In 1982, photographer Chris Brackley took one of the most famous ghost photos ever inside the historic St Botolph's church. When the photograph was developed he was astonished to see a figure standing in old-fashioned clothes. High in the church's loft, seen in the upper right-hand corner of his photograph, is the transparent form of what looks like a woman. According to Brackley, to his knowledge there were only three people in the church at the time the photo was taken, and none of them were in that loft. The negative was subjected to considerable expert analysis, which revealed that there was no double exposure to the film and it was also proved that none of Chris's equipment was faulty. The only explanation for the mysterious figure was that someone must have actually been standing on the balcony when the picture was taken. A few years later Chris was contacted by a builder who had been employed on restoration work in St Botolph's crypt. He explained that, in knocking down a wall he had inadvertently disturbed a pile of old coffins. One had come open to reveal a reasonably well-preserved body the face of which bore an uncanny resemblance to the figure that had made an uninvited appearance in Chris's photograph.
