HAUNTING figures have been seen inside Knutsford’s most historic building, it has been revealed.

The rattling of chains and unexplained noises have also been heard coming from former prisons cells in the basement.

The Courthouse is sharing some of its spookiest secrets as the venue, now a hotel and restaurant, opens its doors for a spine-tingling event.

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A ghost hunt, led by experienced paranormal investigators, The Occult Family, is being held on Wednesday, October 25 at 9pm.

Visitors will have the chance to use professional equipment and participate in various ghost-hunting activities, including Ouija boards.

Tickets are available from Eventbrite.

But beware, this trip isn’t for the faint-hearted.

The 200-year-old building is steeped in history and has witnessed countless dramas and murder trials when it was used as a court.

The Grade-11 listed venue, built in 1575, was originally known as The Sessions House.

Eight bowler hats above the door of the restaurant acknowledge the fact that eight men were sentenced to death.

The convicted defendants were executed on the site long ago when corporal punishment was still legal in the UK.

Their bodies were interred in the grounds of the Courthouse but have since been moved to Strangeways before the building was decommissioned as a court.

A spokesman for The Courthouse said: “We have many stories of paranormal activity taking place in these very walls.

“Staff members working late shifts have reported unexplained noises after the venue has closed.

“Some have questioned whether they have seen the hats move, wondering whether the souls of the condemned still haunt the crevices of the building after hours.”

Moans and groans are thought to be commonplace in the wrought iron and stone cells on the lowest floors.

Employees have sworn to have heard the faint sounds of rattling of chains.

Some have spotted the ghostly shapes of lowly prisoners, whose souls perhaps never left the cells where they were once held.

A tunnel connects the old police station next door to the railway station.

The link was built to transport prisoners under the road when the Courthouse was a gaol.

A prison with space for 700 inmates closed in 1914 and was demolished in 1934.

A Courthouse spokesman said: “Residents of Knutsford will be familiar of a reoccurring sinkhole in the town and it’s thought by many that this is due to a false floor put in above the tunnel.

“The more superstitious people who’ve followed the Courthouse’s paranormal activity question whether this is the vengeance of convicted criminals, wanting to get their own back on the town that sentenced them.”

In the dark dungeons, there is no phone signal and the atmosphere is very eerie.

Demand for the ghost hunt is expected to be high.

A ghost walk on October 27. has already sold out.