Pluckley is a village in Kent, England, long reputed to be Britain's most haunted village. It earned a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1989, and popular accounts have credited it with anywhere from twelve to sixteen distinct ghosts since the claim first took hold in the mid-20th century. The village itself is small enough to walk end to end in about twenty minutes, meaning several of its best-known hauntings sit within easy reach of one another.
Kent Woodland Highwayman Churchyard Most Haunted Village
How the reputation began
Pluckley's "most haunted village" status is often treated as ancient legend, but its documented roots are much more recent. Local historian Frederick Sanders began writing up the village's ghost stories from the late 1930s onward, and the tales were picked up by paranormal authors through the 1960s and '70s, gradually growing from around ten named hauntings to the twelve-to-sixteen figure usually quoted today. A 1973 ghost-hunt organised out of London is credited with cementing several of the stories — including the phantom coach and the monk — into the village's standard roster.
The ghosts
The highwayman of Fright Corner
The best-known Pluckley haunting centres on an unnamed (in some versions, "Robert DuBois") highwayman who is said to have used a roadside oak at what's now called Fright Corner to ambush travellers. Accounts differ on his end — some say he was run through with a sword and pinned to the tree, others that he was caught and beheaded by villagers — but all agree his ghost re-enacts the moment, appearing as a shadowy figure against the tree, sometimes accompanied by the sound of clashing blades.
The Screaming Woods
Dering Woods, immediately south of the village, are better known locally as the Screaming Woods. The name comes from reports of anguished cries heard from within the treeline at night, most often attributed to a young man who is said to have taken his own life there, or to an 18th-century army colonel who did the same in what was once Park Wood. Visitors also report the sensation of being watched and the sound of footsteps that stop the moment they turn around.
The Red Lady and the White Lady of St Nicholas
Pluckley's parish church, St Nicholas's, is linked to two Dering family ghosts. The Red Lady is said to be a member of the Dering family whose spirit haunts the churchyard, sometimes seen alongside a small white dog. The White Lady, reputedly the wife of the local baron, is said to have been buried inside seven coffins and an oak sarcophagus specifically to keep her from walking — she's linked to nightly knocking once reported at the church doors.
Other filed hauntings
- The Watercress Woman — a Gypsy woman said to have drowned in a stream near Pinnock Bridge while gathering watercress.
- The phantom coach and horses — a ghostly carriage, complete with hoofbeats and glowing windows, reported on streets that are no longer cobbled.
- The miller — seen near Mill Hill, close to the site of a former mill.
- The Hanging Schoolmaster — said to haunt Dicky Buss's Lane, where he reportedly took his own life.
- The Screaming Man of the Clay Pit — a brickworks labourer said to have died under a collapsing wall of clay, his final screams still reportedly heard near the old industrial site.
Modern investigations
Pluckley's reputation has drawn television crews and paranormal investigators for decades, including productions such as Most Haunted and Ghost Hunters International. In 2026, academic research from the University of the West of England traced the origin of several of the village's specific ghost stories back to Sanders's original mid-century writing, offering the first documented account of how the legend actually took shape rather than simply repeating it.
Visiting
Pluckley is a real, lived-in village, and Dering Woods sit partly on private and Woodland Trust land — visitors are asked to stick to public footpaths and be respectful of residents, particularly around the church and churchyard.
Got a Pluckley story of your own, or an encounter from somewhere similar?
Submit a Story
Join the Facebook Group