Heard footsteps in our old cottage while home alone

[midlifemumma]

We live in a cottage, 400-500 years old. I’ve heard a few things since living here but have always managed to explain them away or put it down to imagination.

On Friday night, one of the dogs started barking, she ran out into the garden so after getting her indoors, I put her in the front room where she continued to face the garden but stopped barking. I then got into the shower.

The barking started up again, I was in the house alone so ignored her and carried on, a few minutes later, I heard my husband stomping through the hallway and was expecting him to tell the dog off, nothing was said and I didn’t call out to him - I don’t know why, the footsteps followed by silence just seemed a bit ‘off’. I continued with my shower and once finished went out to see him, only to find he wasn’t back yet.

I am 100% certain that I heard what I did, the footsteps sounded male in both weight and stride length, I could feel the vibration of the floor boards from the bathroom. They walked through the lounge and hallway towards the other end of the house before stopping. I checked every room of the house and found nothing, funny enough I didn’t feel afraid, more just sure that I had heard what I heard! The hallway is behind the bathroom so I could clearly hear the footsteps behind me as I showered, I can’t explain what I heard other than that I definitely heard it.

So, you think you had an intruder? Any ring doorbell? Was door/windows all locked? Because it’s either an intruder or you didn’t hear what you thought you heard.

Our last house was built in 1756, several inexplicable things happened in our 13 years there, however we too experienced the sound of footsteps a few times. We had a long hall upstairs and on one occasion I heard female footsteps come along the hall, go down the staircase, on to the tiled floor at the front door, then they stopped. We had three dogs and they too heard the footsteps, the dogs began barking then took off towards the front door. There was nothing to see.
I’ve absolutely no explanation, however the new residents of our house contacted me recently to ask if anything odd had ever happened while we lived there. They too are now experiencing the inexplicable.

Are you detached? Neighbours possibly? Having said that 500 year old cottages have super thick walls so that is unlikely.
I commented on a creepy post last year and I had similar thing happened to me when I was cat stting for my sister, thick heavy footsteps walking on the landing in the middle of the night, it frightened the shit out of me, that was a 400 year old cottage too, so I get it

Is there a back door that an intruder might have gone through? Do always check for this-wordly causes... Have you checked the garden or surroundings for footprints? Could you change locks, or is the door furniture listed?

That said, I also live in an old place, and have had it blessed by priests.

I have had experiences in other places, but they would be outing. Posted some on here under other usernames.

Thank you for your replies and sorry for the delay!

Part of our house is semi-detached but the original cottage part is not..Doors and windows were open due to the heat, as was the bathroom door whilst I showered however all were positioned exactly as I’d left them and our other dog hadn’t moved from where I’d left her either. I did a thorough check but nothing was amiss. Unfortunately our doorbell camera isn’t working currently.

The footsteps also went in a straight direction, from the lounge doorway through to the other side of the hall, this is the oldest part of the original building. They did not stop and turn around or pause and go quietly elsewhere, they just stopped and then nothing.

well, I certainly hope it was a ghost and not some random stranger who is now hidden in your house.😉

Well, there’s going to be an explanation, because it’s not a ghost is it?

We live in a Jacobean house. Several people likely died here. Have we ever heard of anything remotely creepy? No. Because we are not remotely woo. Only people that believe in this sort of thing ever hear or see spooky things, because they have vivid imaginations.

I used to live in a 1970's house built by Wimpy (the builders not the burger bar). It was an ordinary 3 bed semi, quite unremarkable and built on previously unoccupied fields/scrub land. I never felt comfortable there. I used to hear footsteps upstairs, the landing was always cold and on one occasion my bedroom door quite deliberately shut itself. There were other incidents too. To be honest I hated going upstairs to the loo even during the daytime.

Even if you don't believe, contact the local CofE or RC priests. They will chat through every possible explanation and they can also do a reassuring prayer or blessing that makes a place feel clearer. I wish I had done that in some of the places I've lived.

In a student house of mine, I was the only one staying there for christmas after all the girls left.
I was laying in bed late and heard the sound of someone repeatedly walking up the stairs, no steps going down, just the sound of someone coming up.
I was too scared to leave my bedroom and check but there was definitely no one in the house. We only had a front door, and that was deadbolted, with my bedroom right above it.
When all my housemates came back from the break I asked them individually if they heard something weird when alone and another said she too heard someone walking up the stairs before.
The house was built in the 1919-1920s so not old old, but old enough to collect ghosts.
The house definitely had a presence, but a nice homely presence. It felt like home, despite being a very run down house in desperate need of renovation, there was a very nice energy to it.

In my childhood home, built 70s-80s, my mum remembered waking up when pregnant with my brother to the feeling of being sat on. She thought it was one of the kids and opened her eyes and saw the figure of a young man in a shroud straddling her. She screamed. The house was built over an old Royal Marine Barracks and hospital wing.

In the same house, I saw a ghost of a large black dog, I was only 4-5, I reached out to stroke it.

@ginasevern that brought back bad memories of my Grandad’s house. He worked for Wimpy and bought a large new build house. It was a living nightmare for my mum growing up. Doors used to slam shut in people’s faces, pictures swaying on the walls as if they had been pushed forcefully, tapping loudly on the upstairs windows and being pushed down the stairs more than once.

I used to hate going in that house as a kid and vividly remember the pictures starting swaying when I asked if anyone was there as I felt like I was being followed around. My grandparents had died by that point and it was just me and my cousin having a last look around the house.

OP, you definitely need to get a local vicar or priest in to pray in the house. Call one tomorrow..

😂

So you were in the shower, presumably with water loudly falling on your head, and are sure that not only did you hear footsteps, but male ones? You prob heard the dog walking about, or the heating creaking, or your old floorboards expanding in the heat, or literally nothing. Whatever you heard, your brain told you the sound was most likely your husband (as that was an expected noise) so you filled in the gaps and rationalised the noise as a man's footsteps. Just like those videos where you hear the word you read (eg here )

What @Wingwalk said. You expected to hear your husband’s footsteps so you thought you heard them. We all do this — I thought I heard DS calling me about half an hour ago, but he’s on a trip in another city with his dad, so I’m home alone. Oh, and out house is early Victorian, has had loads of deaths, as will any house that predates most deaths happening in hospitals, and one murder. Still not haunted.

That sounds terrifying. How strange that we've both shared "Wimpy house" experiences.

I heard noises a few weeks ago when I was alone in the house.

I immediately concluded that there’s a vampire doubling up in the spare room with a werewolf, and they had Claypole from Rentaghost round to watch the football.

It couldn’t have had a more rational explanation. Oh no.

Water in the pipes, pigeons on the roof, shower distorting the sound, the house just relaxing after a hot day, dogs crashing about, friendly local poltergeist. I always blame anything odd on our poltergeist, things falling out of cupboards, strange sounds in the night, him again.

My mum many years ago went to stay by herself in the country at a friend’s recently bought house, an old school house. She was woken up by banging and then distinct footsteps (she thought it sounded like boots). Both she and her dog were so scared they either left the same night or next morning. School house now sold.