The Eerie Street In England That Has A Chilling Homebuyer Requirement
Supernatural lore exists in stand-alone buildings all over the world. Whether it's the demonic entities that were reported to possess a certain home in Amityville, New York, or the multiple ghosts that are said to haunt Dury Lane Theatre in London's West End, otherworldly beings and the spirits that were once in human form have been said to attach themselves to particular structures. Believers say some might make an appearance one time, perhaps as a harbinger of death. Others might linger in the same spot for centuries. But what about a spirit or entity that jumps from building to building, essentially tormenting an entire block?
That was alleged to be the case on a quiet residential street in the civil parish of Westhoughton, Bolton in England. The street, Wingates Grove, was said to host so much paranormal activity in a short period that the current owners of a row of low-income housing units made at least one new tenant sign a waiver before they were allowed to move in. What terrifying history does a block of council houses have to own to think signing a waiver regarding paranormal activity is warranted?
The terror began in 1993
The first reported paranormal activity at Wingates Grove occurred in 1993. According to The Manchester Evening News, the residents of one of the council houses noticed that their young child began to talk to someone in his room. He would refer to this unseen person as "the little man." According to what the mother told The Bolton News, "The little man used to sit on his bed and tell stories and talk to him and used to wake him up and play with him. He would see him on and off about five times a week. He didn't seem all that bothered about it, it didn't scare him."
The Bolton News reported this family also claimed to have seen items flying around the home. Around the same time, the family began to notice an oily substance leaking down their walls. Not being able to find out the reason on their own, they had building maintenance inspect it to see if they could discover the cause. But these workers were just as baffled as the tenants, and never could give any plausible reason for it.
Fearing that their home was haunted, the tenants contacted a local church for help. The church intervened and performed an exorcism on the property. It seemed to have worked — the ghostly activity ceased — for a time.
Another family said they experienced multiple paranormal activities
In 1999, 12-year-old Laura (last name withheld) and her family moved to Wingates Grove, settling in a council house two doors down from where the original haunting allegedly occurred. She was immediately uncomfortable and recalls pleading with her mother to not move there. Years later, she told The Manchester Evening News that she felt as if the home belonged to someone, or something, else that she couldn't see. This feeling made her feel unwelcome, though she admits that her dread seemed to fade after her family and their possessions were completely moved in.
According to Laura, strange things begin to occur not long after they were settled in. She told The Manchester Evening News her brother cut his foot on a picture frame that had mysteriously been placed on the steps in the middle of the night. Her family awoke to dozens of dead birds that were strewn about the front and back lawns. A putrid sulphuric stench would sometimes be in the air of the home, and an oily substance would run down the walls, ruining her bedroom posters.
Laura also recalls how her visiting nephew, little more than a toddler at the time, would speak to a man who no one else could see. When questioned who he was speaking to, he would reply "the big man." Laura described how property managers and maintenance men would avoid the home due to its haunted reputation.
The entity might have impersonated Laura's brother
The creepiest single experience Laura revealed might be the time the spirit in the home impersonated her brother (via The Manchester Evening News). She was awaiting his arrival home so that the two of them could watch the television program "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Laura said she and a friend were upstairs when they heard his keys in the front door and the door opening and closing. They heard his footfalls go into the kitchen, where they assumed he was fixing a snack.
When he didn't appear after 20 minutes, Laura was puzzled. She went out onto the landing and looked down the stairwell in time to see her brother walking through the front door. When asked if he had gone back out the front door after returning home sometime before, he replied that he had just arrived, denying that it was he who Laura and her friend heard go into the kitchen. They investigated the kitchen, fearing that someone would be there. But it and the rest of the house were empty.
Laura began sleeping in the same bed as her parents, too scared to be alone in her own room. She remembers choosing to sleep facing the wall, as she would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and see people standing in the doorway.
Was something haunting her home? Unidentified spirits? A poltergeist? No one knew for sure. But Laura and her family moved out after living there for four years.
The details of the waiver
Caron Walton moved into Laura's former unit in 2006. Prior to moving in, Walton was made to sign a disclaimer before she was permitted to rent the flat. The Manchester Evening News reported that she was made aware of the haunted history of her prospective building and of the one just two doors down. She told the outlet that she was told about the spirit of a man who used to be seen walking on the landing, and of how a spirit used to travel between the homes.
But this didn't deter Walton from signing the waiver and moving into her new property. She said she thought the stories were "quirky" and that the history of her home didn't bother her in the slightest.
The waiver she signed forbade her to use an Ouija board or practice any dark arts on the property. It also forbade her from having any small children live in the unit. The Bolton Council may have theorized if it truly was a poltergeist that plagued the properties, those entities are said to become activated when there are children present, especially when they are entering puberty. Paranormal Authority talks of how these unproven entities will "focus on children and teenagers going through puberty," perhaps giving the council cause to have this stipulation in their waiver.
Is there any supernatural activity in the homes today?
Walton claimed that though there were members of the Bolton Council and their workers who gave her home a wide berth, she has not experienced anything out of the ordinary (via The Manchester Evening News). Walton has had cats and dogs, none of which have acted strangely since moving to Wingates Grove. But even though Walton has not experienced any paranormal activity on the property herself, it doesn't rule her out as a believer. In her interview with the news outlet, she doesn't come across as a skeptic in any way. In her own words, "I'm open to it; I'm not a disbeliever. I'll believe it when I see it."
Were the occurrences at Wingates Grove fabricated? Exaggerated events that had real-world explanations? Or were they the result of a poltergeist that went dormant due to not having the proper souls to feed on the energy from? Or, as The Mirror reported, could the low-income homes have had mold or specifically, the rye ergot fungus variety, which can cause hallucinations and delusional thoughts, according to studies. Perhaps time will tell.