Chicksands Priory dates back to 1150, when it was built by the Countess Rohese. It was to become the third largest house of the Gilbertine Order and in its ecclesiastical heyday could accommodate nearly 100 monks and nuns. However, when the Abbey was dissolved in October, 1538, only 23 were living there. The house has had several owners since that time, certainly from 1540 to 1587, when it was bought by Sir Peter Osborn. It remained in the hands of the Osborn family until sold to the Government in 1936. In 1940, the Royal Air Force took it over for use as an officers’ mess. The haunting of Chicksand Priory dates back to pre-Dissolution time, when the temptations of monks and nuns led to some of them breaking vows of chastity. In 1534, Thomas Cromwell received word of this and found that at least two of the nuns were pregnant, one by a canon and the other by a servant. It is one of these pregnant nuns who is thought to be the principal cause of the haunting. It is known that at least one of the unfortunate girls was bricked up alive in one of the walls whilst her lover, believed to be the canon, was beheaded. She is thought to be still looking for the body of her decapitated lover. However, although there have been many sightings of the lady, always on the 17th day of the month, there have also been varying descriptions of her. This has led people to speculate that there is more than one female entity that haunts the Priory.