Kent Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Battleship Conqueror
Location: Lower Upnor - Dockyard
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1923
Further Comments: Wandering around the Conqueror during her decommissioning and deconstruction, Donald Maxwell found himself in the remains of the wardroom. As Maxwell stood there, figures started to form around the room, and he recognised the Commander and other officers who were still alive and likely only a couple of miles away. Maxwell quickly left after the phantom sounds of battle flared up.
First added: 2025-12-22 | Last updated: 2025-12-22 | ID #16211
Lavender Lady
Location: Lullingstone - Lullingstone Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Named after the lavender scent her presence creates, this phantom lady was a member of the Hart family who took her own life after being caught fraternising with a member of staff. One story says the ghost was seen crying by the kitchen, while others speak of a rustling of her dress.
First added: 2026-05-24 | Last updated: 2026-05-24 | ID #16585
Cat
Location: Lydd - George Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1978
Further Comments: People have reported being woken during the night when a small cat jumps on their bed, though they can find no trace of the creature when the light is turned on.
First added: 2002-11-13 | Last updated: 2002-11-13 | ID #3172
Young Man
Location: Lydd - Jury's Gap Road, the last bend before entering Lydd
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1998, 23:00h-00:00h
Further Comments: Travelling along Jury's Gap, the driver of a car spotted a man in his twenties in the road. He slammed on his brakes and the man in the road jumped to the side, landing in a ditch. The driver stopped to make sure the man was okay, but he was nowhere to be seen, and a search up and down the side of the road turned up nothing.
First added: 2009-12-29 | Last updated: 2009-12-29 | ID #9754
Six Saxons
Location: Lympne - Lympne Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Brutally murdered by Normans, six Saxon warriors now haunt the castle. Another version of the story says the deceased were priests, and just a single phantom remains. An eagle haunted one bedroom; one resident placed stuffed birds in the room, so the ghost had fellow avian company. It is also said that a ghostly Roman soldier has been heard ascending the battlements and has been seen falling from the building (a Roman watchtower once stood on the site).
First added: 2002-06-16 | Last updated: 2026-04-06 | ID #1259
Monk
Location: Maidstone - Wooded area off Sittingbourne Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer, mid 1970s
Further Comments: Two witnesses out exploring the area watched a monk-like figure in a brown habit cross the field and appear to sink into the ground. The witnesses walked over to the area and found a set of steps which led down to a bricked up archway.
First added: 2015-07-05 | Last updated: 2015-07-05 | ID #11868
Girl
Location: Maidstone - Cuckoo Woods, Sandling Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Moonlit nights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This phantom girl was said to appear and search the area for her former home.
First added: 2026-05-25 | Last updated: 2026-05-25 | ID #16611
Black Jack
Location: Maidstone - Fishermans Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nicknamed 'Black Jack', this phantom is thought to be a soldier who was injured in a nearby battle and died in the pub.
First added: 2026-05-24 | Last updated: 2026-05-24 | ID #16606
Smallpox Victims
Location: Maidstone - Holy Trinity Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Three young girls, the daughters of a local vicar, died of smallpox on the same day and are believed to haunt the graveyard. They were last seen by a woman walking her dog in the area.
First added: 2006-12-10 | Last updated: 2006-12-10 | ID #7059
Not an Accident
Location: Maidstone - Hunton Hill
Type: Other
Date / Time: 20 September 1985, 23:30h
Further Comments: Lorry driver Peter Russell hit a woman who was lying in the road. A police officer and a doctor were already at the scene; they told him that he had not killed the woman, and that he should go home. When he later went to the police station, there was no record of the incident, and after a brief investigation the police declared that Peter was the victim of a hoax.
First added: 2004-12-27 | Last updated: 2004-12-27 | ID #5710
Charlotte
Location: Maidstone - Larkfield Priory Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: Charlotte was an eighteenth century serving girl who died after an abortion went sadly wrong. The ghost created so much havoc during the 1980s, the owner called on a medium to help calm her down. During this process it was discovered gallows once stood on the site, and that many unhappy spirits remained.
First added: 2006-04-17 | Last updated: 2006-04-17 | ID #6850
Pyewacket
Location: Maidstone - Maidstone Museum
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: Staff at the museum's cafe reported hearing banking and the name 'Pyewacket' coming from under the floorboards. One witness in the museum reported a door, propped open with a heavy metal weight, closed itself.
First added: 2024-10-12 | Last updated: 2024-10-12 | ID #15659
Red Eyed Monk
Location: Maidstone - Mote Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1943
Further Comments: A Canadian soldier barracked a couple of hundred metres from the ruined abbey during the Second World War awoke to see a short monk dressed in grey in his hut. The soldier could make out a blurred face with red eyes under the hood and felt that the entity intended no harm. The phantom walked through a closed door a short time later.
First added: 2007-05-29 | Last updated: 2007-05-29 | ID #7495
Smelly Drains
Location: Maidstone - Parkwood estate
Type: Other
Date / Time: Ongoing
Further Comments: Locals have reported much paranormal activity occurring on this estate, and when a local person dies the event is marked by a nasty smell coming from the drainage systems.
First added: 2005-01-02 | Last updated: 2005-01-02 | ID #5743
Just Eerie
Location: Maidstone - Penenden Heath
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The heath has a ghastly history of public executions and has developed a reputation for being haunted, although no exact details can be found. In 2025, the leader of Maidstone borough council asked the Home Secretary to pardon several local women who were convicted of witchcraft and executed on the heath in 1652.
First added: 2026-05-24 | Last updated: 2026-05-24 | ID #16602
The Servant (Likely) Did It
Location: Maidstone - Private house along Ashford Road
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1859
Further Comments: A supernatural agency was feared after the bells started ringing and doors began banging. Things appeared to calm down after the lone house servant was accused and sent away.
First added: 2020-05-03 | Last updated: 2020-05-03 | ID #13731
Flood
Location: Maidstone - Ropemakers Arms (no longer operating)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1978-1979
Further Comments: Gas taps and lights would be switched on and off, and the cellar was flooded after a water tap was turned on; the landlord was adamant that no one could have accessed it.
First added: 2026-05-25 | Last updated: 2026-05-25 | ID #16610
Haughty Ann
Location: Maidstone - Royal Albion public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Ann died before finding her true love (or at least a suitable husband) and her ghost continues the search. A crying man identified as Martin Shotwood also haunts the pub. He ran away from his girlfriend after discovering she was pregnant; she drowned herself and Shotwood took his own life after realising the consequences of his action.
First added: 2026-05-24 | Last updated: 2026-05-24 | ID #16604
The Caretaker
Location: Maidstone - Royal Star Hotel (now replaced by the Royal Star Arcade shopping centre)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1970s
Further Comments: Two family members encountered a man wearing a flat cap and overalls, reputedly a former caretaker. One spotted the caretaker standing by a family friend, and later when asking them about the man, the friend said that they had been alone at the time.
First added: 2010-08-28 | Last updated: 2010-08-28 | ID #10023
Rebecca Alexander
Location: Maidstone - The Museum of Kent Life
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Rebecca is thought to be a farmer's wife who died in 1912 in an accident involving a cart. Her presence is said to be non-threatening, and she spends her time looking for her newborn baby, who survived the accident.
First added: 2008-10-14 | Last updated: 2008-10-14 | ID #9031
Man with Missing Heart
Location: Maidstone - Vinters Valley, path alongside reserve and woodland
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1 October 2003, 11.45pm
Further Comments: Walking home along a dark woodland path, near the Vinters Valley nature reserve, this witness observed the upper torso of a man in clothing that could have dated from the early nineteenth century, with long tied back blonde hair. There were no visible features, but the witness said that the ghost 'moved in a grotesque puppet way'. Other than having no visible legs, the witness also observed the entity had a large black hole where his heart should have been. The entity crossed the path from left to right, vanishing into a fence.
First added: 2003-11-08 | Last updated: 2003-11-08 | ID #4745
Calling for a Cat
Location: Maidstone - White Rabbit public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2006
Further Comments: A phantom little girl has been seen in Room Eight and may be the source of the disembodied voice heard calling out for her cat. The door to Room Eight will bang open and closed, while in the bar lights will turn themselves on and chalkboards will move unaided.
First added: 2006-07-30 | Last updated: 2006-07-30 | ID #6901
Former Pilot
Location: Manston - RAF Manston
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 1970 (or 1971)
Further Comments: A MoD fireman was on kitchen duty in the early hours of the morning when he spotted a semi-translucent figure wearing a flying helmet, Irvin jacket and Mae West. The witness quickly left the area and was later told that others had seen the entity. It was generally thought the ghost to be a pilot who crashed into a snow drift during the Second World War.
First added: 2016-04-17 | Last updated: 2016-04-17 | ID #12123
Gilbert
Location: Marden - Road to Hawkhurst
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Gilbert, an eighteenth century highwayman who tried to rob a coach, was stabbed to death by one of the occupants after she recognised him as having killed her brother. The killing drove the woman mad. The scene was said to silently re-enact every Christmas Eve.
First added: 2008-08-25 | Last updated: 2008-08-25 | ID #8777
Woman
Location: Margate - George Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The hotel was hit by German bombs during the Second World War; the phantom woman observed here is thought to have been killed during the attack.
First added: 2008-10-05 | Last updated: 2008-10-05 | ID #9011
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