The Witch’s Ladder, A Feathered Cord Found Under the Roof
A Rope Found in an Attic, and the Fear People Filled It With
When an old house was being demolished, something strange was found beneath the roof.
It wasn’t just a rope.
It was about 1.5 meters long, with a loop at one end.
Feathers were woven into it from end to end.
In the same space, several old brooms and a worn‑out chair were found.
Today, this object sits in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford under the name “Witch’s Ladder.”
According to the museum’s records, it was discovered in the attic of a house in Wellington, Somerset, and catalogued as PRM 1911.32.7.
The description says it was a rope threaded with rooster feathers, said to have been used to steal a neighbor’s cow’s milk or even to kill a person.
But here’s where things get complicated.
It’s not actually certain that this was ever a witch’s tool.
According to an 1887 issue of The Folk‑Lore Journal, the object was found during the demolition of an old house between 1878 and 1879.
Workers at the site claimed the chair was for a witch to rest on, the brooms were for flying, and the feathered rope was a ladder witches used to climb across roofs.
But the writer noted that he could find no evidence for why the workers believed this.
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