30 East Drive — the Black Monk of Pontefract

OVERVIEW

An ordinary semi-detached house on East Drive in the Chequerfield estate, Pontefract, home from the 1960s to Joe and Jean Pritchard and their children Philip and Diane. From August 1966 the family, neighbours, a vicar and the local press reported white dust falling, pools of water on the kitchen floor, objects thrown and smashed, furniture overturned, and a tall figure in a black robe on the stairs — the Black Monk. The house was bought by the film producer Bil Bungay, who made When the Lights Went Out (2012) from it, and is let to investigation groups; Most Haunted broadcast from it in 2015.

HISTORY

The writer Colin Wilson investigated the case in the late 1970s for his book Poltergeist! (1981) and took the family's accounts at face value; the 'monk' was tied by locals to a Cluniac priory that stood near the estate and to a monk hanged for murder in the sixteenth century, for which there is no record. Diane, then twelve, was reported dragged up the stairs by the throat, with marks. The family stayed.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The Pritchards' testimony, the neighbours' and the press coverage are the record; nothing was ever examined under control. Groups renting the house report objects moved and figures, and the owner promotes it as the most violent poltergeist case in Britain. The entry records a well-documented family account and a venue with an interest.

VISITING

Bookings only, through the owner's website; the house is on a residential street of private homes — be quiet, park considerately and do not approach the neighbours.