The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-06-18 00:00:00

A HAUNTED HOUSE

WINDSOR, TUESDAY.—For some days past Windsor and
its immediate neighbourhood have been in a state of consi-
derable excitement in consequence of a house known as
" 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 domestic.
The noises whicn have been heard, and which are continued
at intervals throughout the day and night, resemble those
which would be caused by a person rapidly striking his
knuckles against the panel of a door for two or three se-
conds. In order to attempt to unravel the mystery, several
magistrates of the county, clergymen, and the most influen-
tial 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 they
have evidently proceeded from a door leading from a kitchen
into a water-closet in the house, close to which the parties
have stationed themselves, they Ave been unable to throw
the least light upon the affair. Tqe following magistrates of
the county and other gentlemen residing within a short dis-
tance of the house were present during a part of yesterday
and Saturday :—Mr. W. F. Riley, Forest-hill ; Mr. W. B.
Harcourt, St. Leonard's-hill; Major-General Clement Hill;
Mr. Edmund Foster, Clewer-house; the Rev. Mr. Gould,
Clewer, &c. The sound clearly proceeds from the door I
have described, mad can only be in any way imitated, and
upon that door only, by striking the knuckles bard and ra-
pidly upon the centre of the panel. Mr. Riley and Lord
Clement Hill stationed themselves in the hail within three
yards of this 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 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 honse 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 imme-
diately. The whole of the machinery of the water-closet has
been removed, the flooring taken up, And the ground exca-
vated, under the impression that the noise might have pro-
ceeded from foul air in the pipes, or drains, or some other
cause connected with this part of the interior of the house,
but the noise still continues as before, at intervals, and to-day
and yesterday it was even more -violent and loud than ever.
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 ascer-
tain this fact, Mr. Wright's son, who had arrived that morn-
ing from Newbury, fastened up the door by means of a piece
of wire ; and, after the noise had ceased, the wire upon ex-
amination 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 ob-
served 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 possi-
ble, 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 ac-
counting for it. On Saturday last a gentleman volunteered
to sit up with Mr. Wright during the whole of that 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 persons, 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
others) have visited the house during the past week, and cer-
tainly, 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