The current hall was built in 1848 by C. Challoner, a wine and timber merchant from Liverpool, while the back portion of the house which is owned by the Riddell family dates back to the 16th Century. According to legend there was a battle near the area that the hall now stands on and the grounds were used as a hospital and a place to keep the dead. A Roman road runs through the property and apparently a Roman villa was situated just metres from the house. There has been a building on the site since as early as 1100 AD when the Cressy family lived there until 1408 who were dais to have strong connections with the Knight's Templar. It is thought that in the early part of the 19th Century Edward Challoner killed someone in an illegal duel here and fled north where he married into the Riddell family. In order to further distance himself from the crime he allegedly had himself canonized as a Catholic Bishop. Paranormal encounters have included Roman soldiers spotted marching along the driveway and in the cellars, a woman with red hair and black Elizabethan clothes, an old housekeeper in the servants' quarters, and the back corridors and stairs are said to play host to phantom children. Other guests have included a little girl dressed in Victorian clothing in the dining room and an officer in uniform in the Boudoir, while the current owners believe The Bishop's Room is haunted by the ghost of a particularly unfriendly Bishop.