Enigma of Borley Rectory

by Harry Ludlum

  The next incident recorded by the Rector occurred on March 12, when some clean linen, which had been put away in a cupboard in the kitchen, was found to have been turned out and strewn all over the floor. The following day, Marianne was again injured, this time by a piece of metal hurled down the back stairs. At supper that evening, a piece of brick dropped by the Rector's plate, but without breaking anything. On a later occasion, Marianne was not so lucky when a potsherd hit her, causing a cut on her forehead.

  Two days later, the Rector was sitting at his desk using a typewriter and, for comfort, had taken off his dog collar. This was suddenly thrown at him. Next, his walking stick was flung across the room, shortly followed by a piece of coke. Early the next morning, March 16, Marianne came down to the kitchen to find the contents of one of the cupboards hurled about and the kitchen table lying upside down. During that day, the Foysters had left open their bedroom window. That evening, it was found to have been closed the wrong way round, i.e. top sash at the bottom, bottom sash at the top.

  On March 23, the Rector was ill in bed and whilst climbing the stairs with a plate of food for him, and carrying in her other hand an oil lamp, Marianne had part of a flat iron thrown at her from behind, which knocked the glass chimney off the lamp. The following day, various small bits and pieces were thrown at Marianne while she was house cleaning.

  During the next few days, she again reported seeing Harry Bull on his usual beat on the stairs and this time he might just have been seen by a tenant of the stable cottage although, as stated in The End of Borley Rectory, the possibility that the ghost of Harry Bull was seen by Marianne alone should not be ignored.

  Another more unpleasant experience came when Marianne, whilst near the kitchen, was tapped on the shoulder by what she described as a 'monstrosity that had a touch like iron'. Little baby Adelaide was also alleged to have been struck on the face by a similar apparition when sent to lie down in one of the rooms. This incident seems rather casually reported by the Rector, for surely the three-year-old would have screamed out if struck in his way? However, according to the Rector, when asked how she came to have a bruise on her face, she merely replied, 'A nasty thing by the curtains gave it to me.'

  Little has ever been recorded as to how baby Adelaide reacted to the various incidents in the Rectory, though there is the possibility that she constituted no psychic focus worth the name and was thus largely unaffected by the phenomena.

  There was, however, just one other occasion when she seemed to be disturbed, when visitors to the Rectory found objects hurtling about, and Adelaide with Francois d'Arles' small son, cowering by the dining room door in obvious discomfort. One of the two tots is reported to have said, 'We don't like so many fings falling about.'

  April brought a fresh crop of incidents to the hapless Foysters, with various objects being thrown at them both. One teatime, a full jug of milk had been placed upon the table, but when the Rector went to pour from it, it was empty. He made a sarcastic remark about not wanting to drink from the same jug as ghosts. Foyster recalled in his diary counting about a dozen times that he had objects thrown at him in various parts of the house between six and eleven o'clock at night.

  One evening in May, the Foysters had a nasty time in the kitchen for, among other things, Marianne had pepper thrown in her face. The Rector procured some creosote and used it as an incense or fumigant to try to halt the disturbances, which worked for a time but only after he himself was struck by a piece of cement. Coming downstairs with the creosote, he was 'buzzed' by a metal spanner! The following evening, Marianne tried fumigating the place but didn't use enough creosote, it would seem, because there followed bell-ringing, stone throwing and a near miss from a jam jar which struck the kitchen door and smashed, just as Marianne was returning to the kitchen.

  At 9 pm one Monday evening, Sir George and Lady Whitehouse, from Arthur Hall, near Sudbury, arrived to see what was happening. Plenty, it would seem, for whilst they were at the Rectory, a smell of burning became very noticeable. A hurried search was made of the upstairs rooms, where, in one room not normally in use, a part of the wainscoting was found to be alight. It was put out, but the would-be fireman was rewarded by being struck by a stone.

  Notwithstanding what we now know about Captain W. H. Gregson who later bought the Rectory, and the many allegations surrounding its destruction, the burning skirting board was in a way a precursor of what was eventually to befall the building. Over the next few days, Marianne visited the Rectory on and off, and found among other things pieces of paper floating about with her name written on them in a childish hand.

  On June 6, there was another spate of stone throwing and the following evening, while Marianne was in bed, unwell, a chair in the room twice overturned by itself. During that night, there was a bout of the usual bangs and crashes that seemed to have been commonplace during the earlier Bull years.

  On Monday, June 8, the Foysters had a morning of chaotic disturbance, including books, dirty linen, a suitcase and a linen basket being hurled down the main stairwell, the linen basket twice hurtling to the ground floor. Following this, Marianne was roused from bed by a great racket coming from the Blue Room. Upon entering the room, she saw that the bed had been moved and other pieces of furniture overturned and flung about, though the noise ceased the moment she entered the room. According to the Rector's diary for that day, as was recorded in Price's book, a doctor who called at the Rectory also saw some throwing of objects.

  Lady Whitehouse's nephew Richard, who was later to become Dom Richard Whitehouse OSB, also visited on that day and what he saw and experienced is worth relating in some detail. The following details are drawn from his report as it was later set out in The Most Haunted House in England, over which Harry Price was subsequently to be heavily criticised by Messrs Dingwall, Goldney and Hall. He was, however, later partly exonerated, not only by Robert J. Hastings, but also by Dom Richard's further testimony, in which the only thing he queried as not being correct was Price's reporting of the incident concerning paranormally precipitated bottles, one of which Price described as having appeared in mid-air, changed its shape and then crashed to the floor. Bottles did crash to bits in the kitchen on the occasion in question, but more of that shortly.

  Taking a summary from Richard Whitehouse's report, we learn that he observed that the contents of the Blue Room had been hurled down the main stairs; then there dropped at his feet a watchcase and a metal bookrest (both whilst standing talking to the Rector near the stairs), followed by the precipitation of a brass stiletto normally kept in the study, and the ejection from her bed of Mrs Foyster. At the moment that this happened, the second time that morning, Whitehouse was just going downstairs, after speaking to Mrs Foyster who was in bed, unwell yet again, when he heard her cry out in alarm and returned to find her face down on the floor with the mattress and bedding on top of her. Marianne was thrown out of bed once more after Richard had departed.

  To Whitehouse she related that she had felt the bed tip, and something punch her and push her out. The results of what Richard saw led him to ask Lady Whitehouse to come to the Foysters' aid by sheltering them away from the Rectory for a time and, in response, the Whitehouses packed them all into a car and took them to Arthur Hall, Sudbury. Marianne in fact stayed away until July and the Rectory was not occupied at night for the rest of that June except when the Rector could find someone to stay with him at the house.

  One night when Francois d'Arles was asleep there, hearing a noise that seemed to come from his room, the Rector went to look. D'Arles was asleep but pushed up against the inside of his door was a paint pot. D'Arles said he knew nothing about this paint pot, but the incident does seem rather insignificant when compared with other phenomena.

  At one point during August, two investigators came to Borley and held a séance at which, initially, the contact was thought to be the spirit of a certain 'Joe Miles', who supposedly admitted to being the cause of all the trouble at the Rectory. Subsequently, however,
this was discarded as being inaccurate.

  Early in September, according to a letter in the Harry Price Library, the Rector was called over from the church by Marianne to find his study in a state of confusion with the desk thrown over, chairs overturned, books out of their shelves and a general mess. Pondering briefly on this last incident, it seems that whilst anybody could have easily thrown chairs and books about, only someone fairly brawny could have turned over a traditional heavy desk such as one normally finds in rectories. This would therefore seem to eliminate Marianne, whom one could perhaps initially suspect. The writer has paused to dwell on this point because of statements often made that Marianne perpetrated some of these incidents herself. More will be said about these allegations later.

  Returning to the phenomena, we learn that it was also in September that the Foysters were locked out of their bedroom, whilst little Adelaide was locked in hers. A relic of St. John Vianney, aloso known as Curé d'Ars, carried by the Rector, when used in conjunction with a prayer, usually but not always resulted in the locks being released. It is sometimes suggested that occurrences like that, involving religious relics, often revolve around a strong faith in the results, which of course one might expect from a devoted churchman. Whilst some may disagree, the writer feels that this may be one of those grey areas where religious faith, psychic power and 'mind over matter' merge at the edges. It is to be hoped that in due time the scientists will finally be able to enlighten us all on this subject.

  Yet another annoying incident experienced by Marianne and the first resident maid to work there since the Foysters arrived involved a saucepan of potatoes. This had been left on the stove in the kitchen, which was left empty for a few minutes. Upon returning to the kitchen, the two women found the saucepan completely empty. Other things went missing in the house, including some typewritten papers that the Rector had been working on.

  On October 13, 1931 came the incident that caused the rift between Harry Price and Lionel Foyster. Together with others of his Council for Psychic Research, one of whom was a later critic, Mrs K. M. Goldney, Price visited the Rectory where the party witnessed a flying bottle and other incidents of throwing objects, and another instance of somebody being locked in a bedroom, in this case Mrs Foyster.

  During this visit, there also occurred a 'wine into ink' incident, which Price thought for some time to be a trick. The party had brought with them two bottles of wine to contribute to the refreshments supplied by Mrs Foyster. When the bottle of red wine was uncorked and some was poured into a glass, it reportedly turned into ink and a glass of white wine was found to smell of Eau de Cologne. The wine remaining in the bottles was apparently quite normal. Another bell-ringing episode also took place during this visit.

  A further incident reportedly manifested itself to the party's driver, Mr James Ballantyne, who not being much interested in ghosts sat downstairs and read a newspaper whilst Price and his colleagues carried out their investigation. As Ballantyne sat there, a hand appeared round the door, moving slowly up and down. He was rather surprised, and a little curious, but didn't attach any real importance to the incident, doubtless having heard in advance of the Rectory's story on the way down from London, and he continued to read his newspaper.

  Upon returning to the Bull Hotel, Long Melford, the party discussed what they had seen and experienced, and Harry Price in particular came to the conclusion that embarrassing though it might be, a lot of what had occurred happened while Marianne Foyster was out of sight and, therefore, there seemed to be a strong possibility that she had been responsible for at least some of the phenomena.

  Upon returning to Borley Rectory to tell the Rector of their doubts, the party incurred strong protest on the part of Marianne, whose part was also taken up on the spot by one of Price's own party, Mrs Goldney, and the Rector was said to have been furious. Poor Harry Price found himself barred from the Rectory and, to crown it all, as the group made their way back to London, their car developed clutch failure and they arrived home tired, cold and fed up.

  This unfortunate state of affairs between Price and the Rector was, fortunately, salvaged after a period of time with the help of Sidney Glanville, when Harry Price began to feel that incidents he previously thought to be fraud were perhaps not so.

  Phenomena continued during October 1931, the Rector being awakened early one morning by having a water jug dropped on his head. He put it down on the floor, but it was then dropped on Marianne's head. It was also during that autumn that the incident involving Adelaide and the 'monstrosity' occurred, an incident detailed earlier, and similar to the assault on Marianne outside the Blue Room. Marianne is said to have told a visitor to the Rectory, Mr G. P. L'Estrange, that the assault on her was like a blow from a man's fist.

  There was further trouble on November 13 (a Friday just to add to the weirdness of the whole episode). The Rector, having to go up to London on business, asked Richard Whitehouse to come up from Sudbury to visit the folks at the Rectory. He arrived at about teatime, to be greeted by a peal of servant bell-ringing. The two children were put to bed and the rest of the household then withdrew to the kitchen, including young Katie, the maid.

  As Marianne sat in a chair in one corner of the kitchen, there came a loud crash from beneath the chair. A bottle, which had appeared from heaven knows where, had exploded and there was glass all over the place. A little later as Richard Whitehouse went to sit down to some supper, the same thing happened again, beneath his chair ... Bang! ... and another mess of broken glass, which a mystified Kate proceeded to sweep up. Yet another bottle dashed itself to pieces on the floor ... Crash! ... more sweeping up for Katie.

  Then there followed the sound of footsteps on the back stairs, culminating in another bottle rolling in through the door, this time without breaking. Interestingly, the cellars had once been used for storing bottles of wine, the brick bins remaining in situ to the very end. It was thought that the bottles that showered themselves all over the kitchen might well have come from the cellar.

  Then the bells started up again, and this time the yard bell, outside on its bracket high up on the Rectory wall, also began to join in.

  Later that evening, with the Rector long overdue from London because of his train being delayed by fog, Mrs Foyster decided to retire to bed. As she and Whitehouse began to climb the main stairs, Marianne collapsed in a heap and Richard was fortunate to grab the lamp she was carrying just in time, though it guttered and went out. Feeling his way up the stairs in the gloom, he carried Marianne up and placed her on the floor by one of the bedrooms. To his relief, the Rector came in at that point and was able to take over. It was with some relief that Dom Richard was able to depart for Sudbury and his own bed. He had had quite enough of that house for one day.

  These bouts of collapsing by Marianne were rather curious and will be mentioned in greater detail later.

  On December 14, Richard Whitehouse again called at the Rectory prior to going to Sheringham, Norfolk, to talk to Guy and Mabel Smith, the previous inhabitants, who had moved there after spending a short time at Long Melford. Later, the couple moved to Ashford, Kent, when Smith was appointed Rector of Sevington, and they were there in 1939 when their former home went up in flames. On the day of this further visit by Dom Richard, Lionel Foyster was in bed ill, with arthritis, and Marianne was with him in his room. Whilst all were present, a thin glass tumbler dropped at Whitehouse's feet and rolled round to stop intact. Dom Richard later expressed the view that nobody could have thrown the tumbler without breaking it.

  Also during this period, the bottle smashing continued at intervals, but on another occasion Lionel Foyster's bottle of pills disappeared. Later the same day Dom Richard, who had visited the Foysters, was on his way back to Sudbury and near Rodbridge level crossing he started to put on his overcoat and must have been mystified to find Lionel's bottle of pills was in one of the pockets.

  During January 1932, members of the Marks Tey Spiritualist Circle visited the Rectory and were greete
d with pandemonium. A shower of bottles hurled down the back stairs had left a pile of broken glass and then the bell-ringing started again. Following the departure of the Spiritualists, however, Foyster recalled that the place seemed quite different, though minor incidents continued to occur right up until October of 1935, when the Foysters packed and left, chiefly because of the Rector's ill health. In fact, he was in such poor shape that he carried out no further clerical duties from then on.

  Whether or not the Marks Tey group thought they had finally cleared the Rectory of its tricks is hard to say, but in the light of subsequent happenings we can see now that they might as well have squirted water at an elephant for the lasting effect it had.

  The authors of The Haunting of Borley Rectory viewed the advent of the Marks Tey Circle as significant, and came to the conclusion that the change of atmosphere afterwards was due to Marianne having been rumbled, so to speak, thus leaving her with no worthwhile reason to continue with the supposedly fraudulent phenomena. However, like so much else in that publication, this all sounds like dramatically impressive evidence against Marianne and the Rectory in general, but what about all the accounts of the Rectory's phenomena from Dom Richard and many others.

  The author points out, as did Robert J. Hastings, the nonsense in the suggestion that Whitehouse was suffering from the effects of a nervous breakdown while at Borley, which, had it been true, might well have impaired his judgement. He had at one time suffered from a nervous illness, but that was well before his interest in Borley Rectory, and he had completely recovered from it.

  Two other visitors to the Rectory during the Foysters' tenancy, Sir John and Lady Braithwaite, thought that there was hysteria on Marianne's part, and more than one person since has described her as neurotic. If she was, we may never be able to prove it. Comments on the possibilities of psychic capabilities vis-à-vis Marianne, a possible answer to her bouts of collapsing, appear further on in this book. As to hysteria, Lionel Foyster argued against it as a total answer to the situation. If Marianne was hysterical at Borley, she might just as well have been so elsewhere. There is no evidence known to the writer that such events occurred elsewhere in her life and, that being the case, it does not seem possible to prove that hysteria was to blame for the Foyster phenomena. Once again, we come back to a central point about almost all the periods of tenancy at Borley Rectory, where psychic phenomena are concerned.