A curious homeowner is calling on experts to explain a mystery ball found in the walls of her home.

Gillian Romano-Critchley, 43, was having work done inside her grade two listed house in December when a builder found the 2in hollow ball nestled in the original 18th Century walls.

The man-made ball, made of two pieces of fabric wrapped in a shell of plant material, has already raised a lot of interest among Coggeshall residents on social media.

Some have speculated it could be a protective object to ward off the devil.

Now Mrs Romano-Critchley, who lives in West Street, Coggeshall, is seeking advice from archaeologists at the National Trust to find out what it could be.

Sarah Barfoot, community engagement manager for the National Trust in Essex, hopes to arrange for an archaeologist and conservator to examine the ball.

During her time with the National Trust, she has seen animal bones, shoes and even a mummified cat discovered in the walls of old homes.

She said: "We have had experience of finding things in walls but normally this sort of behaviour is form the medieval era, when people would try to protect their houses with marks or objects.

"That’s why we are particularly interested in seeing this ball which appears to date to much later."

Once the ball is identified, Mrs Romano-Critchley hopes to put the ball behind a viewing window back in the wall it came from.