A Norfolk stately home has been named among the best in Britain thanks to its ghoulish connection to Anne Boleyn. 

Blickling Hall gained a place on The Telegraph's list of Britain's 15 greatest stately homes.

With their experts considering the necessary ingredients they looked to the John Russell, the 12th Duke of Bedford, for some advice. 

He opened his historic property Woburn Abbey to the public in 1955, later publishing How to Run a Stately Home as a guide for other aristocrats thinking of doing the same. 

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In the guide, he noted: “One absolutely indispensable attraction is a ghost.

"All things eerie, frightening and sinister are good for business.”

Gothic-style Blickling Hall, located near Ayslham, was built on the ruins of a Tudor manor believed to have been the birthplace of Anne Boleyn, the second and ill-fated wife of Henry VIII.

It is now said she haunts the house and she has been seen arriving in a carriage drawn by headless horses, driven by headless horsemen, and even carrying her own head. 

The hall was eventually left to the National Trust in 1940 by Philip Kerr, 11th Marquis of Lothian. It is available to visit year-round with adult tickets starting at £16.60, and free entry for National Trust members.