A couple found bones, teeth and animal carcass' in their walls - while renovating their 1850s Victorian house.

Millie Molloy, 24, and Brad Worth, 23, thought they had purchased an ordinary £175k two-bed home until they started work on the property.

They removed all the walls and started to find bones wrapped in muslin cloth - which they said initially put them on "edge"."

When they found a hammer in the next section of the wall Millie started to worry about what they had uncovered.

But after speaking to a local historian they were told it was an animal bone put into the wall to ward off the evil spirits - and the hammer had just been left during a previous renovation.

Millie and Brad found at least three bones in their walls, teeth, and a pigeon carcass - as well as a women's heeled shoe - which they were told protects fertility.

The couple have nearly finished their renovation - spending £30k to £40k on it so far - and have now tried to incorporate some of the Victorian history back into it.

Millie, who works in admin, from Plymouth, Devon, said: "We removed all the walls and were left with objects in the wall."

"We were finding bones and things in the walls - wrapped in muslin cloth."

"It puts you on edge."

"We could see teeth - it was still very odd."

"We spoke to local people who know Plymouth's history and they explained they took animals and would bury them in the walls to ward off evil spirits."

Brad, a carpenter, added: "We were finding these bones and in the next wall there was a hammer."

The couple bought the property in July 2023 and didn't realise how far it dated back to until they started tearing it apart that same month.

Millie said: "The pigeon made me jump - it was in the chimney breast."

"When we pulled down the chimney breast a woman's heeled court shoe fell out."

"It was put there in the early Victorian times to protect the house fertility."

"We decided to put the shoe back as we're looking to start a family one day."

The couple also found a postcard dating back to 1952 which led them to discover their home was once a butchers around the 1920s.

They have also found the original wallpaper after peeling back six to seven layers.

Brad said: "We got quite lucky."

"The ceilings had been dropped by half a metre. It had preserved all the layers of wall paper."

Millie said: "I've created a scrapbook of all the rubbish and wallpaper we've found."

"It's a remembrance of what was in the house."

After discovering their property dated back to the Victorian era the couple have now injected some of that character back into the home.

They created a Victorian fireplace - using a £35 fireplace surround from Facebook Marketplace, free non-functional fireplace, and chequered tiles costing £147.20.

Millie said: "We fell in love with Victorian elements."

"Now we are creating a mixture of soft modern and Victorian elements."

Brad added: "We're reinstating the old character."

The couple are currently creating the loft into a third bedroom with an en-suite before putting the finishing touches to the rest of the house.

They aim to be finished by the end of summer.