Concealed Cats, The Dead Watchmen Hidden in the Walls
When the Guardians of Old Houses Were Already Dead
Old shoes.
Glass bottles.
Scraps of dried cloth.
And sometimes—
a cat.
Not a living cat.
A long‑dead, dried, mummified cat.
The Voice of Hassocks [CC0]
At the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall, several such cats are preserved.
One black, dried cat in the collection was found in the roof of the Blancs-Mesnil monastery building in Normandy, France.
According to the museum, it was placed there sometime after the building’s last major reconstruction in 1740.
The museum notes that dried cats are often found in the roofs of old buildings, possibly as magical protections against rats and mice, or as charms to ward off misfortune and evil spirits.
Sometimes, it’s unclear whether a cat simply got trapped and died—
or whether someone placed it there deliberately.
But some cases are hard to dismiss as accidents.
Another item in the museum’s collection is a red‑colored dried cat placed together with two dead mice.
The cat and mice were arranged as if the cat were catching them.
The museum explains that this positioning strongly suggests the animals were placed intentionally after death.
It’s a strange method when you think about it.
If you wan