THE PARANORMAL INVESTIGATORS 4
THE BORLEY RECTORY, A HARRY PRICE FILE
By.
Rodney Cannon
CHAPTER
THE SPR
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a parapsychological organization whose purpose is to research and understand occurrences of paranormal activity, reports of psychic individuals, and anything else under the paranormal umbrella. Parapsychology by definition is the scientific study of the ways organisms communicate and interact with one another and their surroundings in ways that are thus far not explainable using typical, existing scientific models. The SPR was founded in 1882, a few months after a fateful conversation between physicist William F. Barrett and journalist Edmund Rogers occurred in 1881. Its first president was Henry Sidgwick, and the organization’s membership included numerous renowned individuals such as Arthur Conan Doyle.
The SPR, still active today, is unique among paranormal investigators because of their staunchly scientific approach. Rather than leap to the conclusion that all reports of paranormal activity and psychic phenomena are necessarily evil, always good or utterly and inherently false, they remain neutral and open to the possibility that parapsychological research has great merit. These aren’t amateurs; SPR’s trustees and officers generally hold multiple degrees, and the membership includes doctors, scientists, PHDs, and ordinary people. Since the membership is diverse, so are the multidisciplinary research methods. The academic background of the Trustees and Officers lends legitimacy and credibility to their work, especially when the SPR releases information about psychic and paranormal activity that would otherwise raise skepticism or even ridicule in the media and scientific community. It’s safe to say that the Society for Psychical Research is a highly legitimate organization with a firm foundation whom have been successfully researching and documenting poltergeists, psychics and other paranormal activity for well over a century.
It’s worth drawing special attention to Henry Sidgwick. He was noteworthy as a paranormal investigator because he was relentless in his exposure of fake mediums and fortune-tellers. However his practices allowed the people who likely had real capabilities to rise up to a place of higher respectability and furthered the understanding of what real psychic activity looks like. He’s remembered by many as an esteemed researcher to this day.
The SPR’s research about poltergeists is monumental. Innumerable accounts of poltergeists have been recorded and researched. The most notable — and the ones that helped to establish this activity as substantive — include cases where sounds can be recorded or where letters are written posthumously by the dead. One look up the SPR’s recordings of the sounds that poltergeists make, and can see, when a computer generated visual is produced, how different the sounds made by a poltergeist versus the sounds made by the living are.
Also heavily researched by the SPR are unexplained lights and orbs, demonic possession, morphic resonance (transference of thoughts or ideas to other people) and mirror reading (commonly understood as crystal ball gazing). Of particular interest to many people are their reports on angelic beings, life after death experiences, and the appearance of deceased relatives. With their vast library of publications, one can get lost in the SPR’s paranormal research archives for an eternity.
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THE BORLEY RECTORY A HAUNTED HISTORY 
During ancient times, in the thirteenth century, a monk fell in love with a nun. They decided to run away and elope to build and establish a new life for themselves. While in the process if running away, before even embarking on this wonderful journey, their lives were cut short. While the monk was hung to death, the nun endured a worse fate. She was walled up inside the cold, brick monastery walls- while she was still alive.
Built on the site of the ancient monastery where the two lovers met their tragic demise, the Borley Rectory has become known as the most haunted house not only in England but in the entire UK. Despite warnings from locals that the site, commonly referred to as the "Nun's Walk", was haunted, Reverend Henry Bull built his rectory in 1863. Immediately, strange occurrences took place that gradually became stronger and more horrific with each new tenant. This lasted until the fire that took the life of the Borley Rectory in 1938. Many believe the site is still haunted to this day.
In 1863, Reverend Henry Bull built the Borley Rectory and him and his family moved in. Almost immediately, they began seeing an apparition of a nun strolling along, roaming the property. The reverend was not fearful and thought this was entertaining. He built a summerhouse on the property so him and his son, Harry, could sit and watch the nun on her walk while they enjoyed after-dinner cigars. Guests, servants, the reverend himself, his son, and his four daughters all witnessed this phenomenon, as well as others. Other sightings at the time included the nun peering out the rectory windows.
When Reverend Henry Bull passed away, in the Blue Room of the Borley Rectory, his son inherited the home. The hauntings and sightings increased upon Henry's passing. In addition to the nun roaming the grounds, a ghostly horse drawn carriage was now seen racing around. During this period of time, the ghosts were peaceful. The only signs of ghosts were the appearance of the nun and horse drawn carriage, mysterious, unexplained footsteps, and strange creaking sounds.
After Harry Bull passed in 1927, Reverend Guy Smith became the new tenant of the Borley Rectory. The ghastly hauntings were too much for him to handle and he swift fully departed within one year. During the short period of time that the Smith's resided there, they called in famous ghost-hunter Harry Price. While visiting, Harry Price had a vase and stones thrown at him by unseen forces.
As the intensity of the terrifying hauntings, unexplained sightings, and strange occurrences worsened, reverend Lionel Foyster and his wife Marianne became the new tenants of the frightful Borley Rectory. The Foyster's would often become unexplainably locked out of rooms, their personal belongings would vanish without a trace, windows and other items would suddenly smash, and strange noises could be heard throughout the house. Writings asking Marianne for help would suddenly appear out of nowhere on the walls; some even as people stood and watched. The Foysters attempted to have the Borley Rectory exorcised, but to no avail. Marianne was thrown from her bed to the floor by unseen hands, and attacked by an unseen force. The Foysters logged and reported close to 2,000 horrific paranormal incidences to Harry Price before moving out in 1935.
The ghost hunter Harry Price leased the Borley Rectory next, for one year, to perform a deep investigation into these terrifying hauntings. He and his crew of investigators monitored and documented all of the fascinatingly terrifying events and ghastly activities that occurred. A séance was performed in which a spirit threatened the house would burn down that night and the bones of a nun's body would be found in the rubble.
After the one year lease was up, Captain Gregson moved in. His two dogs mysteriously disappeared and he was subjected to the same haunted circumstances as his previous tenants. Eleven months after moving into Borley Rectory, an oil lamp fell over, even mysteriously, or by Captain Gregson himself, and the building was burned to the ground. In 1943, a digging led by Harry Price uncovered the bones of a young woman. Harry Price gave the bone a real Christian burial, but the hauntings and strange occurrences at the eerie site continue to go on today.
CHAPTER
Stella Cranshaw, born Dorothy Stella Cranshaw in 1900, was a London born woman from the 20th century who wasn’t exactly your average English girl. The daughter of a charcoal burner and a London nurse, Cranshaw boarded a train in 1923 where, by stroke of chance, she met Harry Price. This would be the beginning of her career as a psychic.
Harry Price, born 1881, was a British paranormal and haunting researcher of the early 1900s. He is most famous for his Borley Rectory investigation in which he lived in a purportedly haunted rectory building for a year and wrote his findings in a book he later published, giving the Borley Rectory the title of “most haunted house in England.” In 1923 he, along with many of his contemporaries, were fascinated with finding a real medium or psychic. Price was getting tired of all the hoaxes and fakes in his search for a true medium. That’s were Stella Cranshaw turned his luck.
While on the train, Cranshaw become bored and noticed Price had a stack of magazines in front of him. She asked to borrow a copy of the paranormal magazine, Light, and they had a long and fateful conversation. Over the course of the train ride, Cranshaw told Price about her several experiences with paranormal incidents. Among the phenomenon she experienced were cool breezes when all the windows were closed, unexplained flashes of light, and small objects floating without cause. Price believed she might be psychic and convinced her to participate in a series of séances to help his research.
Cranshaw ultimately took hand in three series of séances which each consisted of several sessions over the course of 6 years. These all took place in very controlled environments which Price labored over to ensure no fraud could take place. Several of Price’s own inventions were used and he also brought in trusted colleagues to help with the sessions. None of Cranshaw's personal affects were allowed in the room, the furniture was set up in such a manner that actions could not be hidden from view, the room was locked and the key taken away, and Cranshaw's hands and feet were under the control of those in the room with her.
The first session took place in March of 1923 at the National Laboratory of Psychical Research. The second occurred on April 10th, 1926. Cranshaw’s final séance was performed in 1928, after which she and Harry Price parted ways and she ceased to use her abilities. Cranshaw showed extreme physical and emotional exhaustion after her séances and her powers seemed to become less prominent as time went on. It is also possible that Cranshaw lost interest in or desire to use her abilities.
During the sessions Cranshaw and the others in the room experienced an array of events. There were often flashes of light, strange tapping sounds, and ominous levitation of smaller objects and even furniture. The temperature of the room often fluctuated toward cold during her episodes with cold breezes that at one point dropped the temperature from 63 to 43 degrees. During a singular session furniture being levitated was completely destroyed.
In her most powerful sessions, Cranshaw saw a being she stated was Palma. Many paranormal scholars believe this to be her spirit guide. Her most powerful and cited insight was when she claimed to see a newspaper with the name "Andrew Salt" written in bold letters on it. There was a falling boy on it that doctors kept pouring a white powder over. Over a month later a newspaper ad for Andrew’s Liver Salt was printed on the front page featuring a picture of a boy who had knocked some salt off his plate. This was taken by many to be proof of premonition.
Given the great lengths Harry Price went to in order to ensure authenticity, many psychic researchers regard Stella Cranshaw as a true psychic and Price’s reports on her to be a great resource. The reports still reside at the Harry Price Library at the University of London.
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INVESTIGATING THE BORLEY RECTORY
Dubbed "Most Haunted Place In England" by journalists, paranormal researchers, and supernatural enthusiasts around the globe, the Borley Rectory is one of the most documented and notorious hot spots for paranormal activity. Although skeptics and critics alike, have had their reasons to dispute the alleged events that have taken place in this rural England locale, nearly 80 years’ worth of chilling and unexplained phenomena has made it hard to sweep this story under the rug. The history of this eerie and mysterious place reads like a rap sheet of misfortune, begging the question of where did it all begin? Even before Harry Price, pioneer of the paranormal realm was summoned to take on the case, numerous reports of sightings and rumors of tragedy had been too overwhelming to ignore. The disturbing details uncovered in Harry Price's Borley Rectory Investigation have taken this controversial ghost story to legendary status. Adorned with stark peaks pointed to the sky like daggers, the Gothic style mansion lives up to its harrowing reputation. The timeline of historical events that took place at Borley Rectory set the scene, if not foreshadowed the trail of tragedy this notorious legacy has left behind. According to rumor, the land the rectory was built on was doomed long before its existence. Paranormal activity reports back all the way to the 13th century where a monastery was built prior to the rectory. A rumor that has been passed down generation to generation places blame for the paranormal mayhem on an illicit affair between a monk and a nun leading to their tragic death. The monk was executed, while the nun met a much worse fate; buried alive brick-by-brick. Some have even claimed a poltergeist tied to the land has been wreaking havoc since the Crusades. Since then, each successor has been met with a downward-spiraling slew of misfortune all the way until its demise during a fire in 1939.The deaths of two owners in the Blue Room of the rectory, alleged exorcisms, infidelity, and vanishing pets are just a handful of the copious amount of calamity that have occurred. Apparitions of headless horseman are commonly seen around the property. They are rumored to be the ghosts of the beheaded coachmen who tried to help the nun and her forbidden lover elope. The earliest sightings described have been of a nun roaming the gardens and then vanishing into thin air. The original builder and owner of the Borley Rectory Reverend Bull, built an addition to the house overlooking the gardens where sightings of the nun frequently appeared. Others have heard bells ringing, footsteps, and seen lights in windows when vacant. The large outcry from servants, spectators, and the Smith family who occupied the rectory at one point, lead to the local newspaper requesting Harry Price's expertise to evaluate the phenomena. Price wasn't new to the rectory when he returned for a second time to examine new, wilder claims he later referred to as "16 hours of thrills", made by the Foyster family. Marianne Foyster later admitted to fabricating the events that happened while they lived there to distract from an extra-marital affair she was having. Although her confession added to the disbelief of Price's credibility, the findings from his previous and subsequent journeys with other occupants long out-lived the doubts. Upon his first encounter with the rectory, immediate paranormal activity was strongly felt. He was met with various objects violently being thrown around the room and down staircases. Vases, candles, coin and rocks were seen flying throughout the estate. The daughter was thrown from her bed and almost suffocated by her mattress. The place remained vacant a few years before Harry Price took out a year- long lease to conduct an official investigation. During this time he placed an ad to recruit unbiased participants to stay for various amounts of time and record anything and everything they saw. Each were given an Ouija board and encouraged to use it. The events that took place during the investigation, including Price's creation of the ghost-hunting kit, have been both controversial and entrepreneurial for the field of Paranormal Research. One of the most chilling events that took place during this investigation was when a man named Mark Kerr-Pearse was eating alone inside of the rectory and was locked into the room. He first heard the turn of a key, and then much to his dismay realized it was being locked from inside, as he could see the key turning in the bolt by itself. During one of many séances conducted during his investigation, a bar of soap was said to have jumped into the air off the floor. Price mentioned in his writings that after the gardener and him chased after the ghost of the nun, a large pane of glass came crashing to their feet. Other participants have described the sound of a heavy dog panting over them while they slept. Perhaps the most significant of all the paranormal activity to take place, was a series of séances where contact with several spirits was made. The first spirit belonged to a nun who was murdered by her husband and buried within the property; her bones were purportedly excavated by price at a later date. Another spirit predicted that the rectory would fall victim to a fire, which it did less than a year later.
Despite the surmounting opposition to Price's work during the Borley Investigation, rumors of paranormal activity still lurk among the grounds where it once stood to this day. Generations of families who shared this creepy dwelling in common, have each contributed to the legacy that is still hot on the press. Nonetheless, throughout his work Harry Price has indubitably proven himself as a talented author, paranormal investigator, and a clever man.
CHAPTER
HARRY PRICE PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR
In the world the paranormal and psychics many people do not believe in the ability that a person can communicate with the dead. Other feel that there are selected people with a gift that allows them to be able to communicate with those that have past and see events that did not happen yet. While there are some frauds that give people with this gift a bad name no one can dispute the gift that was given to Harry Price. He was a British psychic researcher as well as author. He gained fame for exploring those fake Spiritualists and was an investigator into the phenomenon of psychics. One of his most famous paranormal investigations was the Borley Rectory in Essex, England that was said to be haunted.
Harry Price was born in 1881 in London. He attended school at the New Cross and later at the Haberdasher’s Aske Hatchman Boys School. When he was a teenager he wrote a number of dramatic plays as well as some of the interactions he had with poltergeists as a child. Many of his plays took place in locations that were said to be haunted.
By 1908 Price was studying archaeology and got job working at a paper merchant. He also wrote for two papers in the Sussex area. Price became interested in the paranormal a joined a group called the Magic Circle. This group had an interesting in magic and conjuring. At this also sparked his interested in the investigation of paranormal activity. He worked with another psychic researcher named Eric Ding wall and learned about the fraudulent practices of those claiming to communicate with those that have past.
By 1920 Price has an interest in the paranormal that he could not deny. He became a member of the Society for Psychical Research and was able to point out a number of magicians and those said to be spirit medium that were fraudulently practicing in this area. One of his earliest research projects was in 1922 when he investigated William Hope who claimed to have the ability to photograph spirits. He exposed him as s fraud and was able to find out how he was producing the pictures of so called spirits. This was one of his first successes. Price went on to investigate a number of others. He has to learn all of these tricks. While many of these so called experts were good at their craft they were no match for Price and his investigative techniques.
By 1926 Price became well known in this area and his research he was able to form his own organization called the National Laboratory of Psychical Research. He tested a number of spirit mediums and was able to tell which ones were able to communicate with those that have pasted and which ones were making it up. He also found out the techniques on how a medium can fool the average person that is not educated in this field.
Price was offered a position at the University of London where he was part of the Department of Psychical Research. This department had the equipment he needed to conduct further research and educate others in this field. He also joined the Ghost Club and was a member until it closed in the year 1936.
Many experts in this field praised Price for his work. Richard Wiseman was another skeptic and he praised Price for being able to expose fraudulent mediums. Price was not only a skeptic but he was a scientist and had the knowledge and the research to study those that claimed to be blessed with the paranormal gift. Price was said to be one of the most fascinating figures in research and had methods that can be used by other investigators today. Price was said to pave the ways for other investigates including Ed and Lorraine Warren. These modern researchers use some of the techniques used by Price in order to debunk so of the modern mediums that claim to have the ability and the gift of communicating with the afterlife.
There are some famous mediums that Price was able to expose as being fakes. Eileen Garret was said to be able to make contact with the spirit world. Price invited her in to conduct a séance at his research center. She claimed she was able to make contact with the spirit of Herbert Carmichael Irwin. Two days after their meeting the R101 disaster happened. Some say the contact with the spirit world lead to this disaster. According to Price he was skeptical that Garret was really able to make contact with the spirit world. He said she was good at her craft but was a fraud. He also stated that she appeared to be in a trace and was convincing but her alleged contact had no effect and did not lead to this disaster. Some have even said that she had prior knowledge to the layout of the building where this incident happened and was able to repeat the information that she learned.
Price continued his research until the year 1948. He was at his home in Pulborough, West Sussex and suffered from a major heart attack. According to those close to him this heart attack almost instantly killed him. His widow gave some of his research to the University of London. This information including correspondence, drafts of his research that was not yet published, papers with libel cases, some of the reports on his investigations, and photographs. This information would be used to help other studying in this field and show them techniques on how to debunk mediums that are participating in fraudulent practices.
Price was a researcher that was before his time. He did not like people that were in a desperate time in their lives being taken advantage of those that were out to defraud them and take their money. While some people may have the gift to be a true medium there are others that are in the business of exploiting people. Price dedicated his life to conducting research to expose those who were in the business of fraud while establishing himself as one of the greatest paranormal investigators.
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