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The Borley Rectory 1863–1939, England
Aug 21, 2025
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When you hear the phrase haunted house,
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what do you think of? Maybe a house from
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the 17th century with a family crest
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above the door and gargoyless on the
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roof. Well, if you think of houses like
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that, then the Borley Rectory is not
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what you would expect. But if you think
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of any houses potentially being haunted,
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then this one will be perfect. The
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Borley Rectory was built in 1863 and
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torn down in 1939.
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In those 76 years, it became known as
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the most haunted house in England. From
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phantom footsteps to writings on the
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walls, the Borly rectory had its share
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of ghost sightings. We're going to tell
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you about a few of them. Now, let's
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begin with the date that most people
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consider the hauntings began. November
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1891, Reverend Henry Bull, a New
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Anglican parish priest of Borley, moved
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into the rectory with his wife and seven
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children. That evening, they heard
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chains dragging metal moans. Then a
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little girl wandered into the drawing
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room where her parents were having
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dinner. She told them she had seen a
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woman dragging herself closer and
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closer. Then she vanished. In 1893, AMR
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and Mrs. Olirri, who were staying at the
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rectory, woke in the middle of the night
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to the sound of a woman crying. They
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looked out their window and saw the
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spectre of a nun walking through the
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garden. Soon, other guests began seeing
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things, too. One night, a group of them
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witnessed a procession of 12 to 14 nuns
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in full habit marching through the
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garden. Another time, a man saw a nun
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standing by the fireplace in the drawing
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room. And yet another time, a young girl
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saw a nun writing on the wall with a
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piece of chalk. The next morning, they
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found that the nun had indeed written on
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the wall her message, "Beware of the
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black dog." A black dog. By 1900, the
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ghost stories attracted the attention of
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the local newspaper, which sent reporter
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Gordon Bruce to investigate. He spent a
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night in the rectory and heard chains
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dragging metal moans. He also saw a nun
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scratching on the wall with chalk like
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the girl had described, so he erased the
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writing only to watch it reappear as if
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by magic. But the strangest thing
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happened after he left. In the morning,
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the caretaker, Mr. Crisp, told him that
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during the night, he had seen four
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apparitions. two nuns and two monks. He
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also told him about a large black dog
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that often appeared in the garden. The
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newspaper published Bruce's story and
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for the next three decades. The Borly
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rectory remained the most haunted house
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in England. So much so that Harry Price,
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one of the most famous ghost hunters of
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all time, came to investigate. On
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October 1929, he and his team set up
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camp in the rectory. They use special
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cameras, sound recording equipment, and
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even a geer counter, which measures
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radiation. Price documented strange
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occurrences in his diary. On the first
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night, he heard chains dragging metal
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moans and saw the apparition of a nun
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scratching on the wall with chalk. The
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next day, they discovered that she had
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written, "I scratched the wall, and my
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name begins with B." Price erased the
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writing, but that afternoon it
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reappeared. This time it read, "Here
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lived a nun and she died here." Price
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investigated further and learned that a
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woman named Blanch died in the rectory
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in 1842.
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Not only that, it turned out that she
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had been engaged to a man named Barnett
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who had died before their wedding. Could
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the messages on the wall be from a
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restless spirit? On the third night,
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Price experienced something
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extraordinary. He was awakened in the
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middle of the night by the sound of
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someone walking up the stairs. Then he
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heard chains dragging metal moans. He
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got out of bed and investigated.
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In the nursery, he found scratchings on
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the floor, wall, and window. It seemed
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that whatever was haunting the rectory
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had chosen that room as its own. He
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spent the rest of the night in there,
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and in the morning discovered more
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messages. One of them read, "I am a nun.
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I died in childbirth.
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RIP." Apparently, the ghost was telling
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Price that she wasn't the only spirit
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haunting the rectory. There were at
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least two others. In the end, Harry
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Price concluded that the Borly rectory
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was haunted by at least three ghosts,
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two of whom were likely interred in the
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garden. If you enjoyed this video,
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please hit the thumbs up button. We have
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lots of other ghost stories just like
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this one. Thanks for watching.