Enigma of Borley Rectory

by Harry Ludlum

  Table of Contents

  Foreword

  Preface

  Introduction

  Borley and its Surroundings

  The Building of Borley Rectory

  The Hauntings ... 1863 to 1927

  The Nun Makes her Appearance

  Edward Cooper and the Stable Cottage

  The Story Continues ... 1928 to 1935

  The Final Pre-war Years 1936 to 1939

  Ghosts Among the Ruins. The Site from 1939 to 1945

  The Reverend Henry Dawson Bull

  The Reverend Henry Foyster Bull

  The Reverend Guy and Mabel Smith

  The Reverend Lionel Foyster and Marianne

  The Tenancy of Harry Price

  Gregson and the Fire - The Rectory's Last Tenant

  James Turner and the Rectory Cottage

  Bones and a Tunnel: an Archaeological Aspect

  The Monastery Controversy

  A Lost Ghost and Sir Edward Waldegrave

  The Enigmas of Marie Lairre: A Search for the Borley Nun

  The Katie Boreham Mystery

  Some Other Possibilities

  The Screaming Girl Mystery

  The Seances

  Some Views from Contemporaries

  A Resumé of Some 50 Years of Borley Chronicles

  Glanville's Locked Book

  In Conclusion

  Select Bibliography

  Foreword

  By Tom Perrott

  Chairman of the Ghost Club (founded 1862)

  The alleged haunting of Borley Rectory has probably inspired more people to express their views on this highly controversial subject than upon any similar case in the long history of Psychical Research, and despite the fact that the rather ugly Victorian building was almost completely destroyed by a somewhat mysterious fire in 1939, the interest in this house of mysteries has continued over the years, unabated.

  Unfortunately the site of the former rectory upon which new buildings have since been erected is now rapidly beginning to resemble an impregnable fortress, as a result of the defences erected by its present occupants who feel such action is necessary to combat the depredations wreaked upon them by the legions of over-enthusiastic 'ghost hunters'.

  But why has this intolerable situation been inflicted upon the honest inhabitants of this small Essex village?

  In this fascinating re-examination of the case regarding the internationally known 'England's Most Haunted House', the author has been able to carry out exhaustive and thorough research over many years. He now offers some startling new thoughts on the history and causes of the phenomena and provides a controversial yet intriguing solution to the identity of the mysterious 'Nun of Borley'.

  Many ghostly legends, some of which probably originated in the Middle Ages, contain certain recurring themes of jilted lovers, seduced chambermaids, eloping monks and nuns, headless figures and phantom coaches. A number of these tales may have some factual basis, in that religious establishments containing more than their quota of frustrated inmates might have been found in the areas in question, and an array of coaches might have regularly been seen driving in a heedless manner into the darkness of the night, the night in which a myriad of unexpected dangers might have lurked and lain in wait for the hapless traveller.

  A number of stories of this sort must have played a part in helping compound the Borley mythology and it is not difficult to imagine how persons visiting Borley for the first time might have had previous knowledge of many of these legends, and could have pre-programmed themselves into believing that the house which they were to enter for the first time was quite capable of producing inexplicable phenomena in their presence.

  These suppositions on my part, in an effort to rationalise upon the alleged Borley manifestations, are in no way meant to detract from the fact that many strange occurrences appear to have taken place there that cannot simply be swept away in the light of sweet reason. It so often happens that over-zealous 'ghost hunters' are more likely to jump to supernatural conclusions that to the disciplined investigator are often more than useless.

  This present volume, probably the most comprehensive of its kind so far produced, presents the whole Borley story in its entirety and it is for readers to draw their own conclusions regarding this most enigmatic of sagas by drawing upon the information given, to form a balanced opinion.

  In this book, readers may examine the architecture of the famous building and its surroundings and perhaps discover for themselves the possible areas from which the notorious nun might have manifested. They can also make the acquaintance of many of the leading personalities who played their varying roles there.

  I am constantly receiving evidence that even in our very materialistic world the interest in ghosts, psychic investigations and the study of seemingly inexplicable phenomena is very much on the increase. I feel that this detailed and sometimes microscopic research can only provoke more serious interest into the whole field of psychical research and, hopefully, create a new atmosphere of acceptance of aspects of the paranormal.

  It is likely that the fascination of Borley Rectory and its phantoms will continue to stimulate the interest of genuine psychical researchers, inquisitive 'ghost busters' and the healthily curious for many years to come.

  The author is to be congratulated on his remarkable achievement of being able to reassess the evidence and offer such an unusual solution for all those intrigued by the enigma of Borley.

  Tom Perrott

  Chairman of The Ghost Club

  Preface

  In 1940 a book was published by Longmans Green, in which its author told a strange story that has since become both something of a legend and also an almost endless controversy. The book was entitled The Most Haunted House in England. Its author was the enigmatic Harry Price. In 1946, he completed a sequel, The End of Borley Rectory. Two years later he was dead. Indeed, in his own very special way, whether one agrees or not with the results of his work, Harry Price was in many ways as much an enigma as some of the curious things he explored during his long career.

  Some eight years after his death, a trio of writers tried to consign the story of Borley Rectory to oblivion, but without much success. To this day, it is an episode that refuses to be buried, seeming to exercise a hold on all who delve into it, and in that respect the present writer is no exception.

  In 1969 an extensive report by the late Robert J. Hastings took a fresh look at this extraordinary case and Harry Price's role in it, and in 1973 the author and psychic researcher, Peter Underwood, in co-operation with the late Dr Paul Tabori, further supported the considerable numbers of firm believers in the story's authenticity.

  Since then, a whole generation of the ordinary reading public has grown up to whom the story of Borley Rectory is little more than the occasional incomplete and often inaccurate article in some rather second-rate periodical. It is for this generation in particular that the writer has chosen to retell the story of Borley Rectory from existing records, and also to delve once again into what may be behind it from a historical point of view.

  To disbelievers, the haunting of Borley Rectory is like a millstone round their necks, and each fresh book in support of the case yet another blow to those who would seek to discredit the whole episode, people who seem to be unable to face the very real possibility that maybe Harry Price was right all along and that they have been looking in vain for misdeeds on his part that were never there. In writing anew about Borley Rectory, the present writer is well aware of the sometimes almost hostile reaction to both the story itself and the late Harry Price. Against these protestors and their protestations, the writer is satisfied in his own mind that the essentials of the episode remain intact and that, further
more, the case has sufficient historical evidence to draw upon to suggest that the phenomenon was more likely to be genuine than false.

  In Harry Price's last days he thought that the case was finished with, but time has shown that this was not to be, and there can be little doubt that people will still be arguing about the alleged haunting long after the present writer is dead and gone.

  Burnt to a shell on a winter's night in 1939, Borley Rectory itself is now but a memory. Amongst the tiny community it was built to serve, it has come to be viewed variously with resignation, indifference, some disapproval or even amusement for the amount of attention it attracted during its decidedly curious history. To this day, Borley has to live with the fall-out from the Rectory's controversial existence, and it says something for the people of this tiny village that, in spite of everything, they manage to remain at least tolerant of those who come with genuine interest to look and to ponder upon the site of this extraordinary episode in English psychic history.

  If this book achieves nothing else the writer can only hope that its contents will show that, in historical terms at any rate, the people of Borley have been left with the legacy of the most haunted house in England for some good reason. If that aim is achieved, then it may perhaps be a little easier for the community to come to terms with the reputation of its famous rectory, and accept its curiosities as part of Borley's history.

  Editor's Note

  Harry Price, so often quoted by the author, stated on the last page of The End of Borley Rectory, published two years before his death:

  'Some day I should like to visit Le Havre and study its conventual records in an effort to find out more about 'Marie Lairre' - if she ever existed.'

  Ivan Banks has, it seems, completed Price's quest and after ten years' laborious investigation achieved a conclusion that could not have been foreseen by anyone, even the man described as 'the world's greatest psychic researcher'.

  To some, the author's ideas and his spiritual interpretations may not easily be acceptable, but for sheer tenacity, persistence and dedication, and for being able to produce so much fascinating new evidence in relation to the haunting at Borley and of the identity of the 'ghostly nun', the author, I feel, is to be congratulated.

  This work will surely provoke further investigation, historical and otherwise, but few I doubt will be able to achieve this high standard of research or its intriguing conclusion.

  Introduction

  It would not be unreasonable to express the view that aside from politics, religion, economics or education there is probably little in the field of human experience that can have raised more eyebrows or caused more heated argument than that aspect of our world that has to do with the subject of ghosts and hauntings and the weird effects that they seem to produce.

  For centuries, there have been reports of seemingly elusive forces that variously hurl belongings and pieces of furniture aimlessly about, lift or throw people out of their beds, or throw an odd assortment of missiles such as chunks of iron, bricks, doorknobs, slates, stones, crockery, books and much else at hapless victims.

  Other results of such odd goings-on include all sorts of peculiar visual effects such as horse-drawn vehicles, regiments of Roman or Civil War soldiers, nuns, monks, and various kinds of queer lights; also strange noises and curious smells. Such phenomena have long been the cause of many a drawing room row and heated, often acrimonious, argument.

  The whole country is more than handsomely endowed with reportedly haunted castles, churches, ruined abbeys, pubs, railway stations, cellars, garages, country lanes and all manner of seemingly troubled places. Some of them still remain to this day, possessed of their respective reputations or not, as the case may be. The catalogue of haunted locations is rather like a travelogue, including such places as York, Prestbury, Raynham Hall, Glamis Castle, Blue Bell Hill and Pluckley.

  Among these reported hauntings of bygone years, one can recall such cases as Hinton Ampner, Epworth Rectory, Cock Lane, Berkeley Square, Tadworth, Ballechin House, Edge Hill and many others. Yet, in the annals of British ghosts and paranormal phenomena, one famous case above all others really steals the crown, so to speak, in spite of the controversy that surrounds it to this day. It is a story of the past, but also of the present, because quite apart from occasional reports, which seem to indicate that a residue of its visual and audible effects continues to occur from time to time, there still remain the as yet unanswered queries concerning the historical side of this episode.

  It cannot be denied that much has been done in the field of psychical research to try to evaluate possible sources of energy that might cause the havoc that seems so often to be a hallmark of hauntings, sources of energy that still seem to defy the laws of science.

  From a layman's point of view, it seems to me that what we have in these phenomena is an ultimately traceable and measurable source of sometimes immense power, far from being of a mysterious or outlandish origin, though many folk still persist with the idea that this is something beyond human understanding, an outdated fallacy slowly being discarded by our more enlightened scientific investigators. It does seem, however, that we still struggle to equate these odd and often obscure phenomena with known scientific principles, when perhaps in this instance these principles require changing to accommodate the phenomena, for which a specially devised system of quantification may be a key to a better understanding of the whole subject.

  It should be understood at this point that the foregoing remarks are essentially a personal view on the part of the writer, who cannot claim to have the benefit of a scientific education. Those readers who wish to delve into this most important aspect of phenomena should examine the work of those scientists and parapsychologists who are researching in this field.

  What is surely of particular interest and value is the historical background to ghosts and hauntings, which so often in the popular media seems to be passed by in the scramble to latch onto the spectacular, the horrific or the supposedly ghoulish aspects, thrilling enough one must suppose, in their way, but more often than not mostly imaginative rubbish. Old legends and popular theories aside - and there are quite a number that do bear relevance to the episode that is to be examined - very seldom does one discover just why a particular place should appear to be haunted, as opposed to how, and there really is quite a difference. Consider, for example, some of the great ghost stories from the past. Although the identity of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall in Norfolk is known as Dorothy Walpole, sister of the Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, is she really the image photographed on the stairs, and if so, why?

  All too often in the world of the layman, the everyday reader of books, or the average television viewer, the actual background to these happenings is either ignored or often misrecorded or left to little more than dubious legends or hearsay, hopelessly tangled up in the passage of time. It surely cannot be denied that for the general public, no less than in the sphere of the professional historical researcher, the possible historical reasons for these odd happenings deserve, at the very least, interest which is equal to that shown in the psychic field. This can most certainly be said to be true of the particular episode at Borley.

  It would, however, be quite wrong to suggest that efforts to solve this particular mystery from a historical point of view have not already been made. Nothing could be further from the truth, for several dedicated men and women have, over the past 50 years or so, struggled to sort out this classic and most obscure and controversial of all British psychic episodes. Yet to this day, concrete proof of what lies at the root of it all still seems to elude all attempts to nail it down once and for all. The author ventures to suggest that the case in question is one of the most extraordinary of its kind in modern British history, a case about which a tremendous amount has already been written, mainly concerning the paranormal aspects, though by no means solely so, and varying from the detailed and informative to the mildly interesting, and through the speculative and dubious to the worse exampl
es of sensationalised fiction.

  Much, if not most, of the latter can be attributed to that somewhat wayward British institution, the newspaper business, almost inevitably it would seem, since sensational inaccuracy tends to be a hallmark of sections of the British popular press. In fact, it is sadly the case that on occasions the way in which this particular story has been handled by some newspapers has varied from incompetent to atrocious, likewise some much publicised 'exposure' of the tale.

  Never has there been such a prolonged episode, nor has the episode ever, in my opinion, been equalled for the amount of argument and controversy that it has inspired over the years, than that which was brought to the attention of one of Britain's most famous and, in many ways, most controversial ghost hunters by the editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper in June 1929, so bringing to the world at large the strange story of Borley Rectory. It would probably be fair to say that never before or since that first summer's day at what was to become known as 'The Most Haunted House In England' has so prolonged an investigation been expended by either one man or a team as was carried out by the late and often criticised Harry Price. He will forever remain an almost inseparable part of the story of that misfit country rectory with its strange and singular history. Whilst some might claim, with varying degrees of justification, that the case of Borley Rectory was possibly not quite the very pinnacle of his long career, at least from a scientific or historical view, it is most certainly true that without his efforts the whole peculiar story of Borley Rectory might very well have remained uninvestigated and totally unrecorded. But it should not be supposed that this last point lends any weight at all to the idea that Borley Rectory would not have been a haunted house, save for the intervention of Harry Price. In my view, the balance of evidence suggests that Borley Rectory's weird history did not, and still does not, depend alone upon the work of Harry Price.