Pluckley is in the Guinness Book of records as it is reputed to be the most haunted village in Britain. It is reputed to have twelve (possibly thirteen or fourteen) ghosts. Some of these are:
- The spectre of the highwayman hid in a tree at the Pinnock
- A phantom coach and horses has been seen in several locations around the village
- The ghost of a Gypsy woman who drowned in a stream at the Pinnock
- The miller at Mill Hill
- The hanging body of a schoolmaster in Dicky Buss’s Lane
- A colonel who hanged himself in Park Wood
- A man smothered by a wall of clay who drowned at the brickworks
- The Lady of Rose Court, who is said to have poisoned herself in despair over a love triangle
- The White Lady, a young woman apparently buried inside 7 coffins and an oak sarcophagus who haunts St Nicholas’s Church
- The Red Lady, reputedly a member of the Dering family who haunts the churchyard of St Nicholas’s Church. A small white dog has also been reported in the same location.
The church of St. Nicholas
Located at the top of the first aisle in St Nicholas's Church is the Dering Chapel, where numerous members of the family lie buried. A strange, dancing light has frequently been seen in the upper section of the window to your right. It is often accompanied by the sound of knocking coming from the family vault beneath your feet. In the early 1970's, in the hope of recording supernatural phenomena, a group of psychic researchers persuaded the then rector, the Reverend John Pittock, to allow them to spend a night locked inside the church. Armed with their cameras, tape recorders, thermometers and other apparatus, they settled down to watch and wait. When the vicar came to let them out the next morning they complained of having spent an uneventful night, the boredom of which had been alleviated only by the vicar's dog, who had come to visit them from time to time. "Actually," the vicar commented, "I don't have a dog."
Greystones
Greystones is haunted by a monk who drifts among the surrounding trees. He is said to have lived in Tudor times, and is reputed to have fallen in love with the daughter of a neighbouring property. As we shall see shortly, she died under tragic circumstances and he sank into a state of melancholy and bitterness. His only solace was to walk the green fields and leafy lanes where they had enjoyed so many romantic interludes together. But, as time passed, he sank deeper into depression, pining for his dead lover, and finally died of a broken heart. His ghost, however, continued to wander the neighbourhood, and was last seen in 1989 by an American journalist who glimpsed his unmistakable brown-robed figure drifting behind the house.
Red lady in the grave yard
Lady Dering was buried in the graveyard of the local church, St Nicholas, in the 1100s in a coffin made of lead with a red rose place on top of her final resting place. There have been sightings of her, now known as the red lady after her rose, wandering the grave yard and wailing while she searches for the grave of her stillborn baby.
Menacing monk
A house named Greystones was always going to be imposing and threatening - and this one has its own ghostly monk for good measure. The house was originally built in 1863 and was called Rectory Cottage as it was the home of the rector of St Nicholas Church nearby. Nowadays its most famous resident is said to be the ghost of a monk. However, since it was remaned Greystones, the monk seems to have hidden himself as there have been no reports of unusual activity.
Rose court
The house is at least 250 years old, and is said to have been built by a member of the Dering family for his mistress; there is no exact date, but the period is generally described as "Tudor times". Whatever the case, the story goes that she fell in love with the monk who lived at Greystones, and found the love triangle so distressing that she drank a fatal cocktail distilled from the juices of ivy and other poisonous berries. When her body was discovered, it was apparent that her final moments had been spent looking across the field to Greystones. The fact that Greystones wasn't built until 1863 should not stand in the way of a perfectly good ghost story, there could have been another house on the site then! Strange things do indeed happen within Rose Court. Articles are moved around in the night, strange groans and sighs disturb the early hours and it is said that a peculiar eerie atmosphere is said to hang over the garden.
Pub ghouls
The atmospheric pub The Blacksmith's Arms boasts not one, but three, ghosts. Previously called both The Spectre's Arms and The Ghost's Arms because there have been so many hauntings, strange things are still going on behind its walls to this day. Among the figures who hve been sighted in the pub there are a Tudor maid, a coachman who gazes longingly at the fire in the public bar and a Cavalier wandering around the upstairs rooms.
Misty Miller
Richard 'Dicky' Buss, who had a lane (which is obviously also haunted) was a well known figure in the village last century. He was a miller and is said to now haunt the village's, now ruined and abandoned, windmill, The Pinnocks. Dicky closed his mill in 1930 and nine years later is was destroyed in a storm when it was struck by lightning. However, it seems Dicky has unfinished business and his spirit is said to still haunt the windmill. He is normally spotted just before a thunderstorm hits.
Thieving spirits
The Blacksmith's Arms isn't the only haunted pub in Pluckley - the Black Horse also has its fair share of ghosts. However, they're a shy set of spirits in this boozer and while they are cheeky, they've never actually been seen. The pub, which used to be a farmhouse belonging to the local bailiff and was surrounded by a moat, is famous for things magically disappearing from right in front of people But it seems these ghosts have a conscience because a few days after items disappear, they turn up again.
Suicidal colonel
The second man who took his own life in Pluckley is a colonel who hanged himself in Park Wood. He has been spotted wandering among the trees, even though much of the area has been cleared, his spirit still seems to remain.
Hunting lodge
If you thought two haunted pubs in one village was enough, you've definitely never visited Pluckley. The Derring Arms used to be a hunting lodge and is said to be home to the ghost of a woman wearing a bonnet. She has been seen by many customers and her figure is so clear, she's even been mistaken for a real drinker.
Screaming woods
The site has become a real tourist trap with brave souls even choosing to spend the night camping beneath the canopy of trees. There have been numerous reports of the sounds of screaming men and women being heard after dark. They're said to be the sounds of those who died while lost in the misty woods.
Many thanks to https://www.london-walking-tours.co.uk/ , https://www.kentlive.news/ and https://www.pluckley.net/ for the info regarding Pluckley.
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