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Borley Rectory - The Most Haunted House in Britain

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posted on May, 3 2010 @ 01:46 PM
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- Borley Rectory - The Most Haunted House in Britain -





I'm currently working on a separate thread right now that I'm looking to be posting in this forum as well in the not too distant future but in my research for that thread I came across this fascinating story/case, one that I knew about already but one that i never really researched that much in all honesty, So in my research I found it to be a great as well as fascinating case and I feel it does deserve an entire thread all on its own.

So as I've already mentioned I’ve been researching this place and I really appreciate some feedback on what I write whether you disagree or not and I hope you find what I post to be at least interesting and/or educational about the Borley Rectory haunting’s.



Enjoy!


History

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It's thought that the rectory was destined to be a haunted house from the start due to the events that had occurred on the site many centuries before.
The foundation was an age old Priory on land that contained a 12th century Church, Caretaker's House and other buildings. A.C. Henning, the rector in 1936, discovered that the Doomsday Book told of a Borley Manor prior to 1066, so he concluded a wooden church was probably also built around that time. The foundations contained underground tunnels and a complex of vault rooms. The Rectory had 20 rooms.
(Source)



Borley Rectory was originally built by a Reverend under the name of Henry Bull (A.K.A. Rev HDE Bull) in 1863 who built the house for himself, his wife and their 14 children.

The location for this house was questionable even at the early stage of building primarily as paranormal activity was said to be already very active in that area.
Reasoning for these raised question marks arise as the location was laid on an ancient monastery which was as I have mentioned was already feared to be a very very active paranormal location indeed as it's known to have a very troubled history full of nothing short of death, destruction and negativity and of course it’s present day seems to be full of this same negative energy as it was then.

Activity over the years has range from phantom footsteps; strange lights; ghostly whispers; a headless man; a girl in white; and the spirit of a nun. This spectral figure was said to drift through the garden with her head bent in sorrow.

Although activity throughout history was we could say relatively minimal this being so as It wasn't really till around 1885 that activity really started to intensify as many of the visitors to the house reported seeing the famous spirit of the nun roaming the garden and these stories came from completely separate individuals and on completely separate occasions.

As well as the residents of the house of course......


What is certain, is that there are a lot of reports of sightings during the time that H.D.E Bull and his son Harry were in residence. In 1886 a nurse is said to have left because of strange phenomena, possibly phantom footsteps. Around 1900, the two sisters of Harry Bull saw the ghostly nun in the garden during the daytime. Many local people were also witness to the spectre.
(Source)


As a short example but there is many reports of this one woman being seen as well as many other sightings of various different paranormal phenomenon.

Also on many occasions this nun has been seen in the windows of the building especially during one of the many dinner parties that were being held at the premises.
This got so severe the family even decided to brick up that particular window where she was seen!

Who was this nun?!

In around 1362 it is believed that Benedictine Monks built a monastery on the site which would later hold the rectory.
It is also claimed that this nun that is said to roam around the gardens on borley rectory to this day met and fell in love with one of the monks which led to a plan to escape and live together.

Sadly though there plans were foiled and they were captured by the elders and later met a tragic end as the individual who was supposed to take them away on horse and carriage was beheaded, the monk was later hanged and the nun was bricked up alive inside the convent.

Seems like such a cliché but on the other hand if true then it would explain the sightings very well indeed in my opinion...

Rest of the History

Sadly in 1892 the Reverend Henry Bull died in what is known as "the Blue Room".
Because of these unfortunate circumstances Harry bull then took over the premises becoming the owner of borley rectory.

Although that was until he also passed away also in the Blue Room in 1927, now with a reputation of being the most haunted room in what is known as the most haunted house in Britain.

After this though the house lay completely empty for over a year until the next reverend (Reverend Eric Smith) was set to move in along with his family although by this time borley rectory had achieved quite a reputation amongst the locals so much so that Smith was warned prior to moving in about said ghostly going on's, In fact they only managed to live there for a period of three years before it became too much.

They complained of mysterious footsteps, doorbells ringing of their own accord, and phantom stone throwing. In response to this poltergeist phenomenon, the reverend phoned the Daily Mirror, who sent along a reporter.

This reported was named Harry Price (the renowned psychical investigator) stayed over for a short period of time (a period of 3 days) after a newspaper ended up (after the phone call from the reverend) carrying a story about a phantom nun at the house in June 1929, Price was informed about the known phenomenon period to staying over.

This is what is said to have happened exactly...


He was at a friend’s house in South Kensington. Having finished lunch they were drinking coffee and were discussing poltergeists, when a maid entered the room and informed Price that he was wanted on the telephone. Price answered the telephone and found himself speaking to the somewhat excited editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper. He was told that one of the newspapers staff, a Mr. V. C. Wall was at that very moment investigating extraordinary occurrences at a rectory some sixty miles from London. The editor invited Price to visit the rectory and take charge of the case.


Price spent that afternoon and the following morning preparing for the investigation. On Wednesday, June 12th 1929, accompanied by his secretary Miss Lucie Kaye, he arrived at Borley Rectory, just in time for lunch with the Reverend Guy Eric Smith and his wife.

Price’s investigations at Borley Rectory ended up continuing until his death in 1948.
(Source)

While staying there, Price witnessed firsthand the poltergeist activity, and is said to have got in touch with a spirit, (The Reverend Bull) while holding a séance in the Blue Room. The phenomena continued and the Smiths, having enough of either the haunting, or the publicity had left by 1930.

This amount of activity is actually quite remarkable but in all honestly it wasn't very much at all compared to what occurred for the next residents.
It wasn't until October 1935 where things seriously started to get very frightening and very interesting indeed as activity yet again massively increased upon a new arrival to the house in the form of , Reverend Lionel Foyster, his wife Marianne and their adopted daughter Adelaide moved in to Borley Rectory.

The new residents of this location were intensely haunted this time as there seemed to be a noticeable increase in paranormal activity compare to the previous residents as people were locked out of rooms, household items vanished, windows were broken, furniture was moved, odd sounds were heard and much more and sadly and of course strangely the reverends wife was reportedly the main target.

(Image below)

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Marianne Foyster


The worst of the incidents seemed to involve Mrs. Foyster, as she was thrown from her bed at night, slapped by invisible hands, forced to dodge heavy objects which flew at her day and night, and was once almost suffocated with a mattress.

Even more scarily though were the messages that were allegedly sent to her on the walls. (See image below)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a71bfb3138b4.jpg[/atsimg]

These were messages that were allegedly seen by investigators and witnesses present!


The Foysters ended up leaving after a surprisingly lengthy stay of 5 years which gave Price the perfect opportunity to finally study borley rectory in great detail and he quickly leased the property from June 1937 to 1938 along with a bunch of researchers as well.






- Please do continue reading through to the next post. -




posted on May, 3 2010 @ 01:46 PM
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Allegedly with a huge team of 48 observes it is said that Harry Price logged an incredibly amount of paranormal phenomenon.
The most bizarre and truly fascinating was the séance that was conducted on 27th March 1938 where it's claimed they received a ghostly message claiming the rectory would burn down late that very night and a nuns body would be found among the ruins.

Not surprisingly though nothing happened at all that night or for any short length of period afterwards in fact but as Harry only leased the building for only one year he was forced to leave as his time had expired.

Now shortly afterwards though the house yet again gained new residents as another figure in the name of Captain Gregson moved in and of just like all the others he was subjected to various paranormal phenomenon in his time in the house including bizarrely the completely unknown disappearance of his 2 dogs.

Then and might I add fascinatingly exactly 11 months almost to the day in fact of the ghostly warning of the burning down of the borley rectory (although remember it was claimed it would happen on the same night of the warning) an oil lamp unaccountably fell over in the hall and Borley Rectory was subsequently burnt to the ground!

Witnesses claimed to have seen ghostly figures roaming around and through the flames, while a nun's face peered down from an upper window.

Then even more bizarrely and remember the warning claimed a nun’s body would be found Harry Price returned again in 1943.
While digging in the cellars, he amazingly discovered the jawbone of a young woman. Because of this he was wholeheartedly convinced that it was part of the body of the spectral nun; he then even later tempted to end the haunting by giving the bone a Christian burial.


 


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[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7fe18c781c67.jpg[/atsimg]


The photos above appeared in LIFE magazine in 1944, during the final demolition of Borley Rectory. The photo on the right is an enlargement from the larger photograph and shows what some claim is a "floating brick", suspended in the air by the spectral occupants of the rectory. Sceptics say that it was merely a brick thrown by a workman that was accidentally captured by the LIFE photographer.
(Source)


Many books have been written about Borley Rectory (many by Harry Price himself) that are extremely in-depth and are definitely worth a read.

Here is a little bit more information about the aftermath of the fire and Harry Price...


The nun was never seen at the house again but the weird events continued to occur. They were frequent enough that Price made plans for a third book about the site, although it was never completed. As his research progressed, Price lined up 50 new witnesses to more recent phenomena, including Rev. Henning, officials from the B.B.C., local residents and strangers. It seemed that after the ruins of Borley were demolished, the ghosts moved to Borley Church, where a great many manifestations began to occur in the vestry and throughout the building. Many reliable people heard the organ being played when the church doors were locked and no one could possibly enter. Rev. Henning, then rector of the church, was one of the witnesses and he contributed his accounts to Price for the third book.
(Source)




Here are some videos on borley rectory that some may find interesting.

Borley Rectory Ghosts Part 1




Borley Rectory Ghosts Part 2




Borley Rectory most haunted house in England




Harry Price Interview




Haunted Houses - Borley Rectory




 



Borley Rectory - Chronology


1863-1899





- 1863 Borley Rectory constructed by Rev HDE Bull, Rector of Borley.

- 1875-6 Borley Rectory is extended as the Bull family increases in size.

- 1881 Harry Price born 17th January.

- 1892 Henry Bull dies, succeeded by Harry F Bull.



1900-1929





- 1900 The four Bull sisters see the Borley Nun (28th July) and witness other phenomena.

- 1911 Rev. Bull marries and moves to Borley Place, Bull sisters remain in Borley Rectory.

- 1920 Rev. Bull moves back to Borley Rectory.

- 1920 Harry Price joins the Society for Psychical Research.

- 1926 Price forms the University of London Council for Psychical Investigation.

- 1927 Harry Bull dies 9th June, Borley Rectory empty.

- 1928 Rev. GE Smith moves to Borley Rectory and takes up residence in October.

- 1929 Rev. Smith contacts Daily Mirror in June and is visited by reported Mr. VC Wall.

- 1929 First press report, 10th June.

- 1929 Price, accompanied by Miss Kaye, visits Borley Rectory for first time 12th June. Various phenominina experienced.

- 1929 Price and others visit Borley Rectory, again unusual phenomena experienced, 27 June.

- 1929 Price, Miss Kaye and Lord Charles Hope visit Borley Rectory with yet more phenomena reported, 5th July.

- 1929 the Smiths leave Borley Rectory, 14th July.

- 1929 Price, Miss Kaye and reporter Charles Sutton visit around 25th July.

- 1929 Lord Hope, Miss Kaye and others visit, Price absent due to illness, 28/29th July.



1930-1939





- 1930 Smiths leave Borley Rectory and move to Norfolk.

- 1930 Price interviews witnesses in area, June.

- 1930 Rev LA Foyster with wife Marianne and 2 year old child Adelaide move into Borley Rectory, 16th October.

- 1930-1 Rev. Foyster keeps a record of all experienced phenomena in Borley Rectory.

- 1931 Sir George Whitehouse visit Boreley Rectory and form the view that Marianne is responsible for the phenomena.

- 1931 Bull sisters ask Price to visit Borley Rectory again, 29th September.

- 1931 Rev Foyster invites Price to visit Borley Rectory, 1st October.

- 1931 Price, Mrs. Goldney and others visit. Price suspects Marianne of deception and leaves on bad terms with Foysters.

- 1932 Price mentions in a letter to Rev. Smith that he would like to visit Borley Rectory but the Foysters will not agree.

- 1932 Price visits Borley Rectory, reason unknown, April - November.

- 1935 Price states his views in a letter to Everard Fielding, saying "Five years ago the place was literally alive with something."

- 1935 Price makes a B.B.C. broadcast about Borley Rectory.

- 1935 Foyster leave Borley, the Rectory is unoccupied, October.

- 1936 Confessions of a Ghost Hunter published, February.

- 1936 Rev. A. C. Henning new rector of Borley resides at Liston.

- 1936 Mr. Guy L'Estrange makes a BBC broadcast about Borley Rectory, December.

- 1937 Price rents Borley Rectory for one year, he enrols 48 others to help investigate Borley phenomena.

- 1937 H Glanville assists Price in supervision of investigation.

- 1937 Price makes a BBC broadcast about Borley Rectory.

- 1937-8 Glanville's daughter uses a seance to investigate Borley Rectory further

- 1938 In a seance Borley Rectory is threatened with destruction by fire, 27 March.

- 1938 Price and investigators move out on 19th May.

- 1938 Captain Gregson purchases Borley Rectory intending to capitalize on its reputation, December.

- 1938 Price makes a BBC broadcast about Borley Rectory.

- 1939 Borley Rectory burns down on 27th February.

- 1939 Captain Gregson makes a BBC broadcast about Borley Rectory, April.

- 1939 Price meets the Whitehouses and changes his view of Mrs. Foyster's involvement.

- 1939-44 Dr. AJB Robertson and others make numerous visits to the ruins of Borley Rectory

- 1939-44 Dr. AJB Robertson submits a report to Price, later published in The End of Borley Rectory.



1940-1949





- 1940 Rev. GE Smith dies the same day as The Most Haunted House in England is published on 3rd August.

- 1940 Many people contact Price describing unexplained phenomena at Rectory site.

- 1941 Price makes a BBC broadcast about Borley Rectory.

- 1943 Price conducts excavation of Borley Rectory's wells and cellars. Finds include human bones, 17th August.

- 1944 Ruins of Borley Rectory demolished.

- 1944 Price and Miss Ledsham of Time-Life magazine visit Borley Rectory during demolition work, "flying brick" photographed.

- 1945 In a letter to the Church Times, Mrs. Smith denies the she or Rev. Smith ever believed Borley Rectory to be haunted./li>

- 1946 The End of Borley Rectory published.

- 1946 & 47 Price with others makes a BBC broadcast about Borley Rectory.

- 1948 Harry Price dies whilst writing a third Borley Rectory book, 29th March.

- 1948 Mrs. Smith repeats her disbelief of Borley Rectory haunting in a letter to the Daily Mail, 26th May.

- 1948 Charles Sutton, writing in the Inky Way Annual, accuses Price of manufacturing phenomena on their visit in 1929.



1950-Present





- 1954 Mr. S. H. Glanville dies.

- 1956 The Haunting of Borley Rectory - A Critical Survey of the Evidence by EJ Dingwall, KM Goldney and TH Hall published.

- 1965 An Examination of the "Borley Report" by Robert J. Hastings published, March.
(Source)






- Please do continue reading through to the next post. -



[edit on 3-5-2010 by Rising Against]



posted on May, 3 2010 @ 01:47 PM
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Please Click this link to read up a little bit more about the famous borley witches that are said to be persent in borley rectory.

Some of the most recognised sightings of the Borley nun...


The Borley Nun A sighting on the Rectory lawn, 28th July 1900 was reported by the four Bull sisters. Again seen in November by Miss E. Bull, in garden. Also seen many times by Mr. and Mrs. Cooper of the cottage next to the Rectory. Seen by Fred Cartwright four times in 1927, ‘standing’ at the Rectory gate. During his visit with Price the nun was seen by V. C. Wall.

Harry Bull seen by Marianne. He manifested in the Blue Room during a séance. Coach and horses seen by Mr. and Mrs. Cooper between 1916 and 1919. Mrs Cooper describes the horses as having glittering harnesses as they swept across the Rectory grounds. Also seen by Miss Mary Pearson, sometime prior to relating the incident to Price on 12th June 1929.

Black shape seen by the Coopers in their bedroom, 1919. A mysterious light seen by reporter V. C. Wall on June 10th 1929.
(Source)


For anyone interested here is a great link as there is literally hundreds of photographs of borley Rectory.


Links used when making this thread.

BorelyRectory

Mysterious Britain - Borely Rectory

The Borely Rectory Companion

The Most Haunted House in Britain

The Haunted Museum - Borely Rectory

Ghost Story - Borely Rectory


Hope you enjoyed reading




[edit on 3-5-2010 by Rising Against]



posted on May, 3 2010 @ 01:50 PM
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Brilliant mate, I remember this from my childhood (the story) and always wanted to do a thread on it!

Good job! damn my procrastination!!

Was this the one with the foot prints walking beside one of the residents, I haven't time ATM but I'll read this in a few minutes, I just wanted to say thanks buddy!!




posted on May, 3 2010 @ 02:13 PM
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reply to post by kiwifoot
 


Well thank you very much!


lol Yep, I'm afraid you was too slow.


Anyway glad you like it and I hope you get a chance to read it all, particularly post 2 as that is in my opinion the most fascinating part of this case.




Was this the one with the foot prints walking beside one of the residents


Quite possibly as the amount of activity was huge but I'm not read anything that specifically talks about footprints walking beside one of the residents in this case.

Although to be fair that is minimal activity to most of what supposedly happened so it may have been recorded in a very small scale and I simply missed it.

[edit on 3-5-2010 by Rising Against]



posted on May, 3 2010 @ 02:50 PM
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After a great deal of research over the years on the Borley Rectory case, my honest opinion is thus, 1) The rectory was not (if ever) haunted, 2) In order to sesationalise and promote his book Harry Price faked the haunting (even the flying brick has three explenations). 3)The Church is the main focus for genuine paranormal activity, more so than the Rectory ever was.



posted on May, 3 2010 @ 02:54 PM
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reply to post by zeevar
 





1) The rectory was not (if ever) haunted,


I disagree, see my opening posts to see why.




2) In order to sesationalise and promote his book Harry Price faked the haunting (even the flying brick has three explenations).


Something i have thought about myself as his career wasn't exactly going to plan before this case i believe.

But I'm not convinved at all that this claim is indeed true.



3)The Church is the main focus for genuine paranormal activity, more so than the Rectory ever was.


Yes, but as far as I'm aware that only occured after the burning down of borely rectory.

Once that happened activity started to massively increase at the church.

[edit on 3-5-2010 by Rising Against]



posted on May, 3 2010 @ 03:26 PM
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Interesting thread. The elocuency of the OP is quite good. Probably one of the best threads to be made of the Borley Rectory.



posted on May, 3 2010 @ 03:42 PM
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Hey Bud, I've had a chance to read/watch and I have to say good job - Well presented and sourced.

If only %5 of the sightings were true, then this place was still massively active.

Also the reports go back centuries, well before Harry Price appeared, and after too for that matter.

Also the initial reports all came from clergymen, men of the cloth who I assume were trustworthy, I for one beleive it (although I've always been a sucker for a ghost story!) and appreciate your work here.

All the best, Kiwifoot






posted on May, 3 2010 @ 06:34 PM
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Sorry to appear as the "numbskull dumb blonde" on the thread, but wasn't there a confession from one of the residents (at the time of Harry Price) or their relatives who truly debunked the whole thing - she was in her old age by that time, many years after the event? Sorry don't know where I saw that now (and didn't read the thread thoroughly enough to see if you mentioned it (sorry)

And as the rectory itself was built in 1863(?) and the story began not that long after, why would the building be haunted? Ok, on the assumption that ghosts/spirits do not obey normal physical restraints walls/doors etc - but to haunt a ( relatively) new building ?

I always found this story fascinating as a child, and to be honest was a bit let down, when many years later (with the help of teh interweb!) I "learned" it was a hoax!



posted on May, 3 2010 @ 07:26 PM
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reply to post by destination now
 


Quite so, well flaged.



posted on May, 3 2010 @ 07:30 PM
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reply to post by Rising Against
 


I belive that the only refrence to any haunting in the begining was to the "Nuns walk" in the garden....nice post by the way.



posted on May, 4 2010 @ 02:48 AM
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reply to post by destination now
 




And as the rectory itself was built in 1863(?) and the story began not that long after, why would the building be haunted? Ok, on the assumption that ghosts/spirits do not obey normal physical restraints walls/doors etc - but to haunt a ( relatively) new building ?



Well as far as I'm aware the entire location was haunted or seemed to be haunted long before the new building was in place and it can in fact be traced right back to the 13th century (explained in opening post), maybe people assumed that ghosts only haunted it because there is a new building in place because since the new building more people would inevitable be in that location than previously.

Just a thought of course but it would make sense that the increase in sightings would be because of the increase in people in that location to see them in the first place.



posted on May, 4 2010 @ 02:58 AM
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Originally posted by destination now
Sorry to appear as the "numbskull dumb blonde" on the thread, but wasn't there a confession from one of the residents (at the time of Harry Price) or their relatives who truly debunked the whole thing - she was in her old age by that time, many years after the event? Sorry don't know where I saw that now (and didn't read the thread thoroughly enough to see if you mentioned it (sorry)


Well as far as I'm concerned most if not all cases are accused of being faked or hoaxed in some way at some point so it's no surprise that this one would be as well (especially with it's reputation as the most haunted house in all of Britain.

Although I've done some more research on borley rectory (please do post if anyone else finds some more that I missed) being specifically a hoax so please do read it below but I'm still convinced that this is all a hoax as IMO this is a seriously haunted location and at least some of the activity claimed is 100% truth.

Just my opinion of course.



After Price died in 1948, some people critiqued the whole Borley Rectory phenomenon, calling it a fraud. They claimed that Harry Price had essentially invented the haunting on his own, because he desperately wanted to investigate a haunted house and to write books about it. One reporter, who attended a vigil with Price during which he found himself being struck by stones, suspected that Price was the culprit, confronted him and claimed to have found a number of stones in Price’s coat pocket! There were many independent witnesses to paranormal phenomena at Borley Rectory, however, so, even if he is accused of sensationalising the haunting, it is hard to credit that Price invented it out of whole cloth.

Following its destruction by fire, the building was demolished in 1944 and a number of private residences now stand in the same spot. Though the residents are said to be averse to publicity, quite a few have reported ghostly and unexplained phenomena over the years.
(Source)



It appears that one of history's most famous haunted houses has had an interesting "twist" to its reputation. The most haunted house in history has been unmasked as Britain's biggest hoax.

A new book written by one of the hoaxers will outrage believers and delight those who seek to disprove the existence of psychic phenomena. In "We Faked the Ghosts of Borley Rectory" by Louis Mayerling – for whom the house was a second home until its destruction by fire in 1938 – reveals for the first time how the 'hauntings' were created by the rectory's various inhabitants. He describes how they watched in amazement as the world fell for the elaborate hoax. 'I would love to say that there was a grain of truth in it all, but I felt that the book had to be written to reveal the farcical truth about the house – as personally experienced.'
(Source)



And now, decades later, we turn a skeptical eye upon Borley Rectory and see how much of it we can verify, and how much of it is complete bunk. One of the keys to understanding the events at Borley Rectory is to understand who Harry Price was. By no means was he a scientist or an unbiased researcher. He was an expert magician, a member of the British organization The Magic Circle, and proven hoaxer. He was a close friend of Charles Dawson, the man behind the infamous Piltdown Man hoax.

He and photographer William Hope staged an elaborate photograph depicting a ghost looking over the shoulder of Price as he sat for a portrait. Harry Price went on the road with a fake statue of Hercules. He exhibited a fake silver ingot from the reign of Roman emperor Honorious. He showed gold coins from the kings of Sussex and a bone carved with hieroglyphics, all proven to be fakes. By every account, Harry Price was a practiced hoaxster and very much of the P. T. Barnum mold. Harry Price did not investigate Borley rectory for his own health. He achieved a great deal of notoriety from it, including the publication of three books, The Most Haunted House in England, Poltergeist Over England, and The End of Borley Rectory.
(Source)

These are just a few that i could find. (that seem to explain the story well)



posted on May, 4 2010 @ 03:26 AM
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It was Marianne Foyster who admitted being involved in some hoaxing, but not all. It seems the nun in the garden was seen by many


The Smiths left Borley on 14 July 1929 and, after some difficulty in finding a replacement, the Reverend Lionel Foyster, a first cousin of the Bulls, and his wife Marianne moved into the rectory[12] with their adopted daughter Adelaide, on 16 October 1930. Lionel Foyster wrote an account of the various strange incidents that happened, which he sent to Harry Price. Price estimated that, between when the Foysters moved in and October 1935, many incidents took place there, including bell-ringing, windows shattering, stones, bottle-throwing and wall-writing, and their daughter was locked in a room with no key. Marianne Foyster reported to her husband a whole range of poltergeist phenomena which included her being thrown from her bed.[16] On one occasion, Adelaide was attacked by "something horrible". Twice, Foyster tried to conduct an exorcism, but his efforts were fruitless. In the middle of the first, Foyster was struck in the shoulder by a fist-size stone. Because of the publicity in The Daily Mirror, these incidents attracted much attention at the time from several psychic researchers who investigated, and were unanimous in suspecting that they were caused, consciously or unconsciously, by Marianne Foyster. Mrs Foyster later stated that she felt that some of the incidents were caused by her husband in collaboration with one of the psychic researchers, but other events appeared to her to be genuine paranormal phenomena. Marianne later admitted that she was having a sexual relationship with the lodger, Frank Peerless, [17] and that she used 'paranormal' explanations to cover up her liaisons. [18] The Foysters left Borley as a result of Lionel's ill health.
en.wikipedia.org...



posted on May, 4 2010 @ 04:23 AM
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Some more (rather alarming) information about Marianne Foyster here:

www.badpsychics.co.uk...



posted on May, 4 2010 @ 04:56 AM
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Another investigation into the alleged hauntings at Borley. Whilst it seems that some of the activity was considered fraud, other elements remain unexplained.


The Haunted Rectory …
the lost BBC Script

So much has been published about Borley Rectory that it seems inconceivable that anything new could possibly turn up. Surprisingly, this is not the case. The original researchers of the Borley Rectory left a huge mass of documentation, letters, photographs and other material, which seems to have been ignored by the writers of the more recent books. Harry Price was an instinctive archivist. Eric Dingwall and Mollie Goldney left a treasure-trove of primary material. Recently, the writings and interviews of Marianne Foyster have come to light, along with Caroline Bull's diary. The full extent of Harry Price's chicanery and duplicity, documented at the time in 'confidential files' is only now being exposed.

One of the more agreeable surprises was the copy of an abandoned BBC program scheduled for broadcast on 10th September 1956, and produced by Joe Burroughs. It was abandoned due to fears in the legal department that Marianne Foyster, who was almost certainly responsible for the more spectacular haunting, could easily sue the BBC for what was said about her in this broadcast. We thought that the script was lost but a copy of the proofs of the script, once owned by Mollie Goldney, turned up in the SPR Archive. It remains a good general guide to the Borley Rectory affair


www.foxearth.org.uk...



posted on May, 4 2010 @ 05:10 AM
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reply to post by destination now
 


You have a well deserved star for each of your posts from me and IMO it's worthy of applause.


Now from the link you provided...


In 1931 Marianne began what appears to have been a mildly sado-masochistic relationship with another fantasy-prone individual, one Francois d'Arles – real name Frank Pearless – who supposedly joined the household so his young son Francois Jr could be a playmate for Adelaide, an orphan adopted by the Foysters during their stay in Canada. D'Arles officially lived in the Rectory cottage but he often spent the night in the Rectory itself. In fact d'Arles was Marianne's live-in lover, and in later years she would claim that Foyster knew of and condoned their relationship. Even if we acquit Foyster of paedophilia for lack of evidence, there is good reason to suspect that he had voyeuristic tendencies and future developments only strengthen this inference.

The Borley poltergeists were at their peak between 1931 and 1932. Objects inexplicably disappeared and were later found in other parts of the house, furniture was overturned, Marianne was thrown out of bed by a mysterious force and at one point she acquired a black eye that she claimed had been inflicted by a ghost but was probably caused by the violent and overbearing d'Arles. Scraps of paper bearing Marianne's name were found in the house and messages addressed to her were found on various interior walls. Marianne claimed to have seen the ghosts of both the Nun and Harry Bull. Foyster reported objects whizzing through the air (always in Marianne's presence and always when his back was turned). His atrocious memory was probably responsible for most of the "missing" items, and it's hard not to agree with the conclusion reached by Robert Wood in his fascinating book "The Widow of Borley", on which this article is based:

"Once the story of the domestic arrangements at the Rectory has been told, the ghosts seem to be of little importance; yet the alleged poltergeist effects, which were no more than cruel tricks played upon one another by the members of a household which lived in an atmosphere of obsessive love, sexual jealousy and suspicion, reveal even more about the relationships between these extraordinary people."

A typical example of the pranks played upon Foyster is described in his unpublished manuscript "Fifteen Months in a Haunted House", a thinly fictionalized account of his experiences at Borley in which one of the characters is named 'Mr Teed', surely another link with the Amherst affair: "During the afternoon a whole lot of books were deposited on the rack for warming plates over the kitchen range; these included a number of Durham Mission Hymn Books...of which we were rather short, so they were a welcome addition...

"In October 1931, as we have seen, Harry Price returned to Borley. Members of the Society for Psychical Research warned Foyster that Price had been suspected of faking paranormal phenomena in the past but their advice fell on deaf ears. But this time Price was not impressed by the ghostly goings-on, perhaps because in Marianne he recognised a kindred spirit. His fellow investigator Mrs K M Goldney, who was present at the time, described Marianne's extraordinary behaviour when she realized that she had met her match:

she fell to her knees and begged St Anthony to prove her innocence by causing a poltergeist manifestation to take place in the presence of her accusers, at which a bell promptly rang (one wonders where d'Arles was when this little drama took place). Price bluntly told Foyster that in his opinion Marianne was responsible for faking the phenomena, but characteristically Foyster refused to hear a word against his wife and he and Price parted on bad terms.


A very very interesting read indeed and i really do reccomend people take the time to do so as this explains a little bit more about the story that isn't often heard.

Thanks for providing it and also here is the link again that "destination now" kindly provided....

BadPsychics - Marianna Foyster

[edit on 4-5-2010 by Rising Against]



posted on May, 4 2010 @ 05:30 AM
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Thank you! I find this story fascinating, so thank you for creating the thread and providing so much information that I had never come across before, it has increased my understanding of the subject and given me a lot to think about(as well as compelling me to do further research to fill in the gaps in my memory of the story!)

S&F from me



posted on May, 4 2010 @ 09:46 AM
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reply to post by destination now
 


lol I'm glad.


I make these types of threads as it gives me a chance to really research them and learn about them and this is IMO a truly fascinating place.

Ok now to the story and I really do think I should add that even though I'm starting to doubt Marianne Foyster personally especially after reading some more about her background and of course her days inside the house etc. etc.

And even though I as well as others I'm sure who have read and understand this story may doubt her we really should remember that she was only in this house for a relatively short period of time and the activity before her was still very active indeed and the time before that as well and so on.

And of course when she left activity still seemed to occur even without the presence of Harry Price.




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