The building was allegedly built by Roger de Montgomery in 1085, as a hostel for imported masons & craftsmen working on the nearby Shrewsbury Abbey. There seems to be little evidence for this, and certainly what you can currently see is largely Tudor, with plenty of beams and other period features, such as wattle and daub construction.

The name comes from a mythical cow that gave an inexhaustible supply of milk.

For a time in the 1990s the pub was owned by Mad O'Rourkes Little Pub Co, so was briefly known as the Dun Cow Pie Shop. The pub has a resident ghost, last seen in 2003.