Phantom Cottage

Just outside Islington is a mystery which defies logic and it concerns a ‘Brigadoon’ type cottage. A woman moved into the district and decided to get acquainted with her surroundings and so she took to walking the lanes. One day she spotted, through some trees, the most charming country cottage she had ever seen, for ages she stood admiring the building. When she returned to the village she met the man who owned the land on which the cottage stood and took the opportunity to express her admiration of his cottage. The perplexed landowner explained that he didn’t own such a property and all that stood on his land was trees. The woman was insistent she had seen the building and so the next evening both she and the landowner returned to the spot. When they arrived, no matter how hard the woman searched she could find no charming cottage – just trees.

A few years later, a new bungalow was built near to the spot where the woman had seen the cottage. Once again the owner of the new bungalow met the land owner and she too inquired as to who he neighbour was that lived in the charming cottage. She also asked how one got to the dwelling because despite a frantic search she could find no entrance to it. Again the landowner had to explain that there was no such cottage on his land just trees.

A short while after this incident an Ordnance Surveyor was in the area and noticed the cottage from afar and the fact that it was not marked on his map. So he decided go down and get its exact location in order to include it on the next map print. When he arrived at the spot, much to his frustration he could find no trace of the cottage he had previously seen. A villager passed by so the surveyor inquired as to the location of the cottage only to be told that they had seen it once but they too could never find it again.