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Epworth Rectory in Lincolnshire was the scene of one of the earliest reputed poltergeist hauntings. For about two months from December 1716, although some accounts say 1719, the household of the Reverend Samuel Wesley experienced poltergeist activity, such as rappings and the movement of furniture.

Epworth Rectory was a gift to Rev Wesley from Queen Mary. His wife bore him 19 children in 20 years, 14 of whom died in infancy. The only year she didn’t bear children was in 1701 when Wesley, a Hanoverian, left his wife because of her sympathy for the Jacobites. Rev Wesley did return but the conflict between the two was never resolved and some think that Mrs Wesley’s repressed anger over her husband’s desertion may have played a part in the disturbances.

According to records the servants were the first to hear strange groaning and the sounds of stamping feet even though no one was present, on 1 December 1716. The children were the next to hear unusual knocking, footsteps, chains clanking and door latches being rattled. Finally the knocks sounded in the bedroom of Rev and Mrs Wesley.

A routine began to develop, with the raps and knockings and strange noises starting at around 9.45 every night. Sometimes the house itself would shake or there would be the sounds of bottles smashing; on inspection nothing would be out of place.

At first Mrs Wesley thought that rats were the cause and she requested a horn be sounded through the house to scare them. After that the noises, almost as an act of revenge for the horn, sounded during the day as well as the night. Other manifestations included a bed levitating with one of the children in it and the spectres of what looked like a rabbit and a badger.

The children called the spirit by the nickname ‘old Jeffrey’ and it was suggested that either witchcraft or the spirit of someone who had died in the house was to blame. Attempts to establish contact with the spirit failed and it was particularly active during prayers - although curiously if the prayers omitted mention of the King it remained silent. Although Wesley was advised to leave the rectory by his friends, he refused to be intimidated by what he called ‘the devil’. Then mysteriously, at the end of January the disturbances stopped.

The most likely explanation for this case is psychokinetic energy unleashed by a member of the Wesley family. Mrs Wesley harboured deep resentment against her husband because of his desertion of her and his family. It’s also possible that one of the children was the prime agent of the activity. One daughter, Hetty, was around the age of 15 at the time and according to reports she intensely disliked Epworth Rectory and the surrounding villages. She was also probably deeply hurt by the tension that existed between her parents.