There has been a settlement on this flood plain for many hundreds of years. In the 12th century, this building was part of the Cowick Priory. It is noted for the ghosts that inhabit it. Witnesses have seen an elderly monk still patrolling. He walks in through the front door, across the lounge, only to disappear in the bar. Locals knew him as Fred. He usually dressed in a dark coloured habit. He has a most benign face. People who have seen him say he appears so kindly and caring they have no fear of him. Another apparition here is dressed in the uniform of a Royalist soldier from the English Civil War. Often he is seen in bedrooms bending over people as they sleep.