Ghosts, Witches & Legends
of North Essex
North Essex might look all duck ponds and church spires, but scratch the surface and you'll find ghost stories, witch trials, haunted airfields and centuries of things that can't quite be explained. This is the darker, stranger side of one of England's most quietly eerie corners.
Borley Rectory
"The Most Haunted House in England"
📍 Borley, near Sudbury (North Essex/Suffolk border)
Once called the most haunted house in England by paranormal researcher Harry Price, Borley Rectory was built in 1862 and plagued by reports of ghostly nuns, phantom coaches driven by headless horsemen, mysterious wall-writings, objects hurled by unseen hands, and servant bells ringing despite being disconnected.
The rector's wife found a young woman's skull in a cupboard. A séance claimed contact with the spirit of a French nun named Marie Lairre, supposedly murdered on the site and bricked up in the walls. A second spirit predicted the house would burn — and in 1939, it did.
The rectory was demolished in 1944, but the stories never stopped. The site remains one of England's most famous paranormal locations.
A 2025 film, Borley Rectory: The Awakening, starring Patsy Kensit and Julian Glover, brought the story back to the screen.
🔗 Learn more about Borley Rectory's history
Visitor note: The rectory no longer stands, but the church and surrounding area can still be visited. Borley Church itself has its own eerie reputation.
Haunted Places
Borley Rectory - Borley - North Essex
Borley Rectory may be long gone, but its ghostly reputation still lingers in the landscape around Borley Church. Once known as one of England’s most haunted houses, the rectory was demolished years ago, yet a visit to the quiet church and its surroundings still carries an unmistakably eerie atmosphere. With its isolated setting, deep history and lingering legends, Borley remains one of North Essex’s most intriguing and spine-tingling places to experience.
The Haunted Airfields of North Essex
📍 Various locations across North Essex
During World War II, North Essex was dotted with RAF and USAAF airfields — Ridgewell, Gosfield, Wethersfield, Great Saling, Rivenhall, and others. Thousands of young airmen flew from these flat Essex fields, and many never came back.
Today, most of these airfields are abandoned or returned to farmland, but locals and visitors have reported strange sightings for decades: the sound of engines overhead on clear nights, figures in flying gear seen walking along old runways, lights moving across fields where control towers once stood.
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, standing on one of these silent, windswept former airfields at dusk is an experience that stays with you.
Key airfields to explore:
-
Ridgewell Airfield — Home to the 381st Bomb Group, USAAF. Memorial still stands.
-
Gosfield Airfield — Used by both RAF and USAAF. Now largely farmland.
-
Wethersfield Airfield — Former RAF/USAAF base, later used during the Cold War.
-
Rivenhall Airfield — Near Kelvedon, used by RAF Bomber Command.
Visitor note: Many of these sites are on private land. Some have memorials accessible from public roads or footpaths. Always respect the land and the history.
Witches & Witch Trials
The Coggeshall Witch Hunts
📍 Coggeshall
Essex was the witch-hunting capital of England, and Coggeshall played its part. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the area saw multiple accusations, trials and executions of people — overwhelmingly women — accused of witchcraft.
The village's history is tangled with stories of unexplained illness, accusations of cursing livestock, and the paranoia that swept through rural Essex communities.
Coggeshall's witch trials are part of a wider Essex story that saw more people executed for witchcraft than any other English county.
The village itself is worth visiting for its stunning medieval architecture — nearly 300 listed buildings — and the eerie knowledge that behind those beautiful timber frames, some very dark chapters played out.
🔗 Explore Coggeshall's full history
While you're there: Visit Paycocke's House (National Trust), the Grange Barn, and St Peter ad Vincula church — all within walking distance and all steeped in history.
Witch-burial at the crossroads - Finchingfield
North-east of the village of Finchingfield is the little hamlet of Howe Street, and a little further along is a typically English grassy triangle where the roads to Finchingfield, Stambourne and Wethersfield meet.
At this junction three witches are said to be buried, including Goofy Mumford (likely "Goody Mumford"), a schoolmistress of Howe Street in the late 18th century. Mumford was allegedly caught teaching witchcraft to some of the local girls, then dragged from her cottage – which still stands – and stoned to death by a mob.
In the garden of Goody Mumford's thatched 17th century cottage at Howe Street was – and presumably still is – a well. Because of the house's connection with witchcraft, the spring gained the reputation of being a 'wishing well'. In the 1960s and '70s, the then-owner of the cottage – a descendant of Mumford – used to sell the water to tourists, while some made wishes on the spot. Apparently one man wished that his wife would die, and as she did, very soon afterwards, visitors then had to be warned of the well's power.
Eerie Churches & Churchyard Tales
The Churches of North Essex — After Dark
Many of North Essex's medieval churches have their own ghostly reputations. From Finchingfield to Castle Hedingham, Thaxted to Wethersfield, these ancient buildings — some dating back to the Norman period — have accumulated centuries of stories.
Cold spots, unexplained footsteps, figures seen in candlelight.
A future guide to the most atmospheric churches of North Essex is coming soon.
Legends & Strange Tales
Highwaymen of
Finchingfield
Highwaymen at the roadside - Wethersfield
Somewhere along the Wethersfield road leading from the junction above, five highwaymen are said to be buried by the roadside.
They were believed to have been tried and hanged for their crimes on Justice's Hill, a little further south.
Do You Know a Local Legend?
North Essex is rich in ghost stories, strange happenings and local legends, and we know we’re only beginning to uncover them. Behind so many villages, towns and quiet corners of the countryside, there are tales still waiting to be told — stories passed down through families, shared in pubs, or whispered about long after dark. If your local area has its own mystery, haunting or piece of folklore, we’d love you to share it with us. Email your town or village story to discovernorthessex@gmail.com and help us bring even more of North Essex’s eerie and fascinating heritage to life.