The Paranormal Database

Screaming

Location: Pluckley - Area around the Brickworks, Pluckley Heath
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1991, and 09 October 2021
Further Comments: To hear the screaming ghost (a man who fell down a claypit) is not uncommon in this area and is reported to be quite bloodcurdling. A witness who heard the scream in 1991 said that they were familiar with fox noises and the ghost's cries did not resemble those of the creature. In 2021 two witnesses were left 'spooked' as they drove past the Brickworks and passed through a localised mist which contained pocket-like holes.

Invisible Hand

Location: Pluckley - Black Horse Public House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s onwards (pub), 1970s (house)
Further Comments: This non-alcoholic spirit moves items across the bar, tidies, and sometimes hides coats and wallets, with a particular interest in black cardigans. The site is also home to disembodied screaming. In an interview with the Evening News, a former owner of the adjoining property claimed to have seen a tall dark figure appear in the bedroom.

Tudor Maid

Location: Pluckley - Blacksmiths Arms public house (aka Spectres Arms, aka Ghosts, aka Blacksmith's Forge tearoom), no longer open
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1995 (boy), others unknown
Further Comments: This now closed establishment changed its name a few times to cash in on its haunted reputation, with one publican blaming evil spirits for going bankrupt. A Tudor maid, a coachman (or old lady) who stood by the fireplace, and a Cavalier are named as the ghosts which made their home here, although the daughter of one owner once spotted a phantom little boy.

Flickering Light

Location: Pluckley - Church of St Nicholas
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1939 (light)
Further Comments: Sounds of knocking can be heard coming from beneath the church at night, often accompanied by a flickering and fluttering light inside the empty building. Some say the light belongs to Lady Dering, buried within three (or four) lead coffins to prevent her decay. In 1959, a psychic investigator claimed to have removed the entity. The churchyard is also reputed to be haunted by a red lady, wandering the area in search of her missing baby, and a ghostly dog. Finally, the inside of the church is also said to be haunted by a woman in mid-twentieth century clothing.

Victorian Woman

Location: Pluckley - Dering Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pub is said to be home to a phantom woman in Victorian clothing who lurks by the bar (or the window).

Amorous Foxes

Location: Pluckley - Dering Woods (aka Screaming Woods)
Type: Other
Date / Time: Always
Further Comments: The Woodland Trust denied the woodland was haunted by a gypsy who accidentally burnt herself to death or a headmaster who committed suicide, but rather by the sounds of amorous foxes. The Trust also highlighted that they had spent six thousand pounds on clearing up the damage caused by ghost hunters (or by people using ghost hunting as an excuse to be idiots).

Pleased to Meet you...

Location: Pluckley - Devil's Bush (near 'Fright Corner', but may no longer exist)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An unknown bush in the village can be used to summon the Devil, by dancing three (or thirteen) times around it, and/or saying (or not saying) a spell.

Headmaster

Location: Pluckley - Dicky Buss's Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: Taking his own life in the 1800's, the phantom headmaster was observed by an author in the mid-twentieth century; the entity wore stripy trousers and an old coat.

Walker

Location: Pluckley - Elvey Farm Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Blamed for poltergeist activity, a phantom walker was once said to frequent the farmhouse. There are also reports of a haunting smell (burning yarn or wool) and the ghost of Old Bill, who sits on the end of a bed and talks to himself.

Dying Highwayman

Location: Pluckley - Fright (aka Frith) Corner
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A large spectral tree has been seen here, together with a highwayman pinned to it by several swords. On other occasions, a phantom older woman is spotted; identified as Sarah Sharp, she is believed to be a watercress seller who accidentally set herself on fire with her pipe while sleeping.

Miller

Location: Pluckley - Mill Hill, location where the windmill once stood, near the Pinnock
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather dependant: Prior to a storm
Further Comments: The area around the windmill, which burnt down in 1939 after a lightning strike, would receive visits from a long dead miller (or a figure in black), with at least one story claiming the entity still haunts the site and manifests before a storm. A letter to a local newspaper in 1948 claimed the ghost to be actually an owl.

Colonel

Location: Pluckley - Park Wood (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1965?
Further Comments: This woodland, levelled in 1965, was home to a phantom officer who had hanged himself at the site.

Owl

Location: Pluckley - Pinnock Farm
Type: Other
Date / Time: Pre 1948
Further Comments: A letter in the Kentish Express reported a ghost thought to be at the farm turned out to be a screech owl.

Alarm

Location: Pluckley - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1989
Further Comments: Two employees would be woken at 02:15h by their alarms over a two week period, although neither had set their devices. The figure of a young woman quickly vanished after being spotted by one employee, and a cat would appear in the building before disappearing in areas with no possible exist. Finally, men (but never women) would find one room particularly disturbing, with builders refusing to work within and guests leaving during the night.

Caviller

Location: Pluckley - Private residence, Forge Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Autumn 1962
Further Comments: Two women in this property spotted a Caviller looking in through a front window. The witnesses rushed to the door expecting to find someone in fancy dress, but no one could be seen. One woman described the head as not solid, although it was not transparent either. Another occupant in the same house heard a thundering sound on the road outside and was convinced he had witnessed a phantom coach.

Coach

Location: Pluckley - Road between village and Maltman's Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom coach pulled by four horses can be heard thundering along the road after dark.

Tutor Lady

Location: Pluckley - Rose Court
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This reputed female phantom could be heard calling out for her hounds, although it is said that she has not been heard for many years. The woman is said to have committed suicide by eating poisonous berries.

Dog Walkers

Location: Pluckley - Station Road, area around Greystones House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Couple unknown, monk reported seen in 1971
Further Comments: Victims of the all-too-common love triangle that ends in suicide, this couple and their little dog can be heard walking and chatting down this area of the road. The road is also the haunt to a ghostly Cavalier, while Greystones itself is reputedly home to a phantom monk.

Flaming Woman

Location: Pluckley - Surrenden House (original house burnt down 1952)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring) (Dering), circa 1904 (fiery figure)
Further Comments: Tradition has it that a former Lady Dering would manifest as a white lady on Christmas Eve. In 1904, newspapers reported that a visitor to the house spotted a burning woman holding a baby running along the driveway. The witness fainted, and by the time she had recovered, the figure had vanished. Another entity, later the same day, was said to have tried to strangle another woman in her bed (although the newspaper speculated this event occurred because of the day's excitement).

Horses & Carriage

Location: Pluckley - The main village street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen trotting down the main street, the history of the carriage pulled by two horses (or four, depending on the source) is unknown.

Cold Spot

Location: Pluckley - The Old Bakery
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The former bakery is said to have a 'presence', disembodied footsteps, and a permanent cold spot; the events started after renovations were carried out.

Taxi Fare

Location: Pluckley - Unnamed road in village
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Late twentieth century / circa April 1976
Further Comments: A taxi driver reported seeing a man on the roadside who flagged the taxi down. The fare climbed into the back of the cab, but when the driver turned around to ask his passenger where he was heading, he found the car empty. While the motif of this story is a common urban legend, it may be a corruption of a newspaper story from April 1976, where taxi driver Michael Spalding claimed he hit a 'tramp' who walked in the middle of the road. Spalding felt a bump, stopped the car, but was unable to find the figure he had hit. After thirty minutes of searching the area, he reported the incident to the police.