For some few days past Windsor and its immediate neighbourhood have been in a state of considerable excitement in consequence of a house called “Want’s Cottage,” standing alone, surrounded by its grounds, at Clewer, about a mile from the town, having been reported, from the extraordinary noises which have been heard there, to be “haunted.” The house is occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Wright (who have for some years past retired from business), their two daughters and a female servant.
The noises, which are continued at intervals throughout the day and night, resembled those which would be caused by a person rapidly striking his knuckles against the panel of a door for two or three seconds. In order to attempt to unravel the mystery several magistrates of the county, clergymen, and the most influential residents in the neighbourhood, have visited the house, the whole of whom have been present during the time the extraordinary noises have been repeated; and although the noises have evidently proceeded from a door leading from the kitchen into the water-closet in the house, close to which the parties have stationed themselves, they have been unable to throw the least light upon the affair. The following magistrates of the county, and other gentlemen residing within a short distance of the house, were present during a part of yesterday and Saturday: – W.F. Riley, Esq., Forest Hill; W.B. Harcourt, Esq., St. Leonard’s Hill; Major-General Clement Hill; Edmund Foster, Esq., Clewer House; Rev. Mr. Gould, Clewer, &c.
The sound clearly proceeds from the door I have described, and can only be in any way imitated, and upon that door only, by striking the knuckles hard and rapidly upon the centre of the panel. Mr. Riley and Lord Clement Hill stationed themselves within three yards of the door, and, as soon as the knocking commenced, rushed to the spot within a second afterwards, but not a soul was near it, and the whole of the family were in a different part of the house. The knocking is so loud that it is heard by the inmates of houses 400 or 500 yards off. Such is the alarm that these strange and at present unaccountable noises have caused throughout the neighbourhood, that a lady named Roberts, who resides some distance from Mr. Wright, and whose house is divided from his by two public roads, has given notice to her landlord that she will quit to-day, and Mr. Wright’s family are represented to be in that state of mind that they are making preparations to leave the house immediately. The whole of the machinery of the water closet has been removed, the flooring taken up, and the ground excavated, under the impression that the noise might have proceeded from foul air in the pipes or drains, or from some other causes connected with this part of the interior of the house, but the noise still continues as before, at intervals. In order to ascertain if the door of the closet was struck, a small piece of chip was laid upon the projecting portion of the panel, and after the knocking had ceased this had fallen on the floor, and on Sunday last, still more clearly to ascertain the fact, Mr. Wright’s son, who arrived that morning from Newbury, fastened up the door by means of a piece of wire; and after the noise had ceased the wire upon examination was found broken, and the door forced inwards. At one time the door was broken off its hinges and placed at the back of the closet, but the knocking was precisely the same as before. The landlady of the house (Mrs. Stokes) has arrived from town, and has since caused every inquiry to be instituted, but without the least hopes at present of unravelling the extraordinary mystery.
It should be observed that at three or four times when the knocking took place there were five persons, and sometimes more, present from Windsor and elsewhere, who were determined, if possible, to detect the cause, and who were totally unconnected with the family residing in the house; but they were still left in ignorance of its origin, and without the means of accounting for it. On Saturday a gentleman volunteered to sit up with Mr. Wright during the whole of the night. This offer, at the suggestion of the magistrates, was accepted. The rest of the family retired to rest at the usual hour, and up to six o’clock the next morning no noises were heard, but in the course of Sunday they were more violent than ever. Many ignorant person of course ascribe the noises to some supernatural agency, and a tale is now current that some person left that neighbourhood some time back in “a very mysterious manner,” and that “no doubt a murder was committed near the spot.” However this may be, gentlemen of high standing in the county (magistrates, clergymen, and other) have visited the house during the past week, and certainly, to say the least, they are all exceedingly puzzled at the extraordinary noises they have heard within three or four yards of the spot where they had stationed themselves. This singular affair continues to excite the most intense interest, and to be wrapped in the greatest mystery.
The Times, 16th June 1841
The Haunted House at Windsor.
To the Editor of the Morning Post.
Sir, With reference to the strange knocking noise heard in the supposed haunted house near Windsor, I beg to send you the following account from “The Young Lady’s Book,” under the head “Entomology”:-
In speaking of the common black beetle or cockroach, it says – “In old timber or deal houses, when the family is retired at night to sleep, this insect, among other properties, has the power of making a noise which very much resembles a pretty smart knocking with the knuckles upon the wainscoting. The blatta gigantea of Linneus, in the West Indes, is therefore frequently known by the name of the drummer. Three or four of these noisy creatures will sometimes be impelled to answer one another, and cause such a drumming noise that none but very good sleepers can rest for them.”
Morning Post, 24th June 1841.
The “haunted” house at Clewer, near Windsor.
The extraordinary knocking (supposed to be against the door of the watercloset) having still continued with even increased violence, an intelligent man, belonging to the Windsor police, has been stationed on the premises during the past week; and, notwithstanding he has frequently been within two or three yards of the spot whence the sound proceeded, at the very time, he has not been able to make the least discovery of its apparently mysterious origin.
A scientific gentleman, from London, having seen in the papers an account of the noises heard in the house, has visited the premises three times during the last ten days (the last time was on Monday, at the request of the tenant), and tried various experiments to endeavour to discover the cause, but without the least success. The boards of the floor, both inside and around the closet, have been all taken up, and excavations made to the depth of several feet. The drain has been opened and closely examined, and the party has even gone so far with his experiments as to have the water in an adjoining ditch analyzed! Mr. Manly, the parish sexton, attended with the gravedigger’s sounding iron, and sounded the ground, within and without, to the depth of upwards of five feet, but no clue was obtained, and the knocking still continued at intervals as before. On Monday last the noises were more frequent and violent than ever. The policeman, who was on the alert during the whole day, counted, within 12 hours, 13 distinct knockings of the same character as have been before described.
On the following day (Tuesday), at 12 o’clock, the family removed from the house, taking with them the whole of their furniture. Previously to their leaving, the knocking came on, at half-past 7 o’clock that morning, the policeman being there.
As an extraordinary sensation was created throughout the neighbourhood on the subject, as well as certain suspicions excited, four respectable gentlemen of Windsor were determined to ascertain if the noise had been caused by means of trickery (which was strongly suspected) or not. They, therefore, by permission of the agent of the party to whom the property belongs, agreed to go to the house that evening, and remain there during the whole of the night. They did so, accompanied by the policeman and two other persons who resided in the neighbourhood. From 9 o’clock (the hour at which they arrived) until 8 o’clock the following morning (when they left) not a sound was heard, nor did either the candles or the fire burn blue. The policeman has been in the house ever since, and not the slightest noise has been heard.
It does certainly appear exceedingly strange that these “mysterious” and by some called “supernatural noises,” should have ceased from the time of the family leaving the house. If it were a trick, of which there can now be but little doubt, it was an exceedingly clever, although a very mischievous and wanton one. It appears to be a second edition of the Cock-lane ghost.
The Times, June 26th, 1841.
The Haunted House.
The Globe – learned in matters of natural history – contains the following scientific reason for the mysterious knocking at Clewer: – “The following passage from Gardiner’s pleasing work, ‘The Music of Nature,’ may afford an explanation of the ‘mysterious knocking’ in the house at Windsor, which has the reputation of being ‘haunted’. At least it cannot fail to remind those who have read the accounts in the newspapers, of the noise represented to have been made by his ghostship: – ‘In the West Indies,’ says Mr. Gardiner, ‘the giant cockroach is a noted reveller when the family are asleep. He makes a noise like the smart rapping of the knuckles on a table, three or four sometimes answering each other. On this account he is called the drummer, and they often beat up such a row that none but good sleepers can rest for them.’
After this explanation there can be no doubt that the ghost is only a West Indian cockroach. The dryness of the soil, and the freedom from humidity of the air of Clewer – to say nothing of the genial weather we have lately had – are quite sufficient motives for assigning the noise to a tropical insect. There are many ‘noted revellers’ to be met with occasionally at Windsor, but we had thought that their duties confined them to the castle.”
Hampshire Advertiser, 3rd July 1841.
The supposed haunted house at Clewer.
Mr Newman, the agent of the property in which this house is included, has been busily engaged in trying every possible means to discover, if possible, the cause of the mysterious sounds which have been heard on the premises occupied by Mr Wright and his family but without success.
Mr Wright, his family and servants removed from the house on Tuesday last, on the morning of which day the noises were heard, but strange to say, ever since the family and servants removed, those mysterious noises have entirely ceased.
Windsor and Eton Express, 26th June 1841.
To the Editor of the Windsor and Eton Express.
The Haunted House at Clewer.
Sir – I have been very much grieved, and not more grieved than surprised, at the unreasonable and malignant reports which have been industriously circulated respecting this disturbance at Want’s Cottage – my late residence. I should, before now, have thus publicly refuted them, if I had not believed that the common sense, and common humanity, of persons would be, must be, exercised, if a little time was given them for reflection; and that, as its consequence, a juster view would have been taken of the affair altogether. But I am disappointed. Allow me, therefore, to occupy your time, and oblige me by publishing my letter.
One report, which has gained much credence, is, that my servant created it. It was not so; we heard it when she was in our presence – when she was at Windsor – when she was asleep; and Mr Newman and Mr Rangecroft themselves heard it when she was with those persons who were endeavouring to discover the cause of the noises; and who, to use their own expression, “kept her in close custody.”
To this I must add, that we heard it months before she entered my service. That any person, in or out of the house, could have caused it, is equally impossible, for numbers who heard it can attest, that though an idea of the noise was given by striking the door, yet the one could not be mistaken for the other, even by the most common observer.
Indeed, it would have been as much my interest as my pleasure to have removed the disturbance, and every means in our power was used for this effect; it made my family most truly wretched, which induced me to leave the house at any sacrifice – that sacrifice being made, I have now only to ask of persons to be reasonable.
I cannot offer an opinion as to the cause of this annoyance – time may, or may not, decide it – the scientific consider that it might arise from spontaneous combustion; and, if so, the alterations and excavations which commenced shortly after I left the house, may have prevented it – if indeed it is prevented.
Of this alone am I certain respecting it, that it has not resulted from human agency, and that all reports to the contrary are alike unjust and contemptible.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Charles Wright, Newbury, July 8th, 1841.
Windsor and Eton Express, 10th July 1841.
At the haunted house at Clewer, near Windsor, the other day, an elderly gentleman was floored by a cross buttock from the phantom fist of the goblin who tenants that mysterious domicile. Nothing was seen, but very considerable inconvenience was felt, by the venerable gentleman.
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 17th July 1841.
The Haunted House at Clewer.
There has been a great deal said, and no inconsiderable excitement created, relative to the mysterious knocking which has been heard at a lonely cottage at Clewer, in the neighbourhood of Windsor. The family, which consisted of an elderly gentleman, his wife and two daughters, and a maid-servant, have been induced to leave in consequence. Since their departure, which is nearly three weeks ago, not a “mystic sound has been heard”.
Weekly Chronicle (London), 17th July 1841.
Dreams in a haunted cottage.
The midnight visitor.
More than ten summers have passed away since the neighbourhood of Windsor was startled and aroused by the supposed visits of a Ghost, in the immediate vicinity of the “Royal Borough.” Led by a curiosity then almost universal, I could not resist an inclination to see the spot that had attracted the spiritual visitor; and, after a pleasant walk, I encountered a group of persons, idly staring at a lone cottage situated at some little distance from the road, and surrounded by trees; in fact, the very place of all others that the lovers of the marvellous would select for the scene of ghostly exploits. From one of these persons I learned the history of the ghost, which is soon told.
The cottage (at the time I speak of) was inhabited by a gentleman, his wife, and daughters, whose repose had been intruded upon by the most frightful noises, such as knocking violently against the doors, walls, &c., at all hours of the night and day, so loud, indeed, that they were distinctly heard by the neighbours around. The first idea was that it was a trick, and the authorities set to work to discover it, but all in vain. For weeks – I may say months – in spite of all their watching, these horrid noises continued; policemen, and magistrates, were on the alert, but to no purpose; the untiring ghost still kept banging on, until, worn out by anxiety, the tenants left the house. Some say that the noises ended on their quitting, but more declare that they continued long after their departure.
Some little time after, I again paid a visit to the lone house, and found an old man and his wife taking care of it. They avoided the subject of the ghost most cautiously, nor could I get any information from them. The house was in a sad plight; doors had been pulled down, floorings taken up, in searching for the cause of the mysterious noises; the garden was dismantled and neglected, grass was growing on the window sills of the lower rooms, all was deserted and neglected and left to moulder as it might. Pleased with the quiet situation of the little cottage, and having no faith in phantoms, I determined on being the next tenant, and from that time have been the inhabitant of the haunted cottage.
Gentle reader, did you ever pass a night alone, in a house that had the reputation of being haunted? If you have (though of course you do not believe in ghosts), have you never started at any little noise that might for a moment have disturbed the leaden stillness of the midnight hour? Have you never felt a streaming coolness down your back, or a nasty tingling at the roots of your hair, at the sound of a creak in the wainscot, or any other noise so common in old houses? If you have not, most courteous reader, I have. But who has not felt a sort of creeping sensation at sight of the ghost of Hamlet’s papa in the play, though that respected but illused old goblin was represented by real flesh and blood? Who ever read the tearful story of the Bleeding Nun, without a shudder? Or who has not felt, at some period in his life, a fearful interest in a good ghost story?
For my own part I plead guilty to what I think a common weakness. Yes, from the days of my boyhood, when I pored over the mysterious pages of Udolpho till my bedroom dip was winking in the socket, and I dived into bed taking care to pull my feet smartly after me, lest some invisible hand should make a grab at them; and now that those days are fading into distance, I find a touch of the same old feeling left. Often have I turned my head, as I sat in my quiet little home at night, puffing my cigar over a favourite book, and said to myself – What is that?– in a sharp snapping manner, at the mere croaking of some distant door, or the falling of a chimney board. Often have I listened with superstitious awe to the moaning of the winter’s wind, as it rushed through the trees, and round the chimney tops, and then stole away into distance as though scared by its visit.
I confess I should long since have forgotten the poor ghost, had not my memory been refreshed by such questions as – Was not this the ghost’s cottage? Have you ever heard any noises? I presume you never saw the ghost? How was it done? Was it ever found out? I presume it was some trick, &c., &c. To all such questions and remarks I have always answered that it remains a mystery to this day.
Thinking one night over these matters, when all was still around, and the witching hour drawing near, with my feet on the fender, my old high backed chair vacant on the opposite side of the fire, and, dozing as I sat, the little faculty of observation I had left was suddenly called into play by finding that the high backed chair had got a tenant, in the shape of a transparent looking gentleman, with a long serious face, and staring at me with the strangest pair of eyes I ever beheld. Struck with alarm and amazement at his sudden and most unexpected appearance, my exclamation was “In mercy spare me – it’s the ghost!” But reflecting a moment, I began to collect my scattered courage.
“Be not alarmed,” said my visitor, “I come not to injure you, though I am the ghost; but I am a good natured and well intending ghost, and not liking to see you so lonely, I just popped through a crack to see if I could amuse you. I have often watched you from my various hiding places in this cottage, and felt a strong inclination to have a chat. I can assume all kinds of forms, and I appear as I now am, thinking it least likely to alarm you.”
I thanked my nocturnal visitor for his kind consideration, and requested to know how he proposed to cheer the dull hours. [the story goes on at length :)]
Windsor and Eton Express, 22nd November 1851.
The long remembered “Haunted House” 40 years ago, now called “Manor Cottage,” has been made a neat and quiet habitation, occupied by two ladies.
Windsor and Eton Express, 19th July 1873.