Gresley Old Hall is well known for being one of the most haunted places in Britain and paranormal investigators flock to the landmark to see if they can talk to any of the spirits that are said to reside there.

The old priory on the land of Gresley Old Hall was brought by Sir Christopher Alleyne in 1556, who used the old materials left over from the former building to create the hall.

The attic at Gresley Old Hall
The attic at Gresley Old Hall

It is said that the fireplace in the parlour, one of the main features of the building, was manufactured from fluted blocks, which was created from the materials reclaimed from the priory.

In the roof, the top floor was fitted out for cock fighting. The birds were brought into the ring in the centre of the floor via passageways concealed within the lining of the roof. Spectators would then watch the fighting from one of two locations in the room.

Tales of grisly deaths surround the hall including children who were abused and abandoned and a man who was stabbed to death on the first floor landing. It is said the blood stains are still visible today, despite several attempts to cover them up.

Legend has it that a derelict room on the second floor houses the lost souls of three children who died in a house fire after their maid fell asleep beside the fire. After the accident, the room was boarded up and never used again.

It is said the woman is one of the most famous ghosts in the hall and she does not like her story being told, and so she may try to scare people by making things move or lights switch out.

People who lived at the hall allegedly would refuse to go upstairs alone for fear of being terrorised by the ghost of the maid.

The hall has been standing for hundreds of years

It is believed the ghost of the lady that has been spotted at the hall is a 65-year-old woman called Margery, who worked as a maid during the Victorian era.

Groups often congregate to the hall to carry out their own investigations, including the Haunted Company, a Derbyshire-based group.

The group is headed by Andrew Elson, a medium who is on a quest to feed the hunger of those curious about the paranormal wanting to find out.

A spokesman for the group said: "With such a long and interesting history, it's no surprise that Gresley Old Hall is said to be one of the country's most active haunted buildings, with regularly reported poltergeist activity and cold spots.

"Shadows are seen and footsteps heard throughout the hall's many floors and rooms, and the attack is another story entirely!"

I went down to a paranormal investigation evening with the Haunted Company, a group of experts based in Derbyshire.

The attic room or otherwise known as the 'redhand' room

I arrived at the old hall, which is still used for community events, and was nervous about the night ahead of me.

I have never thought of myself as a believer in ghosts, but something about them still made me feel uneasy.

When I arrived, all the guests were split into small groups and get the chance to investigate some of the claims of haunting in the building.

A wide range of equipment is available to be used, from technical tools such as cameras, emf meters and voice recorders to traditional items such as dowsing rods, pendulums and Ouija boards.

We went up to one of the rooms, reportedly the most haunted room in the building where we were shown how to use dowsing rods to communicate with a spirit in the room.

The rods work by making contact with a spirit and asking them how they say yes and how they say no. After that, it is said you can ask the spirit yes or no questions and they will answer to tell you their story.

Things took a more frightening turn when my torch - which had been on charge for most of the day - suddenly died after we had been in the room for around 20 minutes.

The landing to the rooms upstairs. all this area is derelict and has no power

After a quick scramble to get the torch to work again, the torch died again exactly when investigators I was with told the spirits to turn off the torch - which was on the other side of the room to us all.

Being a reporter, I also had two pens in my pocket, which had both leaked in my pocket after being in the room, despite working completely fine before we went upstairs.

The team believed this activity was caused by the spirit of the maid who died in the hall all those years ago.

I am wary to say that I am a true believer in the paranormal now, but I am certainly more uncertain than I was before.

The experience is something I would, without a doubt, recommend to anyone who is curious about the paranormal

Anyone interested in going to any of the group's future events can find out more information by visiting their website: hauntedcompany.com.