Bishop sees ghost house.
By Reg Scott.
A bishop has been called in to help three families who say a poltergeist is bombarding them with lumps of coal. The families, who live in flats at Clifton-place, Plymouth, say that the poltergeist has moved furniture, scattered ornaments and hit a two-year-old girl in the eye with a piece of coal.
Mr and Mrs Brian Goldstone who have three children, Deborah, four, Julie, two and Barry, 12 months, have been so upset by the poltergeist that they now stay with relations in Plymouth. Mrs Joyce Goldstone, who lives in the ground-floor flat, said: “After several incidents we locked the bedroom door. During the night we were awakened by a lump of coal hitting the head of the bed. It’s uncanny. Nobody could have thrown it.”
It was the last straw when Julie was hit in the eye while playing in an empty passage. They were so upset they called in The Rev. J.G. Byrnell, the Rural Dean of Plymouth. He called in the Bishop of Plymouth, Dr. W.G. Sanderson. Said Mrs Goldstone: “We’ve been told that the Bishop of Plymouth is asking the Bishop of Exeter to conduct a service of exorcism. We shan’t rest until something is done.”
Two other families who live in the house are worried.
Daily Mirror, 26th May 1964.
Tenant Blames Ghost.
A family given notice to quit their flat on the grounds of alleged damage blame a ghost instead, and have been advised to stay by the Rural Dean of Plymouth, the Rev. J.G. Byrnell. He said yesterday: “There is definitely a poltergeist in the building. There is no other answer for the things happening there.”
The family are Mr and Mrs Brian Goldstone and their three young children, who live in a ground-floor three-roomed flat in Clifton Place, Plymouth. The “spirit” has bombarded coal and coke and other articles into the ground-floor flat over the past two months, Mrs Goldstone said. “It just appears from nowhere.”
Mr and Mrs Goldstone will not stay in the flat after dark. They take their family to sleep with Mrs Goldstone’s mother.
One of their children, Julie, aged two, has had to have hospital treatment for hysterics. Both she and Deborah, aged four, have been hit by flying pieces of coke and coal. “Yet there is no coal or coke kept in the house,” Mrs Goldstone said. On Saturday night Mr Byrnell spent a period in the Goldstone’s flat alone. On five occasions coal and coke flew about. “One piece fell right at my feet,” he said. He went upstairs and searched the house, but could find nothing. He has referred the matter to the Bishops of Exeter and Plymouth, and an exorcism service may be held.
Birmingham Daily Post, 26th May 1964.
Bishop Battles Ghost.
A bishop is arranging a service of exorcism to get rid of a ghost which has forced a family to sleep away from home. Yesterday the bishop, the Rev. Sir Patrick Ferguson-Davie, visited the house in Clifton Place, Plymouth, Devon, where the ghost is said to throw lumps of coal. A church spokesman said afterwards: “Sir Patrick was satisfied that the disturbances are not natural.”
Mrs Joyce Goldstone, who with her husband and three young children moves out of the bottom flat every night, said that “only a few lumps of coal” had dropped without warning yesterday.
The Goldstones and the tenants of two flats above them have been given notice to quit. Mrs Jillian Hooper, agent for the landlords, described the ghost stories yesterday as ‘nonsense.’ “We have owned this house for two years and have never had any trouble like this before,” she said. “The tenants have been told to go because of unrest not because of damage. This service will just be a waste of time. We arranged a watch on the house but nothing happened,” she added.
Daily Herald, 27th May 1964.