Borley Rectory

The work Harry Price will be remembered best for is his huge study on a famously haunted house in Essex, England, known as Borley Rectory. Borely Rectory would secure Price's name amongst the most famous of supernormal investigators and he first visited the house back in 1929. It was his meticulous research, planning and investigation over the next 19 years which earned him a great deal of respect and many of his findings were published into two books which are still available today.

Harry Price carried out most of the investigations on Borely Rectory personally and he often stayed in the house overnight to make recordings. It became the sole focus of his work towards his later life and although he generated a large amount of public interest in the supernormal he was derided by some who claimed the whole thing was a hoax to gain publicity. Regardless of these claims the case of Borely Rectory is still fascinating to anybody who read Price's books on the topic.

After much research Harry Price discovered that the Rectory had been home to supernormal occurrences for some time. In the late nineteenth century a former nanny in the house was reported to have heard ghostly footsteps. At the turn of the century two daughters of the then rector reported to see a phantom nun in the front garden of the house and this was seen again by other occupants of the house.

Finally the last known resident of the house was appointed rector in 1928 but he quit after merely a year claiming the house was too haunted. During his investigations Harry Price discovered that over 14 people had claimed to see phantoms, including the already mentioned nun, a phantom coach and horses and even a headless man.

The supernormal activity recorded by Price over the last 18 years of his life is quite remarkable. Upon his first visit he conducted a séance at which a bar of soap jumped off the floor for no reason. Visits afterwards reported sounds of bells inside the house and neighbors claimed to have seen lights on and open window despite the house being locked up. However it was during 1930 to 1934 when the Foyster family was staying in the house that the most dramatic activities occurred.

The Foysters reported items vanishing and appearing, being thrown out of bed, being locked out of rooms and even messages appearing on the walls. By the late 1930s Harry Price was in possession of the house and he frequently let volunteers stay in it to help with his investigations. Unfortunately a fire led to the destruction of Borely Rectory and the building was demolished in 1944 but it remains Price's most significant investigation.

Harry Price set the standard for future psychical and supernormal activity investigators and although he had many detractors he certainly had more fans. His findings at Borely Rectory were remarkable and his two books published on the house created a standard template from which future supernormal investigators could work from.