For many years a life-size wax figure of a boy was preserved behind a curtain on the great staircase here.

It was known as the "Luck of Hintlesham", and it was said that if it was broken or removed the house would pass out of the owner's family and disasters would follow.

Disaster did indeed strike, according to Mary Lewis's book Stranger Than Fiction (1911), when the figure was removed from the staircase for a dance.

"That very night," she writes "occurred a shock of earthquake enough to cause part of the house to fall down!"

The model was said to be that of a boy whose family owned the hall in the late 18th century. He was rumoured to have been starved to death by his stepmother, whose ghost later haunted the staircase and library.

Certainly there have been reports of the library door swinging open "as though propelled by an invisible but purposeful hand" and then closing again.

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Headless horseman by the hanging tree
By Guy Campbell: Credit for article goes to BBC, Guy campbell. Thank You.

A headless horsesman, restless souls visiting where they were hanged and a mysterious girl looking down from an upstairs window - Guy Campbell explains why Roos Hall is among Suffolk's spookiest locations.

A hunt for East Anglia's most haunted house will undoubtedly include a visit to a strange, crenellated mansion on the outskirts of Beccles.

In fact, Roos Hall is regarded by some ardent ghost hunters as the most haunted house in the country.

The 16th Century hall has several physical assets which could send a shiver down the spine - perhaps none more so than the 'hanging tree', an oak which stands on the site of a gibbet where many local criminals ended their days.

There is also a strange marking inside, known as the 'Devil's footprint' and the pale face of a small girl has been seen peering out from the topmost gable window.

And away from the physical signs, stories of a headless horseman roaming the grounds, clattering down the driveway with his phantom coach and four horses every Christmas Eve, add further weight to the Hall's spooky legacy.

The girl in the window
Janet T. Sawyer, whose family farmed at Ringsfield and then ran a dairy farm in Beccles, has collated the stories and used them as inspiration for her historical novel which centres around the hall.

Can you see the young girl?
"A few years ago I went for a walk along Puddingmoor on a dismal morning and it was very gloomy and I said to my aunt 'that house looks odd; it needs a story written about it because it must be haunted'.

"And I took down details of ghostly sightings from my family and friends.''

The result was 'Jess of Roos Hall' which was published in 2007. "This is a spooky hall. Not only has it been haunted, but I've been haunted too by the stories.

"I was sometimes not entirely sure who was writing this book."

The author describes how the gentry dealt with illegitimate offspring, and how their outlook and achievements were affected by ignorance of their true birth. The heroics of Lord Nelson, sea battles, and the horrors of the slave trade are also featured in the book.

The hall was owned by the Suckling family - who had connections to Nelson - and it was subsequently passed to the Rich family following the marriage between Sir John Suckling's widow and Sir Edwin Rich.

According to English Heritage, it is once again owned by a member of the Suckling family.

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