June 22, 2026

Episode 79: The Ghost Nun of Borley Rectory

Called the most haunted house in England, Borley Rectory became the site of decades of documented phenomena under three different families, from footsteps and phantom coaches to a séance that named a 17th-century nun and asked for prayers. Mary Ann Poll traces the full history and asks whether the presence at Borley was malevolent, or simply lost.EPISODE NOTES● Covered the Bull, Smith, and Foyster family periods, plus Harry Price's landmark investigations.● Key documented details include the bricked-up dining room window, Foyster's two failed exorcism attempts (including being struck by a stone), and the January 1932 seance.● Canon Phythian-Adams reviewed the seance transcripts and named entities Marie Lairre and Sunex Amures.● Scripture chosen: Psalm 34:18, reflecting the episode's conclusion that the presence at Borley appeared to be grief seeking intercession rather than malevolence.SOURCES● Harry Price, The Most Haunted House in England (1940)● Harry Price, The End of Borley Rectory (1946)● Contemporary newspaper accounts of Borley Rectory phenomena, 1929-1939● Church records and Canon Phythian-Adams' correspondence● Post-demolition sighting accounts, 1944 onward

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