By G. W. Edmondson. – From Epworth to London with John Wesley, Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Printing and Publishing, 1890., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48157231
The Epworth Rectory haunting, also known as the “Wesley poltergeist”, is one of the best-known English poltergeist claims. From December 1716 until January 1717, it is said to have been plagued by a series of regularly occurring loud noises and knockings, claimed to be caused by a ghost. The rectory was home to the rector of Epworth from 1697 to 1735, the Reverend Samuel Wesley his wife Susanna and their 19 children, one of whom, John Wesley, grew up to become a founder of Methodism. The paranormal events occurred in 1716, while the Wesley family was living in the house. On 9 February 1709, while the Wesleys were resident, a fire burnt down the wooden rectory and it was rebuilt in brick.
John Wesley was an 18th century Anglican priest. Wesley was an Oxford-educated clergyman who came along during the Enlightenment — not exactly the golden age of supernaturalism in the Western church. Wesley believed in angels, demons and other supernatural beings, and he was quite open-minded regarding the existence of witchcraft, ghosts, apparitions and the like. And based on entries in his journals, he wasn’t quick to dismiss others’ stories about their encounters with the supernatural, especially if he knew them as persons of integrity. Perhaps John Wesley found it easier to see the world through a supernatural lens as an adult partly because of one of his childhood experiences — the alleged poltergeist that haunted the Old Rectory in Epworth where he grew up.
This haunting, later referred to as the “Epworth Poltergeist,” would leave a permanent mark on both the Wesley family and the lore of English ghost stories. The story has been passed down through letters, diaries, and the accounts of the family members who experienced the supernatural phenomena firsthand. 1
According to Shane Raynor:
The spirit, referred to as “Old Jeffrey” by the Wesleys, was active for about eight weeks during December 1716 and January 1717, and most members of the family wrote at some point about their experiences with the entity. Two servants were the first to hear Jeffrey’s groanings and knockings in the dining room. Then the Wesley children began hearing those noises as well as sounds of footsteps, rattling chains, horns being blown and wood being sawed. There were also accounts of moving furniture, including a levitating bed that was occupied at the time by John’s older sister Nancy. Before long, everyone in the house except John’s father Samuel was experiencing the phenomena. Rev. Wesley even rebuked the family and the servants for perpetuating such tales. Then Samuel Wesley began having his own encounters with Old Jeffrey. One night, after being awakened by knocking, Rev. Wesley, after trying to figure out where the noises were coming from, issued the spirit a challenge: “Thou deaf and dumb devil,” he shouted, “why dost thou frighten these children!? Come to me, come to my study… I am a man!” Old Jeffrey responded that evening with knocking, and the following evening by slamming the door of Samuel’s study forcefully just as the reverend was opening it. Samuel also claimed to feel someone pressing on his chest later while he was lying in bed. So the Wesleys bought a large dog — a mastiff — hoping to scare Jeffrey away. The dog, however, was terrified. It whimpered and hid under the table whenever Jeffrey manifested. John’s mother Susanna was so concerned that the poltergeist was going to disturb her evening prayer time that she told Old Jeffrey she didn’t want to be interrupted between 5 and 6 p.m. — and she never was! 2
Testimonials:
December 1, 1716: The Groans Begin
The haunting started quietly, with dismal groans and knocking sounds that echoed through the halls. The rector’s wife, Susannah Wesley, wrote to her son Samuel, describing how it all began:
“On the first of December, our maid heard, at the door of the dining-room, several dismal groans, like a person in extremes, at the point of death… Some nights (two or three) after, several of the family heard a strange knocking in divers places, usually three or four knocks at a time, and then stayed a little. This continued every night for a fortnight; sometimes it was in the garret, but most commonly in the nursery or green chamber.”
The household, wary of alarming the rector Samuel Wesley Sr., kept the strange happenings to themselves. They feared it could be a bad omen, perhaps even a portent of his death. But as the disturbances grew more frequent and unnerving, the family could no longer ignore them.
Mid-December 1716: The Rector’s First Encounter
Eventually, the events became so disruptive that Susannah felt compelled to tell her husband. At first, Samuel dismissed the reports, suspecting that someone within the house was playing a prank. However, he soon had his own chilling encounter. Susannah recalled the moment:
“But when it began to be so troublesome, both day and night, that few or none of the family durst be alone, I resolved to tell him of it, being minded he should speak to it. At first he would not believe but somebody did it to alarm us; but the night after, as soon as he was in bed, it knocked loudly nine times, just by his bedside. He rose, and went to see if he could find out what it was, but could see nothing. Afterwards he heard it as the rest.”
With this, the rector himself became a believer in the presence of the unseen force that had invaded his home.
Christmas Week, 1716: The Activity Intensifies
As Christmas approached, the disturbances became even more intense. On one particular night, the noise was so loud that Samuel and Susannah feared for their children’s safety. Susannah described this harrowing experience in her letter:
“One night it made such a noise in the room over our heads, as if several people were walking then run up and down stairs, and was so outrageous that we thought the children would be frighted, so your father and I rose, and went down in the dark to light a candle. Just as we came to the bottom of the broad stairs, having hold of each other, on my side there seemed as if somebody had emptied a bag of money at my feet; and on his, as if all the bottles under the stairs (which were many) had been dashed in a thousand pieces. We passed through the hall into the kitchen, and got a candle, and went to see the children, whom we found asleep.”
The couple’s attempt to protect their family would prove futile as the spirit seemed to toy with them, making noises and causing disturbances with no clear purpose or pattern.
Late December 1716: Seeking Outside Help
In desperation, the Wesleys called upon a friend and fellow priest, the Rev. Joseph Hoole, for support. Hoole, described as “not a learned man,” nonetheless agreed to stay at the rectory and see if he could help make sense of the haunting. Susannah recounted the visit:
“The next night your father would get Mr. Hoole to lie at our house, and we all sat together till one or two o’clock in the morning, and heard the knocking as usual. Sometimes it would make a noise like the winding up of a jack, at other times, as that night Mr. Hoole was with us, like a carpenter planing deals; but most commonly it knocked thrice and stopped, and then thrice again, and so many hours together.”
Hoole’s presence did little to deter the spirit, which continued to torment the household with various sounds and knocks. Samuel Wesley even tried speaking directly to the spirit, demanding to know why it was disturbing his home. He received no response, only more knocking.
December 28, 1716: The Haunting Fades (For Now)
By the end of December, the activity began to subside, though not entirely. Susannah’s letters mention that occasional knockings continued into January of the following year. The spirit, now named “Old Jeffrey” by the family, remained a mysterious and ominous presence in their home.
Further Testimonies from the Family
In the weeks that followed, more members of the household began to share their experiences with Old Jeffrey. Susannah Jr., one of the Wesleys’ many children, reported a chilling encounter:
“I heard something walk by my bedside, like a man in a long nightgown.”
Her sister Emilia, who had christened the spirit Old Jeffrey, described the oppressive atmosphere in the house:
“There was no quiet after ten at night.”
There was even a bizarre report of a strange shape under the rector’s bed that resembled a headless badger. Emilia speculated that the haunting might be the work of witchcraft. 3
There is reason to think that the poltergeist was not supernatural, but was psychokinetic energy unleashed by one or more of the Wesley family members. Certainly Mrs. Wesley must be suspected, especially since the poltergeist was its noisiest at the mention of the names of King George and the prince, the sovereignty of whom was of sufficient issue to split the Wesley marriage for a year. Mrs. Wesley also may have harbored long-term frustrations, resentment and weariness at producing a child every year, only to see most of them die. 4
Resources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Rectory,_Epworth
2. https://ministrymatters.com/2015-10-28_ghosts_supernaturalism_and_the_wesley_poltergeist/
3. https://www.podpage.com/haunted-history-chronicles/blog/the-haunting-of-epworth-rectory-a-timeline-of-fear-and-mystery/
4. https://occult-world.com/epworth-rectory-poltergeist/
