Friends Unveil Haunted Cottage’s Secrets

Childhood pals SALLY SELL and SAMANTHA DAVIES share their creepy experiences living in a haunted cottage in West Sussex that made them (possibly) believe in ghosts 

The two of us have been friends since childhood and back in 2012, we were excited to move in to our first home together! We privately rented a spacious three bed cottage that was situated on a large amount of woodland in the picturesque, West Sussex countryside.  

Characterised by its dark green and rather oppressive kitchen, garish patterned, moth-eaten carpets, and clinical white walls throughout, it certainly had its quirks and required more than a ‘lick of paint’. 

The cottage was oil-fed, and we later discovered cost a fortune to heat in the long winter months. It was deathly cold with its single pane, lead lined windows, which always had condensation on the insides and only intensified our endless battles against the damp that spread like a plague across the stark white walls. All this aside, the rent was affordable, and it was the call for independence in a beautiful setting that sealed the deal. 

Prior to moving in, we had a shared, sceptical interest in the paranormal, but this grew into a fascination after living here. The many unexplained events made us question ourselves and our sanity during this time. 

It wasn’t long after moving in before strange things started to occur. We both suffered terrible sleep. One of us had harrowing experiences of sleep paralysis which had never happened  before, or since. Inanimate objects would move or go missing only to reappear again after  searching high and low for them which was maddening.

Shadow figures were seen peripherally and reoccurring footsteps were often heard. Tv’s, iPods and electronics were unpredictable,  turning on full blast in the day or night – when this happened, we would jest, ‘dodgy electrics’  and that was our comforting rationalisation. The electrics, although they had been checked  before we moved in, were questionable with the house nearing 100 years old. 

Other encounters included one of us witnessing little handprints appear on the inside of the bedroom window, we both separately experienced the terror of thinking someone had broken into the cottage while we were alone, hearing and feeling through the old wooden flooring, very prominent heavy stomping down the main corridor which seemed far more aggressive and alarming than the usual, more subtle walking footsteps which were commonplace. 

One of our partners had a heavy vase of flowers launched at him from the fireplace and he too experienced sleep issues whilst staying in the cottage. Another occasion he thought that one of us had snuck up behind him and said his name right in his ear, even feeling the breath and  turned quickly to an empty room.

Several people, including us had caught glimpses of, or heard  what sounded like a little boy laughing in the back bedroom closet and hallway. The sound of a  music box would play at night – we even searched the entire cottage and roof space thinking  there must be one somewhere, but we never found it. 

Most of the time, the daily annoyances of vanishing objects, cupboards / doors opening, or electrical oddities were manageable but there were a handful of times that were genuinely terrifying, and so after a few years of living with this, we were ready to move on.

We still try to rationalise events, being that it was very old, damp, and creaky, or maybe the isolation of the property fuelled our anxieties and imaginations? However, we are not alone, as several friends, partners and family members who frequented the cottage, still reminisce about the various strange experiences that they too had which validates our belief that this could well have been paranormal.  

In hindsight, we wish we had scientifically investigated these frequent events, but at the time we couldn’t afford to live elsewhere and feared that provoking might exacerbate matters. It did feel like fear and rumination fuelled it, so turning a blind eye became a coping mechanism. 

We often drive past the cottage now and wonder if the current residents experience any of the many strange events that we did and we can’t comprehend how we lived there for several years. 

Our curiosity ignited, we have since been on several paranormal investigations, it’s a fun pass time when you can walk away at the end of the night! One that we both attended which was held at the famous Hell Fire Caves in High Wycombe was very interesting and we loved the history but both still sceptical believers, we didn’t personally experience anything paranormal there that night. 

This photograph of the cottage was taken in the dead of winter from the bottom of the garden. 

When we were stood at the kitchen window, we would often sense someone down there, just out of sight in the treeline and it was very unnerving. You never get used to that feeling. The feeling of being watched. 

Have you had a ghost experience like this haunted cottage? Tell us in the comment section below or message us via our contact page!