intense poltergeist and spiritual phenomena ever reported. Paranormal researcher Harry Price became famous for his investigation and books about the Rectory.
Constructed as a Benedictine monastery in Suffolk, Borley Rectory was considered "The most haunted house in England." A lurid tale of forbidden love is said to have unfolded on its grounds in the 13th century. The story goes that a nun and a monk fell in love and when they tried to elope, they were caught. The monk was hanged for his crime, and the nun was walled up alive in the building's masonry. Beginning in the 1920s, there were sightings of the nun's ghost in and around Borley Rectory, and reports of objects being moved and thrown about as if by poltergeists. In the photograph shown here, taken outside the rectory, a brick reportedly leaped into the air of its own volition, right as the shutter snapped.
B
orley Rectory was built in 1863 by Reverend Henry Bull, and was destroyed by fire in 1939. It was located in Essex, England near the Stour River. The ground it was built on had a reputation for being haunted, and their were many phenomena reported in the area.R
everend Lionel Foyster and his wife, Marianne, moved into Borley Rectory October 16, 1930. They left exactly five years later. During their stay, over 2,000 alleged paranormal events took place. Years later, Marianne discussed how many of those events could be explained naturally, but she could not explain all of them, including several writings on the walls.C
apt. William Gregson and his family were the last to live in the Rectory. The fire started at midnight, February 27, 1939 whilst they were moving in to the rectory. Apparently, some falling books tipped over an oil lamp. The building was gutted. Just as much controversy swirls around the mysterious fire as the alleged haunting.S
ome of the bricks from the rectory were used in various projects during World War II. The ruins were finally razed in the sping of 1944.