Christchurch Mansion is one of Ipswich’s most iconic buildings and one of its most historic.

And if anywhere is going to be haunted it will be there.

As we enter through the front porch, Ipswich-based psychic Sue Knock is already tuning in to her psychic gifts.

She said: “I’m a receiver. I tune into frequencies of past events and people. It’s a like being a radio.”

To the right of the great hall we stand a while at the foot of the staircase.

Psychic Sue said: “I can sense soldiers and monks running. There has been violence here. I can hear swords being drawn. They have come from London.”

In the Fonnereau Dining room Sue tunes in again with even more remarkable results.

She said: “French is being spoken and there’s a man here with naval connections. I can see a little man, he’s running around and he’s being hidden here. He’s half French and half English. He’s being hidden here by the owner.”

Sue goes on to say that she thinks he may have been a British spy during Napoleonic times.

She added: “There are some secret stairs or tunnels to the docks. There is a way out of the mansion and he is being taken across water to France. Not everything in this house is what it seems.”

As we climb the stairs Sue picks up on another ghostly presence.

She said: “There is a lady with two children. They are happy and laughing but I can hear them coughing. I wonder if something like whooping cough caused their deaths but they are happy here and have stayed.

“They are quite small children and she is holding their hands.”

Through the Victorian displays Sue spots the little spy a second time.

She said: “He was hidden up here but he disappears. Maybe there is a trap door or some stairs that lead down to a way out.”

As we head downstairs towards the kitchen and working area of the house Sue makes another observation and comes up with a name.

She said: “There was lots of rushing around on the stairs. I am picking up the name Violet. She’s working very hard and is up and down the stairs. She is about 14. It is quite depressing in this area. If you were rich you had a very easy life but for the servants it was a life of misery.”

In the mansion’s servant’s hall Sue mentions another character from the past.

She said: “There is a very strict woman here. She might be a housekeeper. She is watching everything and she is in a position of authority. She’s powerful and not really very nice. She’s a bit unkind.”

It is as Sue looks out of the window she senses something extraordinary.

She said: “There is a carriage in the grounds. I can hear the horses’ hooves. It is a lady and gentleman arriving from London. They are quite important people, maybe diplomats. There is a lot of rushing around. They have come to stay here.”