The Black Monk of Pontefract

30 East Drive Chequerfield Estate, Pontefract

The Black Monk of Pontefract is an alleged poltergeist which is said to haunt 30 East Drive in Pontefract, West Yorkshire England. The supernatural activity is alleged to have begun when the Pritchard family moved into the semi-detached house in August 1966. In 2012 a film was made about the events, When the Lights Went Out , and the property was purchased by the producer. Poltergeist activity is still reported at the house which is now open to paranormal investigators for a fee, and is managed by a neighbour. The alleged poltergeist has frequently been described as being one of the most violent in Britain.

Initial Activity

In August 1966, Jean and Joe Pritchard moved into 30 East Drive with their two children; Phillip aged 15, and Diane aged 12.

The haunted is alleged to have begun during the week of a bank holiday in August. Mysterious pools of water appeared in the kitchen, green foam poured from the taps, and a “fine chalk dust” was observed floating in the air. These initial phenomena were witnessed by Phillip, his grandmother Mrs Scholes, and a neighbor Marie Kelly, as the rest of the family were away on holiday. Phillip and his grandmother fled to the Kelly house, after seeing the wardrobe in Philip’s room “swaying like a drunk man.” The Kellys called the police, and an inspector named Taylor and two constables searched the property but found nothing. As the Kellys were locking up the empty house for the night they heard a crash and found Joe and Jean’s wedding photograph slashed as if by a knife.

Two years passed without incident, until Mrs Scholes talking about the previous events seemed to cause the poltergeist phenomenon to begin again. That night marked the beginning of the spirit targeting Diane, as it allegedly entered her room, ripped the pelmet out the wall and threw it out of the window.

The family initially called the poltergeist “Mr Nobody”, but Jean’s suggestion of “Fred” soon stuck. Rene Holden, Jean Pritchard’s sister in law, began to investigate the supernatural phenomenon. According to Holden the poltergeist would throw objects, slash pictures, make noise, turn the lights off, leave bite marks on food, and smear jam on the door handles. At Holden’s suggestion the family attempted to contact the spirit by holding hands and concentrating their thoughts in order to make the spirit appear. This only resulted in objects being thrown down the stairs at them.

The Kellys contacted the local vicar, Reverend Davy, who allegedly witnessed a candle stick float through the air, and saw the entire contents of the china cabinet smashed on the floor. That night Diane reportedly saw a dark shadow in the hall that caused a large piece of oak furniture to pin her against the stairs. Diane was unharmed, but that same night she was thrown from her bed by the spirit five times.

After this, Joe Pritchard’s mother, who was the first Lady Mayor of Pontefract, visited the house. After she mentioned the grandfather clock, the spirit supposedly threw it down the stairs. In September 1968, two reporters from local newspapers, the Yorkshire Evening Post and The Pontefract and Castleford Express visited the house. This resulted in two articles that caused members of the public to show up outside the house asking to hear the ghost.

Later the spirit is alleged to have poured an entire jug of milk over Joe Pritchard’s sister, Maude Peerce, after she loudly expressed her disbelief in the phenomena. That same night the spirit allegedly stole Ms Peerce’s fur gloves and taunted her with them as she sang Onward Christian Soldiers in fear.

Holden and Pritchard decided to test the poltergeist powers by sitting on a box of eggs in the kitchen. The eggs would supposedly vanish from the box only to fly out of the kitchen and smash on the living room floor.

At the suggestion of a priest, Father Hudson, Mr Kelly sprinkled holy water throughout the house. This only caused the spirit to make banging noises until five in the morning and throw Diane out of bed multiple times. The next night a brass figure of the crucified image of Jesus flew across the room and hit Diane in the small of her back, leaving a red cross shape between her shoulder blades. On Easter Sunday, Jean Pritchard found inverted crosses spray painted on the walls and doors. Jean deduced that the spirit had used some gold spray paint that Phillip had brought to paint his bicycle, but she was unable to reproduce the crosses as cleanly as the spirit had made them.

The spirit is alleged to have affected the electricity supply to such an extent that neighbours reported the house glowing, and the quarterly electricity bills from August 1968 to May 1969 were half their normal amount.

Physical Manifestations

Towards the end of the alleged haunting, The Black Monk was witnessed several times. The first manifestation occurred in Jean and Joe’s bedroom;

“They were in bed one night when the door opened. Both looked across the room, and saw a dim figure in the doorway. Jean Pritchard says that it seemed to be very tall, and had a hood over its head. When they switched on the bedside light, it vanished."

The monk was next witnessed by the Pritchard’s next-door neighbor, Mrs Mountain, who lived in the other half of the semi-detached residence. At the kitchen sink one day she turned around to see “a tall figure dressed in a black monk’s habit, with a cowl over the head. It's position prevented her from seeing the face…she felt no fear, only curiosity. Then it vanished.”

Things seemed to reach a climax when Diane was dragged “kicking and screaming” upstairs by her neck, leaving hand prints on her throat.

The phenomena abruptly stopped in May of 1969, perhaps due to a suggestion from a Scottish friend of the family to hang garlic over the doors and windows to keep out spirits”.

The last person to see The Black Monk was Phillip, who after seeing a figure on the other side of the frosted dining-room door, opened it to see “the tall, black shape of the “monk” vanishing.”

Contemporary Investigation

In 1969, The Doncaster Psychical Research Group suggested that Phillip had faked the banging noises by hiding a loudspeaker in the attic.

Local paranormal investigator and historian, Tom Cuniff visited the home in the late 1970s as part of his research into the Cluniac monks and Pontefract Priory. He theorised that the house was built close to a set of gallows that were part of a priory which existed from 1090 to 1539. Cuniff alleged that a monk was hung at the gallows during the reign of Henry VIII for the rape and murder of a young girl. Cuniff suggested that this is why the spirit seemed to target Diane, and that the attacks were “sexual in nature”.

Cuniff telephoned philosopher and novelist Colin Wilson who investigated the house himself in 1980. In 1981, Wilson published a book entitled Poltergeist!: A Study in Destructive Haunting. Chapter 4 focuses on The Black Monk, based on interviews with members of the family and local people.

Wilson could not find any evidence that a monk in Pontefract was hung for rape and murder. Wilson theorised that the poltergeist responded to the Pritchard's fears and comments, and thrived on the unhappy atmosphere and tension within the household.

Wilson was convinced that family were telling the truth, and believed that the ground that house was built on had some kind of Stone Tape effect. He concluded his chapter on the incident by writing;

"The ground itself contains some peculiar force that favours “manifestations”. The early haunting was triggered by Phillip and by his psychological tension. The “entity” remained in the area until Diane – who herself seems to possess undeveloped mediumistic powers – could provide the energy it needed to manifest itself.”

Subsequent Events

In 2012, Pat Holden, the son of Rene Holden directed a film based on the events; When the Lights Went Out. That same year, the film's producer, Bil Bungay purchased the property for £80,000. He offers paranormal investigators the chance to stay the night for £300. The house is maintained by the next door neighbour Carol.

The house was featured on ITV's show Most Haunted in 2015.

See also

• Enfield poltergeist
• Greyfriars Kirkyard
• Rosenheim poltergeist claim
• Gef

External links

• 30 East Drive Official Website