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England’s Most Haunted Village

Pluckley is a pretty village at the heart of rural Kent. On the surface, living in the picturesque ‘Garden of England’ and also being a stone’s throw from London sounds about as good as it gets. However if you are a believer in the paranormal then you may want to read on, because Pluckley has a history of strange goings on.

There have been reported sightings of ghosts throughout the village, from the church to the local pub. Perhaps the most haunting of these reports, and apparently one of the most common, is one that can be heard at the old brickworks. The story goes that a worker was killed in an accident here and his chilling screams are supposedly still heard to this day. A little further up the road, at a point that is aptly known as ‘Fright Corner’, the legend of a fight between a highwayman and some other criminals is told. The highwayman is reported to have met his end when pinned to a tree by a sword. The tree in question no longer exists, however a ghostly re-enactment is supposed to take place at Fright Corner.

Whether you are a believer in these stories or dismiss them as mere myth and legend, Pluckley was officially recognised as the most haunted village in England by the Guinness Book of Records in 1989, with 12 ghosts. It is perhaps an unexpected accolade for a place that is so attractive that is was chosen as the setting for the television series ‘The Darling Buds of May’ in the 1990s.

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