Borley Rectori, or Borley Priest's House, is an old English mansion built by the Reverend Henry Dawson on the site of the ruins of a 14th century Benedictine monastery.
Even before the Bull family moved into this estate, there were bad rumors about the house. People living nearby often talked about the ghost of a nun living in that territory, always avoiding it. Eyewitnesses described a woman with a pale, sickly face, wrapped in black robes.
Rumors also said that a novice was walled up within the walls of the destroyed monastery, who dared to love the monk and have an intimate relationship with him. The Bull family did not believe in superstition and ignored local gossip even after the unexpected death of the head of the family in 1892.
In 1900, Ethel, the daughter of Henry Bull, with her sisters returned from guests through her garden on the grounds of the mansion. Just then, near a stream flowing through the garden, they noticed a strange figure in dark clothes. Taking her for a stranger, one of the sisters loudly called out to the woman, but she did not react in any way. As soon as they moved towards the stranger, she simply disappeared.
Since then, the ghost of a woman has often appeared in the estate and its surroundings. The nun was often seen walking along the garden stream along the same route, which was later called the "Nun's Alley." Ethel Bull insisted on the authenticity of the events she described until her death in 1961.
In October 1930, the Reverend Lionel Foister, the son of the founder of the mansion and cousin of Harry Bull, became the owner of the Borley Rectory. He entered the mysterious mansion with his young wife Marianne.
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Almost immediately after the housewarming, inexplicable things began to happen in the house: doorbells rang, objects fell on their own, someone's cries and groans were heard. Increasingly, illegible calls to prayers and masses appeared on the walls and sheets of paper. Occasionally new tenants saw the ghosts of a nun and a priest. In the priest, Lionel recognized the late Henry Bull.
In 1932, the mystical real estate was visited by the magistrate, the respected Guy Lestrange, who later left a detailed description of what he experienced: “Immediately upon arrival I saw an obscure figure under the arch, which instantly disappeared as soon as I approached it … Bottles suddenly began to fly in the house, appearing as if out of thin air … All the calls were worried at once. And then I cried out: "If this is someone invisible, please stop calling, at least for a while!" And all the calls immediately fell silent."
After five years of such a life, the Foisters' enviable patience was exhausted and they moved out, leaving the house in the care of Harry Price, who would later describe all the events in his book "The Most Restless House in England: Ten Years of Borley Rectories." Harry lived in a rented mansion with his team in order to study such long-term paranormal activity.
In March 1938, a researcher with like-minded people conducted a seance and established contact with a restless spirit. The ghost communicated with Harry using the Ouija board and spoke on behalf of the nun Marie Leir, who was killed in 1667 at a monastery next to Borly. The Spirit also warned that "the end is near and everything will go up in flames."
On February 27, 1939, the new owner of the mansion, retired captain W. Gregson, accidentally dropped a kerosene lamp on the porch and the mansion was engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes. When the fire was extinguished, the constable asked the captain about two strange occupants, a lady in gray and a gentleman in a bowler hat, who were slowly walking out of the burning building. Gregson could not find an answer, since only he and his two sons lived in the house. This is how the house looked right after the fire.
Strange events continued on the ruins: heavy footsteps, strange odors, incomprehensible flashes of light, sudden temperature changes. All this was recorded by a commission created by Professor A. Robertson of the University of Cambridge.
According to the research results: of 58 people who spent one or several nights in the ruins of a burned-out mansion, 17 did not notice anything suspicious, 22 witnessed phenomena that defy scientific explanation, and 19 clearly described supernatural events.
To rid the city of the accursed ruins, they were demolished and municipal buildings were erected at the site of the fire. Despite this, and despite the fact that the most restless house in England was destroyed more than half a century ago, new stories of encounters with Borley's ghosts continue to appear in the media.
