The Pontefract Poltergeist Returns
Issue #39: March 1982
The Black Monk is back.
After a period of relative quiet, 30 East Drive in Pontefract has once again become the site of violent poltergeist activity. The entity that has terrorised this West Yorkshire council house for sixteen years has resumed its assault with renewed ferocity.
Readers of this magazine will know the case well. We first reported on the Black Monk in Issue #4 (April 1979), detailing the extraordinary events that began in 1966. Our update in Issue #13 (January 1980) documented renewed disturbances. For those who have joined us since, the Pontefract haunting represents one of the most sustained and violent poltergeist manifestations ever documented in Britain.
A History of Terror
The phenomena began in August 1966, when the Pritchard family first noticed something wrong with their new home on the Chequerfield Estate. Pools of water appeared on floors with no apparent source. A fine white powder, later identified as chalk dust, descended from the ceilings. Cupboard doors opened and closed by themselves.
Within weeks, the activity escalated. Furniture moved across rooms. Objects hurled themselves at family members. The entity developed a particular focus on the family’s teenage daughter, Diane, who was pushed, struck, and on at least one occasion dragged violently up the staircase by an invisible force.
Witnesses outside the immediate family observed these events. Neighbours, police officers, and investigators all reported phenomena they could not explain. The Pritchards were not imagining things.
The Black Monk
The entity earned its name from occasional sightings of a dark, hooded figure within the house. Several witnesses described a shape resembling a robed monk, tall and menacing, glimpsed standing at the end of corridors or looming over beds in the night.
Historical research revealed that the Chequerfield Estate was built near the ruins of a Cluniac priory. Local legend holds that during the dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century, a monk from this priory was executed for the murder of a young woman. Whether this tale has any basis in documented history is uncertain, but the connection between the hooded figure and the monastic past of the site has proved irresistible to researchers.
The Quiet Years
Following the intense activity of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the haunting seemed to subside. The Pritchards reported occasional disturbances, objects moved out of place, unexplained sounds, but nothing approaching the violence of the earlier years.
Some researchers speculated that the entity had exhausted itself or that the family had simply learned to coexist with their unwelcome resident. Others suggested that the departure of the children from the family home had removed the energy source that poltergeists seem to require.
Whatever the explanation, 30 East Drive achieved a fragile peace.
The Return
That peace has now been shattered.
In recent months, the phenomena have returned with startling intensity. Mrs Pritchard reports that furniture has again begun moving of its own accord. Heavy wardrobes have been found displaced from their usual positions. Doors slam throughout the night.
Most disturbing are the physical attacks. In January of this year, Mrs Pritchard sustained bruising to her arms and back during an incident she describes as being “thrown across the room by something I couldn’t see.” Her husband was away at the time. She was alone in the house.
Neighbours have once again reported hearing crashes and bangs from the property at all hours. One described seeing what she first took to be a power cut, the lights in the Pritchard house flickering and extinguishing repeatedly, only to realise that the streetlamps and surrounding houses remained fully illuminated.
What Provoked the Entity?
Why has the Black Monk resumed its activities after years of relative dormancy?
The Pritchards can identify no obvious trigger. They have made no alterations to the property. No new family members have joined the household. Nothing in their circumstances has changed.
Some researchers propose that poltergeist activity follows cycles, periods of intensity alternating with periods of quiescence. If this is true, the current resurgence may represent the beginning of a new active phase that could persist for years.
Others suggest that the entity, whatever it is, never truly departed. It merely waited.
An Ongoing Investigation
We have dispatched a correspondent to Pontefract to interview the Pritchards and assess the current situation. Their willingness to speak openly about their experiences, despite years of ridicule and scepticism from some quarters, demonstrates remarkable courage.
The family has lived with the Black Monk for sixteen years. They have seen their home transformed into a battleground between the natural and supernatural. They have endured events that would drive most families to flee.
Yet they remain.
When asked why they have not moved, Mrs Pritchard’s response was simple: “It’s our home. We lived here before it started, and we’ll be here when it ends. If it ever ends.”
Lessons from Pontefract
The Black Monk case offers several important insights for paranormal researchers.
First, poltergeist hauntings can persist far longer than the typical cases documented in the literature. Most poltergeist manifestations last weeks or months; Pontefract has endured for a decade and a half with no sign of permanent resolution.
Second, the phenomena can return after extended dormancy. Researchers should be cautious about declaring any case “closed” simply because activity has ceased.
Third, the human cost of such hauntings is immense. The Pritchards have shown extraordinary resilience, but living under constant assault from an invisible entity exacts a psychological toll that outsiders can scarcely imagine.
We will continue to monitor the situation at 30 East Drive and report any significant developments. In the meantime, the Black Monk waits in the shadows of that ordinary-looking council house, reminding us that some houses hold darkness that cannot be exorcised.