Borley Rectory
A Victorian rectory was called the most haunted house in England, until the man who made it famous was questioned.
What was reported
Borley Rectory was built in 1862. Stories of a nun walking in the garden began early, and in the late 1920s and 1930s residents reported bells ringing, objects thrown and messages scrawled on the walls asking for help.
The investigator Harry Price spent years there and wrote two books calling it the most haunted house in England. The rectory burned down in 1939.
Explanations offered
A 1956 report for the Society for Psychical Research concluded that much of the activity was invented or exaggerated, and accused Price of staging some of it. Some who lived there said the effects were caused by family members or the house's own creaks. Price's supporters dispute the report.
- When
- 1929–1939
- Where
- Borley, Essex, England
- Witnesses
- Rectors, their families and investigators
- Status
- Probably a hoax
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.