Black Monk of Pontefract

The Black Monk of Pontefract is a legendary poltergesit haunting that occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the home of Joe and Jean Pritchard on 30 East Drive Chequerfield Estate in England.

Disturbances allegedly began after the Pritchard family moved into their home in the town of Pontefract. Sarah Scholes said she felt a cold gust of wind. Phillip Scholes says he saw white powder falling from mid-air in the living room floor. According to paranormal book author Colin Wilson, puddles of water began appearing on the kitchen floor and a plumber could not offer an explanation. Wilson writes that Mrs. Scholes and her son Phillip left the home to sleep at a neighbour's out of fear when a heavy chest of drawers reportedly began swaying. According to Wilson, the disturbances stopped for two years, but began again. The family claimed to hear loud crashing sounds and see objects moving or dematerializing.

Wilson writes that Pritchard's daughter Diane was often thrown from her bed and once dragged up the stairs by "an invisible hand that left lacerations on her neck." There were also claims that after holy water was sprinkled throughout the home, the poltergeist "responded" by painting upside-down crosses on the living room walls and doors and destroying crucifixes. Joe and Jean Pritchard claimed that a black-cloaked figure with a cowl over its head appeared over their bed.