Spirit Rapping?
Baffling mystery at Cullompton.
Intense interest has been aroused at Cullompton by some mysterious knockings at the front door of Mr. J. Harris’s house at the top of Exeter-hill. The rappings have been going on at intervals for some time. At first Mr. and Mrs. Harris thought they were due to larking by boys. The noise could also be heard by passers-by. Eventually the police were informed, and a constable kept watch, but without success.
Among suggestions was one that the knocker had become magnetised, but tests did not bear out this theory. The police have made a close inspection of the door and its surroundings, but when they finished and moved away the rapping was resumed. A carpenter and a mason have also examined the door, but failed to find an explanation.
The knockings appear to be most pronounced between 7 and 9.30 p.m., and crowds assemble to listen for them. It appears that the knocking ceased from 2.30 on Wednesday till 12 o’clock yesterday, when it was heard again. It is thought possible that the knocker has nothing to do with the sounds, as it was taken off for a time as an experiment.
One theory is that something has gone wrong with the underground electric cable which passes along the road.
Western Morning News, 20th February 1925.
Cullompton Mystery
Ghost-like rappings which puzzle the police
Entire town roused.
Practically the entire population of Cullompton have been discussing a number of uncanny occurrences which have been taking place of late. These take the form of mysterious knockings on the front door of Mr. J. Harris’s house at the top of Exeter-hill and on Tuesday crowds of people congregated in the vicinity. An even larger number of people was present on Wednesday, and policemen were busily engaged in keeping the road clear.
On each occasion the rat-tat-tat would occur at intervals, and could be heard some distance away. A police sergeant and constable examined the door and its surroundings very carefully, but as soon as their examination was concluded the phenomenon started again.
On Wednesday morning, a carpenter and a mason inspected the door, but the “knockings” were again in evidence at three o’clock in the afternoon.
Suggestions that the knocker had been magnetised proved to be incorrect, as when a needle was placed on it, the rappings still continued. They are most pronounced between 7 and 10.30 p.m., and have taken place at intervals for the past four weeks now.
Western Times, 20th February 1925.
Door of the house in Cullompton where mysterious knockings which have defied investigation have aroused considerable interest.
Western Morning News, 21st February 1925.
Mysterious Knocker.
Crowds of people congregate daily at the top of Exeter Hill, Cullompton, Devon, where mysterious knockings at the front door of Mr. J. Harris’ house are heard. These sounds have puzzled the neighbourhood for three or four weeks.
A constable kept watch, but no clue could he discover. In the presence of a crowd the “rat-tat” occurs at intervals.
A police sergeant made a minute inspection, but as soon as the police had finished the knockings were again heard.
The police are keeping the road clear for traffic, so large is the crowd.
Sunday Post, 22nd February 1925.
The Cullompton Rappings.
The mysterious rappings at a Cullompton door which were the cause of considerable excitement in the town last week have now ceased. The Press photographers apparently have succeeded in laying the ghost.
Western Times, 27th February 1925.
A Cullompton “Mystery.”
Weird knockings.
The principle topic of conversation at Cullompton last week was the mystery surrounding certain knockings which had occurred at intervals for some weeks on the front door of a house on Exeter-hill, tenanted by Mr and Mrs Harris. Up to the present no satisfactory explanation has been forthcoming, and there remains therefore an opportunity for a local seer or “Sherlock Holmes” to acquire fame.
News of the phenomenon spread throughout the town a few days ago; and for some evenings the police had the arduous duty of keeping the street clear from the crowds of “listeners-in,” many of whom came from considerable distances.
In order to gain a first-hand knowledge of the knockings a representative of the “Tiverton Gazette” visited Cullompton on Thursday morning. “It would take a volume,” he says, “to accommodate the various theories which local investigators have advanced to account for the knockings. Within ten minutes of my arrival in Cullompton I met a man who scoffed at the ‘spoof.’ A few minutes afterwards I was talking to another, who knew someone who had seen the knocker move up and down. As I wended my way down the High-street to the seat of the mystery, I gleaned a mass of information concerning the occurrences. Every story was different in some respects from the one I had heard last. Convinced, however, that here was a case which warranted intrusion, I determined to interview the occupants of the house; and accordingly made my way to Exeter Hill.
I experienced but little difficulty in finding the house. Mr Harris is the proprietor of a boot and shoe business. His shop abuts on the main road, and his dwelling adjoining it on the lower side. There are separate entrances to the shop and dwelling-house. Having reached the scene I confronted the knocker (which was of a very ordinary and innocent appearance) and struck boldly. Mr Harris answered the door. I explained my mission, and was invited inside, where I found Mrs Harris and her little boy, who will be seven years old next July.
“It is quite as loud as when you knocked,” said Mr Harris, when I asked him for his story. “The noise started over a month ago, and at first I thought it was caused by boys rapping the knocker and running away. On several occasions I have thrown open the door and rushed out with a stick, but there has been no one about.”
“Do the sounds occur at any particular times?” I asked. “Yes,” he replied. “Usually between seven o’clock and half-past ten, but on Sunday afternoon there was knocking just before two o’clock.”
Mrs Harris stated that on Tuesday evening Mrs Hines, of the Commercial Hotel, was on the premises. They were both in the adjacent shop about 8.45 p.m. looking at the crowd in the street outside, when the noises recommenced. Mrs Hines left just before nine o’clock, and the knocking then started again.
In reply to further questions Mr Harris said the rappings have occurred when both he and his wife have been away from the room. Their little boy had heard them and it is getting on his nerves. He (Mr. Harris) was unable to suggest any explanation except that the sounds might come from the gas main which is beneath the front door step. Mrs Harris indignantly denied there was any truth in rumours to the effect that she was the author of the noises. “Why should I do it?” she asked. “I have had enough trouble with the child as it is; he has always been delicate.”
I ascertained from Mr Harris that he had lived in the house for five years without any disturbance: the house is now for sale. The owner, I am told, resides in London. With thanks to Mr and Mrs Harris for their information I took my leave.
My next call was at the Commercial Hotel, where I sought an interview with Mrs Hines in the hope that I should hear her version of the events of Tuesday evening. “I am not going to say anything about it,” she said when I broached the object of my visit. “There is only one thing I wish to know,” I persisted, “and that is whether anyone remained in the front room on Tuesday evening when the knockings took place.” Mrs Hines replied that every member of the household was in the shop. Then she wished me “good morning.”
Continuing my investigation I discussed the matter with the local correspondent of the ‘Tiverton Gazette,’ who was among the crowd when the knocks occurred. “It was suggested,” he said, “that the knocker had become magnetised and a needle was put against it, but with no result.
I am told that the mysterious “spirit” behaved with singular discourtesy on Wednesday evening. A large audience waited patiently for the performance, but having given a matinee at 2.30 the spirit took an off-night, and its patrons finally dispersed in disgust. This is not the only example of the phenomenon’s eccentric behaviour. On Tuesday evening P.S. Wilde and a constable made a minute inspection of the door and its surroundings, but as soon as the police had finished their inspection and come into the street, the door was again assailed by the knocking. Still more remarkable is the statement that the noises were heard after an investigator had removed the knocker from the door.
Finally I made my way to the Gas Works to ascertain from the Manager, Mr White, as to whether or not the sound could be caused through water in the main. Mr White was indisposed, but I saw his son. “It could not be that,” he said. “The pressure is not high enough, and if there was water in the main it would badly affect the lighting in the house. I have also heard,” he said, “that it may be the Post-office cable. But that is working all day, so why should the noises only occur at certain times?”
After that I gave it up, and came away thinking of the Sampford Peverell rappings of 1810, and the antics of “Old Jeffery” at Epworth Rectory in the childhood of John Wesley.
A Cullompton correspondent informs us that the knocks have been repeated on several occasions since Thursday. They were once heard while the door was actually ajar.
Crediton Gazette, 28th February 1925.