While over in the UK during the month of September this year, I decided to look into the location that was the center of a case that has intrigued me since hearing about it on the highly acclaimed and highly recommended ”Uncanny” podcast by Danny Robbins a year or so ago.
I’ve put the link to the episode below.
Tanfield House is a large but unassuming white-painted building that sits at a busy intersection, on East St in Farnham. The building is thought to have possibly once been a Coaching Inn.
The scene of this story is a small two-level, three-room flat within that building; highlighted only by one nondescript door down the side with a small bronze nameplate stating ”Tanfield Flat”.
The other, much larger part of the building is occupied by PGI Garage, a family-run specialist used car retailer Established in 1995.
The protagonist of this story is Patty.
The antagonist is an alleged poltergeist.
Patty grew up in a strict Catholic household, with Irish immigrant parents, but as she grew older rejected religion, as so many teens do.
Soon after, she was the victim of a rather traumatic experience involving a priest who tried to have her exorcised as a teenager at age sixteen. Patty visited the priest, who had been the pastoral minister at her school. Looking for sympathetic advice on personal concerns she was having with a drug-addled boyfriend.
To Patty’s shock, she was taken into a little room in a presbytery. The priest then proceeded to interrogate her with deeply personal questions and then forced and attempted exorcism in Latin’ on her, against her will. This incident, understandably terrified Patty who suffered emotionally later on from the memories.
Patty left home and started at an art school in Farnham. She and a couple of friends rented a flat. When the activity started, Patty started to feel like this was somehow connected to her childhood exorcism and that maybe something demonic had followed her or was keeping a watchful eye over her.
From the noises of scratching and loud banging, electrical faults, and the foreboding and overwhelming sense of oppression, they weren’t alone.
It gets more intense as the story goes along, but I won’t give it all away, so do listen to the podcast episode.
Danny Robbins featured this fascinating case and interviewed Patty for his very popular ”Uncanny” series.
You can listen to the episode here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0013qtn
Here are a few photos I took to document this location.
