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Borley Rectory was a house located in Borley, Essex, famous for being described as "the most haunted house in England" by psychic researcher Harry Price.

Built in 1862 to house the rector of the parish of Borley and his family, the house was badly damaged by fire in 1939 and demolished in 1944. The large Gothic-style rectory had been alleged to be haunted ever since it was built. These reports multiplied suddenly in 1929 after the Daily Mirror newspaper published an account of a visit by Price, who wrote two books supporting claims of paranormal activity. Price's reports prompted a formal study by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), which rejected most of the sightings as either imagined or fabricated and cast doubt on Price's credibility. However, neither the SPR's report nor the more recent biography of Price has quelled public interest in these stories, and new books and television documentaries continue to satisfy public fascination with the rectory. A short programme commissioned by the BBC about the alleged manifestations, scheduled to be broadcast in September 1956, was cancelled owing to concerns about a possible legal action by Marianne Foyster, widow of the last rector to live in Borley Rectory. In 1975, the BBC aired a programme entitled The Ghost Hunters that focused on the house and conducted interviews with several psychic researchers, including Peter Underwood. It also featured a late-night psychic investigation of nearby Borley Church.

Borley Rectory was constructed on Hall Road in the village of Borley, Essex, in 1862, near Borley Church. The house replaced an earlier rectory on the site that had been destroyed by fire in 1841.

The first paranormal events at Borley Rectory reportedly occurred in about 1863, since a few locals later remembered having heard unexplained footsteps within the house at about that time. Upon Harry Bull's death on 9 June 1927, Borley Rectory became vacant. On 10 June 1929, the newspaper sent a reporter, who promptly wrote the first in a series of articles detailing the mysteries of Borley Rectory.

Borley Rectory remained vacant for some time after the Foysters' departure. She was said to have been murdered in an older building on the site of Borley Rectory, and her body was either buried in the cellar or thrown into a disused well. The second spirit to be contacted identified himself as Sunex Amures, and claimed that he would set fire to Borley Rectory at nine o'clock that night, 27 March 1938.

On 27 February 1939, the new owner of Borley Rectory, Captain W.

Sutton claimed that whilst visiting Borley Rectory with Price in 1929, he was hit on the head by a large pebble. Hall, three members of the SPR, two of whom had been Price's most loyal associates, investigated his claims about Borley Rectory. Their findings were published in a 1956 book, The Haunting of Borley Rectory, which concluded that Price had fraudulently produced some of the phenomena. Price himself 'salted the mine' and faked several phenomena while he was at the rectory." Many of the legends about Borley Rectory had also been invented.

In 2017, the part-animated film Borley Rectory: The Most Haunted House in England was released. In 2021, the feature film The Ghosts of Borley Rectory was released. In 2025, the feature film Borley Rectory: The Awakening set in 1900 showed the origins of the ghost story.

Bloom, Clive (1993), Bloom, Clive (ed.), "Harry Price and the Haunted Rectory", Creepers: British Horror and Fantasy in the Twentieth Century, pp.

"Skeptoid #53: Borley Rectory: the World's Most Haunted House?".

Harry Price Website – Contains a comprehensive section on Borley Rectory

Local History site for Borley – Has a comprehensive historical analysis of the Borley Rectory affair Large collection of photographs of Borley Rectory and the various participants of the affair

Quick Facts

• Borley Rectory was constructed on Hall Road in the village of Borley, Essex, in 1862, near Borley Church.
• Built in 1862 to house the rector of the parish of Borley and his family, the house was badly damaged by fire in 1939 and demolished in 1944.
• A short programme commissioned by the BBC about the alleged manifestations, scheduled to be broadcast in September 1956, was cancelled owing to concerns about a possible legal action by Marianne Foyster, widow of the last rector to live in Borley Rectory.
• The large Gothic-style rectory had been alleged to be haunted ever since it was built.
• Local History site for Borley – Has a comprehensive historical analysis of the Borley Rectory affair

Source material: Wikipedia - "Borley Rectory". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.