Rattling noise in house?

[SomethingRattling]

What could this noise be in our 3-story Victorian semi?
About half an hour ago I noticed a kind of rattling or tapping noise in the front room downstairs, not constant but in bursts of a few seconds every few minutes. Looked everywhere, couldn't find a cause. Central heating was off, no taps running. Neighbours appear to be out. We have had rodent problems in the past, but it didn't sound like that - no rustling or scraping. More like a saucepan bouncing around on a work top.
I came up to the top room also at the front of the house, and can hear something similar in here. I keep an ironing board set up in the room and moved it out, in case some vibration was making it rattle, but no difference. I can't identify exactly where the sound is coming from; it could be in the room or next door. We have lived here 10 years and never heard it before.
Just wondering if anyone else has had this and if it's anything to worry about. We had an 3.3 earthquake a couple of weeks ago (NW England) and no damage appeared to have been done, but I'm worried something might have destabilised.
Definitely not a ghost!

Could it be something in the chimney? Our chimney has something that rattles when the wind is from the east.

🐀🐭🐁

Do next door have a chimney? Ours makes a tapping sound which we can only hear upstairs when a fire is stoked up high

Ah! I hadn't thought of the chimney situation. The front rooms share a chimney with next door, and I have a feeling that next door had a stove or open fire installed recently, certainly some building work has been going on. I will ask them.
Thanks very much.

A few weeks before my fridge freezer packed up, it started making a knocking sound, st random times of the day and night.

It was difficult to pin down where the sound was coming from as initially it sounded like something in the roof, as it echoed through the house.

One day I was stood in front of the FF with the door open and it was obvious it was the FF. Apparently, it was the fan thing and had to be replaced.

Turn off the electrinity at the main switch and see if it stops. I might be the CH pump or fan or something.

If it doesn't stop, turn the electricity back on and reset all your clocks and timers. It might possibly be water from a drip or burst, or wind blowing something.

If it does stop, turn off HALF the circuits and turn the main switch on. If it restarts you will know it comes from a circuit that is on. Turn of half of those. Continue turning on fewer and fewer at a time until you find the one.

Check the boiler to see if it is showing a low pressure error?

Do you know where your outdoor stopcock is? Probably next to where the front gate used to be when the house was built, and/or in line with where the kitchen sink used to be when the house was built. If you have a water meter there may be a T handle (possibly blue plastic) under the lid.

You can get noises if you have an old ball cock (float valve) in a WC cistern or water tank, and the noise can travel round the house along water pipes.

Thanks, that is a thought. We've been having low water pressure as well. The noise has stopped now but I'll try that if it happens again.