E X T E N S I O N FAMOUS GHOSTS AND HAUNTED PLACES (I) Borley Rectory is often called the most haunted house in England. The site of the rectory originally held a monastery which was inhabited by Benedictine monks. Subsequent to this, the monastery came under the ownership of the Waldergrave family, who occupied it for three centuries. In the late 1800 s a descendant of the Waldegraves, the reverend H.D.E. Bull, built a new rectory on the site of the old monastery. It was not until after the new rectory was built that strange things started to happen. One of the spectres that was said to haunt the grounds was a nun who, in the 13th century, fell in love with and tried to elope with a monk. According to legend, the nun and monk were caught in their get-away horse and carriage. As punishment, the monk was hanged and the nun was walled up alive in the rectory. Some people reported seeing the ghostly form of the horse and carriage in addition to the nun.The Reverend Harry Bull, who died at Borley, also was reputed to have haunted the rectory. He would appear dressed in the grey jacket in which he died. Unfortunately, Borley Rectory burned down in 1939, taking its secrets with it. In 1945, human remains, said to be those of the nun, were found on the site, and were given a proper burial. But the legend of Borley has not died yet; people still visit the site today to see if they can spot the ghostly nun. The Winchester Mansion, in San Jose, California, was built by Sara Winchester, the widow of William Winchester. Sara visited a psychic who told her that she had to build a house large enough to contain the souls of all those who had been killed by Winchester guns and Sara spent the remaining 36 years of her life (until she died in 1922) doing just that.The mansion s construction is just as odd as Sara s personality.There are stairways and doors that go nowhere, secret rooms and passages, and elevators that only go up one floor. Some believe that Sara had the house built in a confusing way so that the sprits wouldn t be able to find her and seek revenge. The number 13 is prevalent throughout: 13 bathrooms, stairways with 13 steps, and so on. There is a rumour that Sara would never give her workmen the day off, because she was afraid that the day she stopped building she would die. One day, however, after many complaints, she finally gave her staff a day off, and that is the day she died. 65