What is the The Black Monk of Pontefract?

In prior articles, we’ve examined several poltergeists (Read about the Bridgeport poltergeist here) and unlike other spirits, these noisy entities can be extremely dangerous. Renowned for being the most terrifying and also rarest types of hauntings, poltergeists are often the subject of books and movies.  While we are still learning much about what they are exactly, it’s clear that these entities are extremely angry and not shy about letting it known. Often the activity starts small, for example a light turning on by itself, but sometimes these events escalate quickly and can turn dangerous. 

In today’s post, we will examine the infamous Black Monk of Pontefract, a violent poltergeist that began attacking a family of four in Pontefract, a small town in West Yorkshire England. Unlike other poltergeist cases though, this case seemed to get more attention as the years progressed as the activity doesn’t appear to have ceased. 

It’s been reported some individuals who have investigated the home where the entity resides have had to have been carried out. Others quit ghost hunting altogether due to the overwhelming fear they experienced during their time in the home. 

Over the last 50 years, many have stated that this poltergeist, nicknamed “Fred” or “the Black Monk”, is the most violent poltergeist in all of Europe.

To understand why the home is said to be pure evil by some, we must start from the beginning. 

In August 1966, Jean and Joe Pritchard, along with their 15-year-old son Phillip and 12-year-old daughter Diane moved into what appeared to be a quiet home. The residence was located at 30 East Drive in Pontefract. 

The house itself is a 3 bedroom, double-story, brick home that is located at the top of a small hill and near a roundabout (traffic circle), on the Northeast side.

In terms of the Pritchard’s story, the strange activity occurred in two parts between 1966 and 1969. 

At first it would be short and very strange lasting only about half a day.

Phillip was being babysat by his grandma, Sarah Scholes, when a white dust began to fall from the around midair. This appears to be the start of the paranormal activity. Soon all sorts of bazaar things would occur water began pooling from nowhere. When it was cleaned up, it would simply reappear again. A plumber was called, and he couldn’t identify where it was coming from. Other events include plants levitating and being thrown around and clothes allegedly dancing by themselves. It was initially believed that Phillip was the subject of the hauntings. In the beginning the activity wasn’t viewed by the family as sinister. For example, one time the ghost slowly poured milk over the head of a disbelieving relative of the Pritchards. 

After this, most of the activity would cease for about 2 years. 

Soon though strange behavior would begin happening again., Lights turned off and on by themselves, furniture moved and often was overturned, pictures were cut up. The family would begin seeing objects levitating and sometimes disappearing. Strange smells and loud unexplained noises were heard by the family, who increasingly became more and more terrified. 

Then, Joe and Jean would encounter the frightening spirit haunting them. One night lying in bed, what appeared to be a Black Monk would manifest over their bed floating. 

As time progressed, the Black Monk would start appearing more often and would be seen by the children as well. Also, the activity would be witnessed outside the family as a variety of locals including the clergy, police officers and even the mayor saw the strange events. 

Still, during this time it can’t be understated just how violent things got. Diane was the main target during this second phase although others were targeted too. 

Several times, Diane was thrown from her bed with the mattress levitating into the air and eventually coming down on her. She was stabbed with a crucifix in the back. The entity would pin her to the stairs with a sewing machine and a wooden stand.

Perhaps the most violent event occurred when the poltergeist, not manifesting, grabbed her by the throat and dragged her up the stairs. When it finally released her, she had red marks on her throat. Both her brother and mother witnessed the event. 

To help combat the evil, numerous exorcisms and other activities such as sprinkling holy water were tried, but nothing could make the ghost leave.

During the attempts, allegedly holy water would appear coming out of the walls. Also, the clergymen were slapped or pushed by an unseen force. 

As time progressed, the family would get tired of the activity and move out. The new residents of the house didn’t report paranormal activity, or at least certainly nowhere near what the Pritchards experienced. 

As the legend of the house remained popular within the community, it wasn’t until 1981 that it would gain national and worldwide attention. Colin Wilson’s book Poltergeist!: A Study in Destructive Haunting, documented the alleged poltergeist activity experienced by the Pritchard family from 1966-1969. 

This would lead many to begin researching the home and the history. One outstanding question remained concerning who was this spirit and why was it so angry?

Paranormal investigator Tom Cuniff spent years researching the case and discovered that the town used to hang criminals directly across the street. He found in newspaper reports evidence of a troubled monk who died in the area during the 16th century. The monk was supposedly a part of the Pontefract Priory, a local Cluniac monastery dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. This monk was hung for the rape and murder of a young girl.

The murdered girl would have been a similar age to Diane, who was the focus of the spirits attentions.

So, what about the house today? 

Today the home is owned by Bil Bungay, an ad man and movie maker who in 2012 made a movie named “When the lights go out”. The horror movie was based on the true story of the Pritchards and their experiences in the late 1960s. 

Bungay though doesn’t reside at the residence though. Today the home operates as a business run by Haunted Homes. Individuals can book rooms in the infamous haunted house and sleep over, although Ouija boards and exorcisms are banned on the property. All guests who visit must sign a waiver, one that says you stay at your own risk. 

So, while business has been good, it hasn’t been a good experience for many pf the individuals who have stayed there. Some have left terrified, and Bungay has been quoted in the Daily mail stating some people have had to have been carried out while others have given up ghost hunting due to the extreme fear they experienced. It’s unclear if those that were carried out were physically assaulted or not, but perhaps it really doesn’t matter as they were terrified and traumatized.

As for Bungay himself, he states he never has been scratched or assaulted but he has seen things materialize out of nowhere. He says hundreds probably thousands have experienced things in the home, not all benign in nature. 

Over the years though, as one can imagine, many paranormal investigators and others still have wanted to stay in the home despite the dangerous spirit that resides there. 

In 2016, paranormal investigators Pete Boulton and Rob Hughes visited the house in June to investigate. While walking around Mr. Boulton was taking photos and snapped one, he’ll never forget. One of his photos shows the hallway with a mirror. Creepily, there clearly appears to be a face staring out of it, with a black hooded robe. Boulton is adamant that there was no one near him at the time.

Still though this is one of many photos that contain images which appear to be the Black Monk. The website www.eastdrive.com contains a variety of images of what appears to be paranormal activity in the home. Many of these images appear to be on the staircase, the same staircase where Diane was pulled up the stairs by her hair. Other images are of orbs or strange apparitions appearing in the windows. 

It’s important to point out that the activity seemingly picked up in the house as the popularity increased and more visitors started visiting the property. There appears to be a pretty somewhat calm period after the Pritchards moved out. It’s unclear just how present the poltergeist was during this period although we can probably speculate that it wasn’t completely dormant nor was it violently attacking guests. 

One question remains surrounding Diane Pritchard and the hauntings. Our research couldn’t find whether the activity stopped for Diane once the Pritchards moved. Poltergeists have been known to follow people and haunt someone specifically. We know that the events traumatized her as she was assaulted day and night by the entity. Still, let’s hope she was able to find peace once she moved from the house. 

With so much evidence, it’s hard to imagine that something is not happening in the house. There’s eyewitness testimony from thousands over the decades and now we appear to have a variety of photographic evidence. Furthermore, the family never appeared to try and profit from the story. It is said Jean Pritchard was stubborn and initially refused to move as she viewed the home as theirs, not the spirits. It appears also Diane isn’t trying to profit. She was only a teenager when the events occurred and with so many articles, books and movies, it appears over the years that she moved on with her life. 

With so much evidence, some say the skeptics will never believe the evidence, no matter what is provided. And this is probably true, this might just be something that the skeptics would have to see to believe.