Historical photograph of the front of Epworth Rectory and its garden, published in 1890 — Epworth Rectory, Lincolnshire, England, in a photograph published in *From Epworth to London with John Wesley* (1890). G. W. Edmondson (1837–1913). Public domain. The view dates from long after the reported disturbances.

Old Jeffrey: The Noises at Epworth Rectory

Full Investigation Paranormal Encounters

Epworth, Lincolnshire, England · Winter 1716–1717

Key Facts

Location: The Wesley family rectory, Epworth, Lincolnshire, England.
Period: Winter 1716–1717.
Reported disturbance: Unexplained sounds and movements within the house.
Surviving record: Family correspondence, a diary account and later recollections.

The first sound was heard at the dining-room door.

It was 1 December 1716. At the Wesley family’s rectory in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, a maid heard groans which reminded her of someone close to death. When she told the household, they tried to laugh away her fears.

Within a few nights, others were listening.

There were knocks in the garret, in the nursery, in the green chamber. Three or four together, then a pause. Sometimes the sound seemed to be overhead; sometimes it came from beneath the floor. The rector, Samuel Wesley, heard nothing at first. His wife and children were reluctant to tell him why that frightened them.

Much of the story survives in letters. Their pages still carry the ordinary concerns of a family separated by distance: news awaited, questions unanswered, the relief of learning that a son was safe. Through those exchanges runs something for which the writers could find no satisfactory explanation.

They searched the house. They compared what they had heard. Eventually, Samuel addressed the disturbance himself.

By then, it had a name.

Jeffrey.

The central question: what was the Wesley household hearing—and why did the sound so often seem to answer back?

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THE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES

A letter arrives from London. A horn is sounded through the house. At night, the rector takes a stick and knocks against the kitchen joists. Follow the family’s accounts through a winter in which familiar rooms became difficult places to be alone.

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