A FORMER medieval prison dubbed as Britain’s most haunted house has finally been sold after 12 years.

Vanessa Mitchell owned The Cage, in Colchester Road, St Osyth, since 2004 and had frequently reported seeing ghostly goings on at the home, part of which was used to hold prisoners accused of witchcraft in the 16th century.

Following a number of spooky incidents, Vanessa decided to move out of the house four years later to live elsewhere in the village and put the property up for sale.

Frinton-based estate agent Home Domus, which put the property on the market for £240,000 last year, said the property has now been sold, subject to contract.

Halstead Gazette:

Florent Lambert, director of the firm, said: “Vanessa did try to sell The Cage numerous times since 2008 and with a number of different estate agents.

“Most agents advised her to sell at auction at ridiculous prices or were not at all interested as they predicted it could not be sold.

“I took it as a challenge and a mission to find the way to best sell it.”

Vanessa claimed she fled the house after she was physically attacked by spirits and said she was plagued by ghostly figures, pushed over while pregnant and witnessed mysterious blood splatters appearing.

The claims led to paranormal investigators making regular visits to The Cage and it was also the subject of a Channel 4 docudrama.

Mr Lambert added: “I also ran a campaign trying to sell the idea that The Cage would be a successful cottage to be rented to international paranormal tourism and turn what would normally be a turn off into an advantage.

“We attracted over 30,000 views on Rightmove which is a record for Essex in 2019 and also probably the highest exposure on Rightmove anywhere in the country that year.

“We finally got a cash buyer falling in love with the place but not believing at all into the supernatural element of it.”

A plaque on the side of the building describes the plight of Ursula Kemp, who was imprisoned in The Cage on suspicion of witchcraft before being hanged in Chelmsford in 1582.

Men, women and children were detained in lock-up until 1908.