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Borley Rectory

Re: Borley Rectory: Questions and Answers

MrRING said:
3) Why is the official site seemingly removed from the web(no copies at archive.org either)?

I've apparently discovered some contact details for the site owner - PM me if you'd like them.
 
the brick photo looks decidedly bunk to me! it doesnt look like a brick, it is too light. perhaps i am looking at a bad pic but i've seen a few and the object in question is very bright especially compared with the surroundings and light direction in the scene.

i have been fascinated by the borley rectory story for years, the scrawlings on the wall intrigue me. i've read that people watched these appear. i dont know if that's true, because if you look at the pattern most of the scribblings take, 'marianne' is written fairly clearly, albeit in bumpy writing. yet the following words are, mostly, total scramble! the 'marianne, please help get' doesnt make sense to me, even taking into account the linguistics of english at the time. it looks more like the line after 'get' is (if it IS supernatural) another word, like 'please help, get 'x' (persons name) or 'please help, get out' or an object or something. i dont know, something doesnt sit right with the writing. in my opinion, people are either misunderstanding the message, or someone is trying to make it read like what they'd think older english would sound like.

~*minky*~
 
Didn't the person in the room write on the wall at night, trying to ask questions of the mysterious writer? And I thought most of the writing occured while she was asleep?
 
i am not sure but this page confirms what i read in a book which included the borley haunting about people being present when the writings were done.

http://www.britannia.com/history/legend/borley.html

i don;t really know what is reliable and what isnt with this one. still, even given that the addressee of the messages 'replied' it doesnt change much in terms of what the words say, and doesnt clear up what i think are small inconsistencies, such as having the womans name written clearly, and then the message in illegible scrawl. i havent seen anything which convinces me that this is completely 'ghostly' or supernatural (i'm referring only to the writing) If Marianne was asleep at the time of the writing appearing, there is room for believing someone else is responsible, either consciously or not.

i dont know, its too confusing, i;ve been reading icelandic for the last two hours and my brain hurts!!!!

~*minky*~
 
Reading up on the Harry Price site about the level of work that went into investigating the phenomenon, it would seem that the Borley Rectory is the most researched haunted house ever.

How would you go about making a more responsible, yet as thorough, research into a haunted house today? And would we have a candidate haunting to investigate that could be as rich in terms of phenomenon?
 
The story of the Borley Rectory is a great read.

So many happenings then equal so many stories in the recotry. 8)

One of the links still say Hauntings happen even the nun was buried by a christian, they'd still be hauntings though if theres more than just the nun.

Any new reports of seeing things?
 
Borley Rectory: Questions and Answers

Hello, I read several years ago that a workman was working above (just out of the frame) and dropped a brick just as the pic was snapped. Creating the famous floating brick. Has anyone else ever heard this story?
 
Did you read about it in a book or article?

Wouldn't be suprising if Price left out that there was workers there though.
 
I've always felt that something paranormal did happen there - although there was a lot of rubbish that Price came up with in order to sell his story to this masses.

I've been to Borley a couple of times and there's nothing there to suggest an unfavourable atmosphere or the presence of others. The most disturbing thing is coachloads of tourists stopping off and snapping happily away...

If anything did ever happen there then it's long gone, and the locals don't seem too keen on all the interest it generates. It's a shame as it's a fascinating story and some of the tales left behind (excluding the Price ones) sent shivers down my spine when I was growing up.
 
My first post on this site involved Borley. I'll reiterate because the original post was so fascinating :lol:

I grew up on my grandparent's farm in Nayland, Suffolk, which is only a few miles from Bures (the location of Borley). As a child (early '70's) I was fascinated with all things ghostly and would get library books from the Sudbury library. One of the books was Harry Price's book on Borley. I was both fascinated and horrified by the Borley legend.

One day, my mother mentioned- unsolicited- that a number of large pieces of furniture in my grandparent's house were from Borley Rectory and had been acquired in an auction in the late '40's or early '50's. As you can imagine, this did nothing to assuage my terror! :lol:

Long story short, 30 years later I am living in Canada and Borley is long forgotten with one exception: My mother inherited my grandparent's furniture and passed on a large armoir to me (which has now been in my home for several years).

One day I was surfing the net and happened upon the official Borley website, which I believe was run by the son of the last occupants in the rectory. Out of interest I contacted him amd tried to confirm that my armoir could possibly be from Borley. Unfortunately, he informed me that to his knowledge there had been no auction of Borley furniture in the '40s or '50s.

So- do I possess a piece of ghost hunting history or not? I am inclined to think not, although it does make a good story. In any event, I can confirm that I have not been visited by the nun or floating bricks.
 
Wow, this sounds like a job for Antiques Road Show!

I don't know how you can prove provinance for the furniture, but did you ever see a picture of it in any of the published Borley pictures?
 
You know, I've never even thought of looking through any of the published pics. At least it would be a start. My mother has numerous pieces of "Borley" furniture in her house in Canada.

In any event, regardless of the provenance these piece are a reminder of the happiest days of my life, and sadly, a time and place that no longer exists. Strange to say, but sometimes I wish we had not kept this furniture. It is somewhat incongruous- almost painful in fact- for me to see pieces of my childhood so far removed from their original surroundings.
 
Wow, this sounds like a job for Antiques Road Show!

What about the Antiques Ghost Show with you know who. ;) :p

Auction eh, could it have been possibly from the site when it was burned down and your grandad might of got them refurbushed?

To his knowledge he might not know if they have been auctioned. Just a possibility.
 
Borley Rectory: Questions and Answers

MAXMOLYNEUX, sorry it took me so long to answer your question about the floating brick i commented on. I read it in an article debunking a few famous hauntings like the Fox sisters and the little girls who photographed the faeries. I'm sorry I can't remember where I saw the article since it has been quite a few years.
 
It's ok, take your time posting whenever you want. :)

I'll try and look for the article myself on a search. 8)
 
The producer of this documentary just emailed and asked me to post the following:



Dear Derrick Stott & Fortean Times,

I've just seen your message on the Internet to 'Hopester' on the Fortean Times Message Board.

The comments there about this film are completely inaccurate.

I was the BBC producer of this documentary and we did film in Borley Church, much to the disgust of locals, who later complained about the permitted visit. In the course of the film I used a recording of alleged sounds recorded in there during a visit by some self-appointed ghost hunters. This had no connection with any member of our crew (we filmed during day time) and none of us 'went running out of the church in sheer terror'. Only after transmission were there reports from weirdo viewers, reporting strang events in their own homes.

If you think about it, the last place 'ghosts' would be found would be on consecrated ground in a church. One viewer wrote in afterwards saying the 'ghostly' bangs were probably made by him, because he'd approached the church in the dark and dropped a spanner in the porch. As for the 'nun' invented by Harry Price, two people said they'd seen her - and 'she' turned out to be a crowd of gnats in the air at twilight.

I came to the conclusion that there were never any unusual events at Borley, and that the whole thing was a fantasy of Harry Price - who started, and profited from the tale. Somewhere there is a photograph of him on bed with Professor Joad, waiting for something to happen in the Rectory, before that building mysteriously burned down.

I see you have a copy of my documentary. If you found it, I'd very much like to have a copy.

Regards,

Hugh Burnett
 
"If you think about it, the last place 'ghosts' would be found would be on consecrated ground in a church." and why would this be the case?
just as likely to be there as anywhere?
 
Hugh Burnett said:
As for the 'nun' invented by Harry Price, two people said they'd seen her - and 'she' turned out to be a crowd of gnats in the air at twilight

I've never considered that a swarm of gnats could account for a ghostly figure, but thinking on it, the explanation could cover so much of the phenomenon: a vague, shifting shape suspended above the ground - one that materialises and de-materialises and appears to be able to pass through solid objects.

Filed for future use. Thanks!
 
titch said:
"If you think about it, the last place 'ghosts' would be found would be on consecrated ground in a church." and why would this be the case?
just as likely to be there as anywhere?
Depends on your perspective. Some would say that holy ground would be protected from demonic visitation, others might say that lost spirits might congregate their seeking salvation. Still others might say they turn up just to piss off the clergy.
 
i googled church ghosts and got 16,900,000 hits,so i think 1 or 2 ghosts may like holy ground . :D
 
Some may say that the 'energy' in and around churches, is more suited to spirit manifestation. Personally I doubt that many spirits mind too much where they materialise.....
 
The Borley case was one of the tales that first got me interested in ghosts when i was a kiddie,but it was all rehashing of harry price,so i think its time i dug a little deeper.
 
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