This five centuries old building was once a hunting lodge for Henry 8th. Many years ago, a Lord of the Manor made a village girl, who worked at the pub, pregnant. He assaulted her. He threw her injured body into the village pond where she drowned. She is still in residence at the inn, drifting through the building as a ghost, in a light coloured dress. There have been serious efforts in the past to exorcise her. However, this happened without success. In the Domesday Book, Rayleigh records as having a number of villagers, a smallholder, and two slaves. Earlier this century, a Saxon burial ground someone found at Rayleigh with 144 cremations.