The Enfield London Haunting - Was Bill Wilkins Real?
The Haunted House Of Enfield London
North London waited.
Time moved like a patient beast. Heavy.
The ordinary piled upon itself. Something waited inside a house on Green Street.
A three-bedroom terrace. Built 1920s. Council house. Thin walls. Peeling wallpaper.
It was ordinary.
And yet, something waited.
Penelope “Peggy” Hodgson — mid-thirties. Divorced. Working to keep four children fed. Margaret, thirteen. Heard everything. Witness. Janet, eleven. Energy made flesh. Vessel for voices. Johnny, ten. The shadow. Billy, seven. The house would not speak to him. He would not know.
They waited inside a house that breathed.
This was the Enfield Poltergeist. Eighteen months. Two thousand incidents.
August 30, 1977. The first night arrived.
September 25: The Family Flees
September 25: The family fled. John Burcombe offered shelter. His wife, Sylvia, made tea.
Then a child’s toy part dropped before Sylvia’s face.
The house had come to them.
The Press Arrives
September 14-15: The Daily Mirror arrived. Reporter Douglas Bence. Photographer Graham Morris. They came to document. They came to photograph.
September: The family fled home once more. Neighbor Vic and Peggy Nottingham escaped at 282 Green Street. The activity grew loud. Neighbors heard it. Police heard it. Journalists heard it.
Documented Phenomena
The house spoke. Objects moved. Apparitions appeared.
Objects in Motion
Furniture moved without hands. Wardrobes shifted. Tables crashed. A fireplace ripped from its wall. Metal pipe bent.
Books Toppling: The floor shook.
Lego Bricks: Marbles and blocks flew. They struck walls. They hit people. Graham Morris struck on the forehead. He admitted later: the angle created an illusion. But Janet was jumping. An athlete. Sports champion.
Doors: Opened. Drawers: Pulled. Curtains: Wrapped themselves around Janet’s neck. Eight times.
Pools: Apperred. No source.
Apparitions
They wore trousers like Peggy’s late husband wore in the 1940s. Margaret would see them. They would fade when she looked up.
“I am Fred”: January 16, 1978. Twenty strips of insulating tape. They belonged to David Robertson. They couldn’t have faked it.
“Shit”: January 15, 1978. Smeared on the bathroom wall. Margaret’s birthday evening.
Voices
“Bill Wilkins enfield poltergeist”. Deceased former resident. Janet would speak in his voice. Margaret would too. The voice appeared to come from false vocal cords. Simple words. Yet it described death details with chilling precision. William Charles Wilkins died June 20, 1963. Haemorrhage.
Levitation
Bed Slamming: December 15, 1977. The bed rose four to five inches. It slammed down. Pillows flew. The house shook.
Levitation Events: Janet was pulled from her bed. She landed outside. Maurice Grosse found her sliding down the stairs head first. The mattress landed on top of her.
The Hospital
Maudsley psychiatric hospital. They found no psychosis. They found a girl worn thin. She returned with a clean bill of health. The activity continued. She said the power couldn’t build up while she was hospitalized.
The Investigators
Maurice Grosse
Retired inventor. He believed. His daughter died in 1976. The loss weighed upon him.
Grosse maintained detailed logs. Tape recordings.
Guy Lyon Playfair
Years studying poltergeist phenomena in Brazil. One hundred and eighty visits. Published “This House Is Haunted” in 1980.
Other Notable Visitors
The Warrens - August 31, 1978: Two empty chairs rotated. Lorraine described it as “a carousel from Hell.” Janet showed new scratches on her arms.
Psychologist John Beloff: December 10, 1977. Whistles. Dog-like barks.
American Magician Milbourne Christopher: December 19, 1977. He spotted Janet sneaking out of bed. Planning a stunt. He wrote the case off as possible hoax.
The Skeptics
Police Constable Carolyn Heeps: No evidence of strings. The chair wobble had no explanation.
Stage Magician: “Merely the antics of a clever little girl.”
Investigation Techniques
The investigators set traps. They checked for wires. They waited. They saw if Janet was simply leaping. Young minds could invent elaborate hoaxes. The environment was stressful.
Critical Timeline
December 15, 1977
Hazel Short, local lollipop lady, witnessed the levitation. 11:45am. A red cushion on the roof. A book flew at her window. Then a pillow.
Graham Morris: Janet seemingly launched across the room. Her expression: terrified.
December 25, 1977
Christmas Day. A curtain wrapped itself around Janet’s neck. The first of eight times.
December 23, 1977
Two days before Christmas. The family woke up. Their two pet goldfish had both mysteriously died during the night. The voice said “I done that.”
January 16, 1978
Margaret’s birthday evening. The words “I am Fred” left on the back of the bathroom door. Twenty strips of insulating tape. They couldn’t have faked it.
The Warrens: American Demonologists
February 16, 1978: Lorraine Warren wrote to Maurice Grosse. Couldn’t make it. Ed planned to visit in June.
August 6-9, 1979: Four days there. They recorded over 13 hours of audio. Spontaneous wallpaper removal. Rocks appearing from nowhere.
The activity had decreased. The house had calmed.
Criticisms: Brian Dunning noted Ed Warren was notorious for exaggerating and even making up incidents. Hollywood dramatized many elements for cinematic effect.
Cultural Legacy
The case became legend. Myth. Part of pop culture. It continued to influence paranormal research.
1978: BBC Radio 4 documentary “The Enfield Poltergeist.”
1992: BBC mockumentary “Ghostwatch.”
2007: Channel 4 documentary “Interview with a Poltergeist.”
2015: Sky Living series “The Enfield Haunting.”
2016: Film “The Conjuring 2.”
2023: Apple TV+ miniseries “The Enfield Poltergeist.”
2024: BBC “Hauntings” revealed the unexplained voice was William Charles Wilkins.
Books and Documentaries
1980: Playfair’s “This House Is Haunted.”
Stephen Volk, author of Ghostwatch, described Enfield as archetypal British haunting. Normal family. Normal house. Not haunted mansion.
Resolution: Did It End?
1977: Case began. Activity intensified.
1978: Investigation continued.
1979: Activity decreased. Children grew older.
Case concluded by 1979. There was no clear trigger. The phenomena had decreased gradually.
Family Aftermath
Janet: Recovered fully. Doesn’t remember incidents in trance state.
Billy: Died at age 14 in 1981.
Peggy: Passed away in 2004.
Investigator Outcomes
Maurice Grosse: Born 1919. Died 2006. Janet and Margaret returned to the house in 2016.
Guy Lyon Playfair: His book inspired 2015 Sky Living series.
Current Status
The house at 284 Green Street remained private residence as of 2024. Current occupants reported no unusual activity. No visible signs of its famous paranormal history.
Lessons
The case taught importance of long-term observation. Media literacy. Critical approach.
The family moved away. The house remained.
And then nothing.
And then the dark held the rest.