England’s most haunted house Borley Rectory went up in flames

Borley Rectory in Essex, England, after the 1939 fire.

My most recent book is about my experiences with earth-bound ghosts in England while I was on vacation. It's called "Ghosts of England on a Medium's Vacation." Although I didn't visit the Borley Rectory's remains, you can read about the ghostly activity there, thanks to this article from the Daily Telegraph. 
  It's a haunting that continues to happen at the Borley Rectory and how a ghost started a fire that severely burned the structure. 
  Here's the story:
 
Fire did not stop ghosts when England’s most haunted house Borley Rectory went up in flames

Source: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/journalists/troy-lennon
Troy Lennon, History Editor, The Daily Telegraph February 26, 2019 8:00am

Captain William Hart Gregson had recently taken possession of the creepy house in Essex, knowing full well its reputation for spooky, unexplained events. Although he had renamed it simply “The Priory” most people knew it as Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in Britain.

Gregson planned to turn the mysterious manse into a tourist attraction. The strange occurrences at the property continued. Doors left locked were suddenly found unlocked. A large cover placed over a well in the cellar was later found tossed aside.

Borley Rectory in 1892.

Then, according to Gregson, on the night of February 27, 1939, 80 years ago today, the ghosts
got up to their usual mischief — but with more serious consequences.

While sorting through some books at the house Gregson saw a stack of them fall, despite being firmly placed.

The books knocked over a paraffin lamp, spilling oil across the floor, which then ignited.

Unable to do anything about the fire, which quickly became too big to control, the captain phoned the local Sudbury Fire Brigade. By the time the fire engines arrived the house was well alight. The firemen extinguished the flames but not before they had destroyed the upper storey and damaged most rooms on the ground floor.

A policeman who had attended the fire later questioned Gregson about the identity of the “lady and gentlemen, in cloaks” he had seen leaving the house as it was burning. He assured the policeman he was the only person at the rectory.

It was a spooky end to the infamous house, which had been scaring people since the 19th century.

The building had even attracted the famed psychic investigator Harry Price, who had spent a year researching the ghosts of Borley.

But after the fire the building would never be rebuilt.

Undated photo taken after the fire

The rectory was built in 1862 as a home for Reverend Henry Dawson Ellis Bull, the rector of Borley. It was constructed on the site of a former Georgian rectory that had burnt down. Bull had the remains demolished to make way for his house, designed by Frederic W. Chancellor. There the reverend raised his family of 14 children.

The first records of hauntings date from the 1860s when servants and locals reported hearing footsteps and seeing ghostly figures in the grounds. Bull’s daughters said they often saw a nun walking through the garden. When they tried to approach she faded away and vanished.

A legend grew that a monk from a 14th century monastery that once stood near where the rectory was built fell in love with a nun from a convent in Bures, 13km away. When they tried to elope they were caught. The priest and an accomplice who drove the monk’s coach were executed and the nun bricked up in a cellar.

The story was later shown to have no basis in history and was most likely the concoction of Bull who liked to tell his children ghost stories. But the stories inspired people to report seeing headless priests and coachmen as well as a wandering nun. A particular path through the garden became known by locals as “the Nun’s Walk”.

Ghost hunter Harry Price (at desk) with unidentified man about to conduct a seance, circa 1940

When Bull died in 1892 his son Harry took over as rector. The sightings continued but didn’t seem to bother Harry, who is said to have built a summer house with a view of the Nun’s Walk so he could look out for the nun taking a stroll. He stayed in the house until his death in 1927.

 

When a new rector, Guy Smith, moved to the house in 1928 he found a package in a cupboard containing a small female skull. No explanation of where it came from was ever found. Smith and his wife also reported hearing strange noises and seeing ghosts. The Smiths got in touch with a newspaper which contacted the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) who sent Harry Price. Once a magician who specialised in uncovering fraudsters, Price had taken to endorsing psychics he believed were genuine. He had also become one England’s pre-eminent ghost hunters.

Price first visited the house in 1929. He was unable to do anything about the ghosts and the Smiths moved out. It was a year before Reverend Lionel Algernon Foyster was found as a replacement for Smith. Foyster was also troubled by ghosts and left in 1937.

Price had become fascinated by the house and continued visiting during Foyster’s time there. When Foyster left he rented the house for a year to conduct research. He later wrote a book about the property, but many of his findings are thought to have been fabricated.

Gregson had hoped to capitalise on the fame brought to the house by Price when it burnt to the ground in 1939. It was demolished in 1944 but people continued to report seeing ghosts.