THE MIDKNIGHT GARDEN: KNIGHTS OF THE RED ORDER

THE PRIORY INVESTIGATES: QUEST NUMBER TWO

• BORLEY RECTORY & CHURCH PART ONE: THE FACTS
• PART TWO: FACES FROM THE PAST

<Click on photos to enlarge>

It was a bright sunny (if not windy) day in March 2016 that we arrived in the small village of Borley in Essex. Anyone with a keen interest in the paranormal or places of unusual events or happenings, cannot fail to have heard of the infamous happenings and hauntings that, over the years, have occured at Borly Rectory and Church. The Rectory was demolished many years ago but the church is still very much here.

For a bit of useful background and historical infomation, the following links are very useful and help to paint the overall picture:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borley_Rectory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borley_Church

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borley

We wondered what we would find there; listening to other clips and snippets on the internet the signs were not good; the church had been well and truly locked to visitors for years, no one was ever around and lest of all welcoming, the small carpark was always chained across with no where else to park and the villagers activey discouraged visitors and researchers by going to the trouble of removing any sign posts that directed one to the village. So not a very good start then but never the less we remained optimistic and really looking forward to the day.

So imagine our surprise then, when as soon as we arrived at Borley Church, not only was the car park unchained allowing us to pull straight up to the church entrance, but there was also another car already parked there with a guy inside seemingly viewing the expansive country side through binoculars. We got out of the car, as did he and before we knew it and quite unexpectedly, freindly conversation had ensued along with introductions, who we were and our reason for being there; namely research into the Church and Rectory and the strange happenings documented to have occured there.

The next suprise happened almost immedietly when seemingly from out of nowhere two others appeared, also engaging straight away in conversation with us; one of whom was a lady who told us she had been taking a ‘tour’ around the church, yet i could not help wondering where the people on the tour actually were and there was ‘something’ unsettling about her that i could not quiet put my finger on; she seemed to be a bit ‘out of time’. Again all seemingly very interested in what we were doing there; not at all what we were expecting or had been led to believe about the village.

We then made our way around the back of the church where there appeared to be a much older area; less manicured and with much older gravestones but with stunning views across the rolling Essex countryside with light rays shinning on where ‘the bones’ are buried…

  We then made our way along the back of the church to the front again but on coming around the side to what was, only a few minutes ago an empty space, a gardener complete with wheelbarrow plus an array of various gardening tools and equipment was now diligently going about his daily buisness. Pleasantries were of course exchanged, yet curiously while we introduced ourselves, he in fact did not, but he did tell us a little more about the church and its history and its current application for lottery funding in respect of its leaking roof yet also making a big point of telling us that the Old Rectory would have been situated way, way down the road where modern bungelows had now been built upon. The church doors that only minutes before had been tightly locked shut and chained, were now wide open and welcoming and thus on our inquiring he bid us to go inside; telling us that the church is often open to visitors on a weekend, yet this was not a weekend, so very contary to what we had been led to believe and certainly not what we were expecting

.View of the inside of the church showing in detail the tomb and its placement, the  window directly opposite the tomb and a view of the altar.

Once inside the small church one can see that it is certainly very stunning with some beautiful stained glass windows of amazing craftmanship. But one can not help noticing the ‘family’ tomb, rising from floor to ceiling, towards the left hand side of the altar and how elaborate, well preserved and detailed it is, being placed directly opposite one of the stained glass windows. I myself felt nothing untoward inside the church; in fact i would say the very opposite, it felt very natural, almost as if we were ‘meant’ to be there and were placed inside of a (to us) protected enviroment.

At the very back of the church, outside the actual boundaries is a piece of ground very ‘different’ from the surounding area with a type of flora growing there which has been left in a natural state and unattended. This is in actual fact the site of the very original Borley Rectory which lasted up until 1161 yet had been added to and modified since 934 CE, but was subsequently demolished, to make way (i guess) for the now infamous rectory of the ‘hauntings and happenings’.

See the link below for a full account of part one the days happenings

BORLEY CHURCH & RECTORY: PART ONE

(Apologies for poor sound quality; it was a very windy day!)

• So where is the real rectory?
• Why were we given a red herring in respect of it?
• Who was the mystery gardener, ‘tour guide’ and companions?
• Why were the church doors open and welcoming?
• Why does all this connect to one of our party?

All is revealed in ‘Faces from the Past’ (part two of our Borley investigation)

FACES FROM THE PAST:

After a full day of research and investigations at Borley Church on March 27th 2016, we certainly came home with plenty to consider and to think about. It had been such a truly amazing day where many anomalies had occurred; all being very unusual to say the lest. While still fresh in our minds; to help with further research we decided to try to record our immediate thoughts on the day’s events, there and then. Our team discussed the events of the day, the people we met and the ‘happenings’ of the day, seemingly not adding up or making sense.

Mulling over the day….

Upon discussing the many ‘oddities’ of our day at Borley we noted from watching numerous YouTube videos that it was apparent that previous researchers always found the chain well and truly across the tiny car park, which can only fit about five or six cars in it anyway. What the videos all say is that the chain is padlocked across the car park entrance making it very difficult to find somewhere to park, but on this day the chain was unlocked and we were able to drive straight in.

We had parked next to a rather elderly couple and thus chatted with them, exchanging pleasantries; the lady from the car advised us that she was from two villages down, a village called ‘Chapel’ (or did she mean the chapel?) She seemed to know a lot about Borley Rectory and Church and said she had been taking a ‘tour’ around the Church; yet they were no one else to be seen there. The gentleman who was driving the vehicle had a pair of binoculars and was generally just looking across the open landscape. But what was most odd was that when a question was asked in respect of Borley Rectory and Church; the lady’s face changed suddenly froze and went quiet stern…

Then almost within a moment’s breath, a little white van turned up and a mature gentleman, maybe in his early fifties gets out and comes over to us; again exchanging pleasantries; he told us his name was Steve and that he often came up to the Church, but was quite adamant in saying that the Church was normally locked and that he, himself could never gain entrance. He also said he had been to Borley Church at night time but had not really seen anything, although to him it has seemed ‘eerie’. We then went on to discuss the location of the Rectory, yet strangely he did not seem to know where it was, though listened avidly to our theories of where we thought it would have been; behind the actual church on the piece of ‘wild ground’ to one side. The next minute he seemed to go on a ‘walk around’ in that very direction but not into the actual Church area. The mystery is that none of us actually saw him arrive in the actual church area  but one of our party, when upon our arrival and initial walk around the church saw ‘Steve’ talking to a ‘gardener’ at the back of the Church as if they knew each other. What was more interesting is that the ‘gardener arrived from nowhere; he was suddenly there trimming a bush!

So to recap; the people there at the site at this time are us (the research team), the elderly couple from the blue car, (the man with the binoculars and the lady who said she was from ‘Chapel’), Steve (in the white van)

When we walked up initially and had a look at the Church there was no gardener in sight. The ‘elderly couple’ did eventually leave in their car, so that just left Steve and us and when we first walked up to the Church to start filming, there was no sign of any gardener, but when two of our party walked around the Church, prior to filming; the door to the Church was suddenly unlocked and wide open, the hedge strimmer attached with extension cable plugged in!  There was also a wheelbarrow and tools all ready and in action yet only minutes before no-one was there and the chain and padlock was well and truly over the locked and shut Church doors! The ‘gardener’ did indeed look as if he had been working on the bush trimming for some time; had been there a lot longer that had appeared yet only two or three minutes had elapsed in real time!

Steve then re-appears and disappears again and so for a place that everyone says is always locked and one cannot gain access to see inside the Church and that there is no one around; at the very moment we arrived it seemed to be a height of activity with people there and a gardener appearing from nowhere cutting a bush! The gardener also had ‘tools’ and ‘electrics’ that were not stored in the Church and neither did he have a vehicle in the car park! So a mystery that needs a lot more research and thinking about or maybe visiting again at another time of day to see what the experience will be. We have four different individuals; the couple, Steve in the white van and the gardener; four people in fact who suddenly arrived from nowhere, yet all the youtube footage tells of no-one ever being around, never anyone from the local village being anywhere near Borley Church but oddly, this day when we were there, it was a hive of activity!

Past and Present Become One: Findings of our Research:

So despite the information we had been given by the ‘gardener’ we subsequently discovered that Borley Rectory, the site of many unusual happenings was not, as we suspected, down the road at the bottom of the hill, but was of course just across the road from Borley Church, which of course makes perfect sense.

Aerial photo showing the site of the old Rectory and it’s geographical relationship to Borley Church.

The old rectory, which had previously burned down, was as one can see, well within walking distance of the church and right where it needed to be. At the back of the church where we were filming on the day, is the site of the very first rectory, also needing to be near the church. So the ‘gardener’ did actually give us misinformation, as he said the rectory was way down the hill where two bungalows are now built; but why did he say this?

Directly opposite the church there are in fact two bungalows but not built on the old rectory ground itself. The rectory site is grassed over and the original vegetable patch is the only remaining evidence. The vegetable patch is however still used by the first bungalow, which seemed very strange.

This is where events of the day start getting very interesting, for upon coming home and doing avid internet research in respect of all the folks who in the past had a strong connection to the Church and the Rectory at Borley, but yet who are no longer around today; we were in for a great shock and many revelations to say the lest! Even though ‘something’ on the day told us that things were not quite right and events did not seem to add up; especially the folks we met on the day whom we had wondered; were they real people?

They say seeing is believing and this is what we saw….

HARRY PRICE: ghost hunter aka ‘our gardener’

   Harry Price: Ghost Hunter or Harry Price: Gardener?

 As the photos above show, Harry Price was the original investigator at Borley, yet also this is the exact image of our mysterious gardener in the present day. All of our party made the connection and recognised him instantly from the photos!

So the gardener appears to be Harry Price the Ghost Hunter who lived from 17:01:1881 to 29:03:1948. He has been dead for 68 years but seemingly well and truly alive on this particular day!

MOLLIE GOLDNEY: physic researcher aka ‘tour guide’

This photo shows (on the right – looking at it) Mollie Goldney, who was also (or so it appeared) the lady in the second car, that appeared out of nowhere!

On the far left (looking at the picture) the gardener we met on the day, who also appeared out of nowhere. This picture is 1939! Again, we all recognised her as the lady we had met on the day! Mollie Goldney was a Psychic Researcher and died in 1992. She has been dead 24 years! Mollie has/had a wealth of ESP government research papers that she has in trust NOT to be published until the year 2020, this was her direct and strange request.

REVEREND LIONEL FOYSTER: aka ‘Steve’

Also in the photo, next to Mollie is the Reverend Lionel Foyster with his wife Marianne. ‘He’ also said to us that he is often there at the church, which would make total sense if he had been the actual Reverend of the church! So Steve is The Reverend Lionel Foyster who lived from 1878 to 18:04:1945. He has been dead for 71 years!

In the picture also is the Foysters adopted daughter, Adelaide and the Lodger’s son, Frank Junior. Again and independently, we all made the connection here!

LORD MARK KERR-PEARCE: aka the man in the car with Mollie with the binoculars

 Lord Mark Kerr-Pearce, was the ‘official observer’ for Harry Price. He  was also the second man in the car we met on the day with Mollie; Lord Mark Kerr-Pearce; a Psychic Researcher who was born in 1818 and who died in 2005, he has been dead 11 years! Again, we all independently made the connection as we instantly recognized him!

BURRYING THE BONES…

The photo above clearly shows Reverend Foyers (Steve) and Harry Price (the gardener) burying the bones of the murdered lady; exactly where in our video; our head investigator Alek said they were buried, before actually finding this photo! After the bones had been buried here, was when all the ‘happenings’ started to occur in the church. Putting together all our findings, there is certainly a mystery waiting to be solved and one, which we will in due course return to.

See the link below for our personal thoughts on the day….

BORLEY RECTORY: MULLING OVER THE DAY

Joining the dots of the Quest

• Clearly, the ‘gardener’ was looking out for us as he told us a white lie thus we would not be harmed. It is clear that the entities (ghosts) of today (27th March 2016) all welcomed us, especially inside the church itself, but they did not want us to go to the rectory site across the road.
• Note to Priory Team: Clearly, we should take note of that warning and not attempt to go to the site.
• What is of interest here is that our head investigator, discovered on the evening of March 17th 2016, that the wife of Sir Edward Waldegrave (1517-1561) is resting in the actual tomb inside Borley Church next to his wife (our researcher’s relative) Frances Waldegrave, which explains our encounters of the day and why the entities were welcoming for us and how by amazement we were freely able to enter the church.

 Edward: husband of Frances Frances: wife of Edward & relative of Alek.  

 There is a direct connection between Borley Church (built in 984 CE) and the Magnetic Hill at Warboys, if you choose to remain on this Quest, then more shall be discovered.

• Sir Edward Waldgrave, buried here in Borley Church, was the chief adviser to Queen Mary 1^st. When she had her coronation, it was at St Mary’s Church at Akenham that there was a major celebration to mark her coronation on becoming Queen after Henry died.

March 2016

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‘The Keeper of Scrolls’