Borley Rectory - Haunted House
Borley Rectory was once reported as being the most haunted house in England.
In 1940 a book entitled The Most Haunted House in England by Harry Price made the small village of Borley world famous.
Borley Rectory was an old Victorian house built by the Reverend Henry Dawson Ellis Bull in 1862. It caught fire in 1939. Harry Price claimed that the building was haunted by various entities including the ghost of a former vicar and headless monk along with the ghost of a nun.
Harry Price gave many lectures and wrote extensively on the subject up to his death in 1948. The Times wrote an orbituary on him stating that he was an honest and clear mind.
After Harry Price's death, an article was written about him by Charles Sutton which was published in the Inky Way Annual. Charles Sutton claimed that he had discovered that Harry Price may have committed fraud. Interestingly though, Harry Price was no longer alive to defend himself. The question abounds as to why these accusations were not made while Harry Price was still alive?
Putting Harry Price's accounts aside, Borley Rectory was the subject of "ghostly goings on" long before Harry Price wrote his book. Before Borley Rectory was built there was a local legend that a 13th Century Monastery had previously existed around the area.
The story goes that a monk from the monastery eloped with a nun from a nearby convent but they were caught and the monk was subsequently beheaded and the nun walled up alive within the walls of the monastery. It should be noted, however, that the Essex Archaeological Society claimed that this monastery never existed.
More information on Harry Price can be seen at http://www.harryprice.co.uk