Milton Abbas: Couple find mummified cat in renovations

Michelle Murphy-Keane, 52, and her husband Declan, 58, bought the cottage in the picturesque village of Milton Abbas in the wake of the Covid pandemic in 2021.

Built in 1773, the property overlooks the nearby cemetery from St James' Church, and has been worked on for the past two months following three years of the couple trying to get planning permission to do the renovations.

The cottage (Image: Michelle Murphy-Keane) During the work, the couple were informed of a surprise guest in their attic, which they believe is a mummified cat.

Mrs Keane said: “When we had builders up there to replace the thatching, they found a mummified cat among the thatching overlooking the graveyard.

“I was a bit shocked, but I thought with a house as old as this, doing renovations would disturb something.”

The mummified cat in the the thatch (Image: Michelle Murphy-Keane) The practice of concealing a dried cat to protect the home - to everything from natural and human disasters to supernatural attack from witches or evil spirits – is believed to have taken place across the UK and Europe from medieval times through, in some cases, to the Victorian era.

Mrs Keane, who moved to Dorset with her husband from Essex, since named the feline find ‘Jimmy’ as she looked more into the cause.

She said: “I started to do some research and I found that mummified cats were used hundreds of years ago to ward of evil spirits and protect the home.

“I was definitely surprised that it was a mummified cat. I was concerned about the home overlooking the graveyard when I moved in and my dog refuses to go inside the house every time we visited so I didn’t know if there was anything malevolent.

“I spoke with the two previous owners, who had occupied the home for the previous 70 years all in, and they’ve never said anything bad about the place.”

Declan and Michelle Murphy-Keane (Image: Michelle Murphy-Keane) Speaking about what’s next for ‘Jimmy’, Mrs Keane said: “We want to put him back in the ceiling.

"The builder asked if we wanted to throw it away at first, but he’s probably lived here for hundreds of years and has been doing a job of keeping the house safe all this time so I don’t want to get rid of him.

“I will also make sure to put a picture of him up in the house, and I would welcome any local historians to get in touch with me as I would love to know more about the tradition in Dorset."

She added: “We’ve really settled in well and, when we bought the home, we felt like its custodians and a part of history and we really want to look after it - with everyone in the village telling us it’s great to see work carried out.”