Horrific Hauntings : The Pontefract Poltergeist

 In September 1954, Bill Farah and his wife Barbara moved into 30 East Drive in the market town of Pontefract, England. The three-bedroomed property made the ideal home for the couple and their two-year-old daughter, Jane, but in less than a year, they moved out, convincing a second family, the Pritchards, to swap houses with them.

 The Farahs were terrified of the house. Objects allegedly moved of their own accord, voices were heard echoing in empty rooms, and rips and tears mysteriously appeared on soft furnishings. Jane would often be found crying with her face inexplicably covered in blood and scratches, causing Bill and Barbara to fear for their daughter’s safety. The family had no pets to account for the injuries. The worried parents placed cotton mitts over the little girl's hands, but the bloody wounds continued to appear, leaving them utterly confused as to what to do next.

 One day, when Barbara rushed upstairs in response to her child's crying, she found a pillow pressed against her face. This event proved to be the tipping point for the family and it forced them to flee, leaving the house and their dark cohabitant with the Pritchard family. Thus, marking the lesser-known origins of what would soon become the infamous case of the 30 East Drive Poltergeist and the Black Monk of Pontefract.

(Source: Trip Advisor)

Accounts of The Pritchard Family

 Over the years, much has been said and written about 30 East Drive. Regarded as a classic British case of poltergeist phenomena, it has been investigated via visits to the property by a multitude of paranormal investigation teams. One of the most significant visits to 30 East Drive took place decades earlier, in August 1980, when Colin Wilson, a well-known writer, visited the long-suffering Pritchard family.

 Wilson had been tipped off by a local amateur historian, Tom. The man had stumbled across newspaper clippings dating to the late 1960s, claiming that a Pontefract family had experienced Poltergeist phenomena caused by the spirit of a 16th-century monk. The Black Monk had allegedly been executed for assaulting and murdering several young female victims.

 Discovering that the family was still living in the same house, Tom decided to visit them and hear their testimonies. Soon afterwards, he contacted Colin Wilson, requesting him to be his associate. Wilson eventually accepted his offer, thus journeying to the town to interview the family.

(Source: The Times)

 In line with Colin Wilson's book about the haunting, after the house swap and until the August of 1966, the Pritchard family, comprising a mother, father, son and daughter, lived in 30 East Drive in relative peace. It was a Thursday and Joe Pritchard, his wife Jean, and their twelve-year-old daughter, Diane, were away on holiday in Devon. They had left their fifteen-year-old son, Philip, in the care of Sarah, Jean's mother, at the house. The arrangement, to begin with at least, seemed to suit the family perfectly. Philip had reached the age when holidays with the family lose their attraction and so, spent much of his time happily reading in the garden.

Beginning of the Paranormal

 On that fateful Thursday, Philip had been outside as such before returning indoors to make himself a drink. On his way, he noticed something peculiar. A cloud of grey-white dust floated in the air around his oblivious grandmother, who had been sitting in the living room while being engrossed in her knitting. The chalk-like powder appeared to be falling not from the ceiling, but from a level below Philip's head. The top half of the room was perfectly clear, thus suggesting that the curious dust had been materializing from nothing.

 When Sarah enlisted the help of her other daughter, Marie Kelly, to clean it up, they found more strangeness in the kitchen. The duo had discovered several large pools of water on the floor, seemingly having no origin or explanation. As the younger woman tried to mop up in the kitchen, new puddles had supposedly manifested. Pulling up the linoleum revealed no leak underneath and neither was water falling from above. Meanwhile, the dust in the living room had continued to fall like a miniature snowstorm, with a fine white layer of the unidentified material having formed on the furniture and on top of the cup of tea Philip had made for his grandmother.

 The house’s water supply was turned off by a helpful neighbour before the water company was called to the property. Pipes were checked, the linoleum was once again lifted, and drains were examined, but they could find no breakage or blockage. Thus, some sort of condensation caused by the summer weather was the water company's man's best explanation. About an hour after the man left, the mysterious puddles stopped appearing.

 Before the day was over, however, more odd happenings were reported. Sugar and tea leaves were emptied from their dispensers in the kitchen and sprinkled all over the countertops, cupboards vibrated and shook, loud bangs were heard coming from upstairs and a plant, usually located at the foot of the staircase, was transported halfway up minus its pot. The flower pot somehow had been moved separately, being found on the landing above. Unable to tolerate the house any longer, Philip and his grandmother left and slept at Marie's house for the night.

 Marie's husband, supposedly unhappy with the strange situation, is described as phoning the police to have them check on the house. Everything seemed to be normal inside the house. He found no signs of an intruder or anything out of the ordinary. Yet around midnight, just as he left the house for the final time that day, two small paintings are said to have fallen from the wall, with the glass being shattered on one of Jean and Joe Pritchard's wedding photos. It had also, so it is alleged, been slashed from end to end, as if with a sharp knife.

 When Jean, Joe and Diane returned from their holiday, Sarah recounted the unsettling happenings. While they initially displayed disbelief, they were forced to change their initial stand after they heard three loud distinct bangs and an uncharacteristically cold wind which blew through the house, while Sarah briefed them. After this event, the activity disappeared at least for the next two years.

Resumption

 According to the testimonies recorded by Colin Wilson, the activity at 30 East Drive truly began for the Pritchards in 1968. The strangeness seems to have restarted when Jean decided to redecorate her daughter's bedroom. Mysterious temperature changes were reported along with inexplicable bangs and knocks. Allegedly, a paintbrush was flung across the room by unseen hands, supposedly missing Jean's face by only a fraction of an inch. Furthermore, Mrs Pritchard claimed to witness, in the dim of the night as she went to the bathroom, a long strip of wallpaper standing on end and swaying like a cobra. When she went to grab it, it fell to the floor before flying up into the air, swinging around as if being used as a club by an invisible giant. Screaming in fear, Jean dropped onto all fours and rushed back to her bedroom as wallpaper and other things continued to be thrown towards her. And so, the unseen presence in the house had returned and was, so it seemed, more aggressive than ever. For some reason, it was focused on Diane's bedroom. 

 What followed next was nine months of chaos. A peculiar gestation period during which all manner of violent activity was reported. Bangs and thumps would often emanate from Diane's bedroom, and their physically aggressive degree forced Diane to sleep in her parents' room. Ornaments would be thrown around, and lights would be turned off repeatedly, along with the main switchboard. In one instance, all the contents of the family's China Cabinet are said to have been thrown out onto the floor.

Intensification

 An incident which indicated an increase in the seriousness of the activity saw the lights go out before a huge Shadow appeared on the wall. Diane had the privilege to witness this first hand and up close in the hall, while her mother scrambled with a torch to turn the lights back on. As the teenage girl watched on, a hall stand allegedly floated up into the air and paced towards her. Tripping during her escape attempt, Diane had fallen with her back against the staircase. Quickly afterwards, the heavy piece of furniture had fallen on top of her, pinning her against the stairs and holding her in place for the electric sewing machine to fall onto her.

(Source: 30 East Drive)

 When the lights came on and revealed her breathless entrapment, her family rushed to help her but the stand was too heavy for it to be moved. While Joe and Jean heaved and struggled to free their child, Diane seemed to be fine. Fear aside, she showed no signs of being crushed, indicating that the heavy piece of furniture was being held in place by some unseen force. The pressure had been just enough to keep her trapped but not enough to hurt her. Moments later, the force had adjusted, causing the stand and sewing machine to move away.

 In addition to this incident, it had been reported that she would be tossed from her bed as many as four times a night by the unseen entity. Her bedroom became icy cold and she often told her parents that it felt as though someone shared the room with her. On one occasion, as she stood in the living room combing her hair, a brass crucifix apparently leapt from the shelf before striking her in the back. Furthermore, the cross had stuck to her like a magnet against iron. When the crucifix finally came free, her mother inspected her and found a cross-shaped red mark on the skin between her shoulder blades. The mark supposedly remained for days before disappearing.

 After being featured in two Yorkshire newspapers in September 1968, 30 East Drive earned a haunted local reputation. Locals either actively avoided the house or sought to engage with its alleged paranormal nature. A group of students had their request to camp in the garden rejected before being forced to content themselves with the huge round grass verge in front of the house, where they heard loud bangs and crashes. With time, the phenomena became usual for the Pritchard family's neighbours, who claimed to experience the activity from inside their own homes as the noises were simply too loud.

 One day, the entire contents of the upstairs rooms of the house were allegedly thrown out of the windows by the invisible force, thus making it impossible for others in the area to deny the strangeness. Eventually, the family began calling their unwanted house guest “Mr Nobody” and then later, “Fred.” As much as it tried to force them to leave, the Pritchards remained.  

 Reverent Davey, a local vicar, came to advise the family, telling them that there was something evil in their house and that they should move. Jean, however, refused to act upon his suggestion. The family were determined to not be chased away, not even when both Jean and Joe saw a very tall, dim, and hooded figure, standing in the doorway of their bedroom. They had been in bed before hearing the door creek open, revealing the terrifying entity. Soon afterwards, others reported seeing a tall figure wearing a long-hooded garment as well. That night, scared in their rooms, members of the family also reported hearing loud breathing outside of their doors. Thus, it was clear that “Mr Nobody”, or as he was increasingly known “The Monk”, was becoming more powerful.

(Source: 30 East Drive)

 One evening, when the lights went out, Diane was dragged up the stairs by her throat, The teenage girl’s cardigan was stretched out in front of her as if The Monk was tugging at it with one hand while his other clutched her neck. Philip and Jean had rushed to pull Diane back down the stairs, but they were both repelled. Strangely, the force let go of its own accord, before Diane found herself free. Inspecting the terrified teenager in the light, the family realized that her throat had been bruised with red finger marks.

Cessation

 While the family did not want to leave their home, they certainly wanted their tormenting cohabitant to leave. Contacting religious men, praying and sprinkling the interior of the property with holy water, only made the activity worse. Multiple exorcisms were performed on the property, but instead of warding off the entity, the rituals infuriated it. Those involved in the exorcisms were reportedly dragged downstairs, slapped and violently assaulted by the entity. Furthermore, these individuals reported seeing holy water drip down the walls, seemingly originating out of nowhere, and a pair of ghostly hands seemingly mocked them. Eventually, in an act of desperation, the Pritchards turned towards garlic cloves for help, before the activity dwindled, decreased, and then finally disappeared.

Current State

 That being said, some believe that the paranormal activity in 30 east drive never ceased. The current owner of the property, through his book “The Black Monk”, claims that Mr Nobody is not a poltergeist but a demonic entity. To add on, he claims that the paranormal activity in the house never stopped, apparently prevalent even today. The current owner’s book puts forth tale after tale and provides photograph after photograph of dark demonic entities, the sorts of things that no one in their right mind would ever want to encounter. Allegedly, the coal house at the property is the dark epicentre of the hellish happenings, inducing scratches and suffocating sensations in its visitors.

(Source: 30 East Drive)

 The property is now open to paranormal investigators and it can be rented from their official website. Foul smells, deafening noises, whispers, light malfunctions, levitating objects, emergence of shadow figures and physical attacks are commonly reported by its visitors. These accounts, however, haven’t reduced the number of people who are sceptical about the haunting. So, is the house really haunted? We leave it to your judgement.