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Did the most haunted place in England live up to its title? I visited Pluckley to find out whether I could experience some paranormal activity.
On a wet and windy night in October I decided to visit what is supposed to be the most haunted place in England to see if I can soak up some of the spooky atmospheres that the village has to offer.
The drive to the village is quite remote and ‘out in the sticks’ as the locals would describe. It is very hard to get a good mobile signal at the best of times so yes it’s definitely one of those places that makes you feel quite desolate.
While driving along a country road in the darkness of night in windy and wet conditions, I was thinking that the feeling of being alone in the wilderness would never end.
Thankfully after about 15 minutes of driving along remote country roads after turning off the busy A20, I noticed the village sign. The words ‘Pluckley please drive safely through the village’ sprang up in front of my eyes. At last, I could see some inhabitants and houses.
I felt slightly reassured that I was not going to get lost so decided to drive towards what looked like the local pub.
The Blackhorse pub is situated in the village next to some local shops so I parked up and walked into the Blackhorse Pub for a chat with the staff who had a few stories to tell.
There are many stories of ghosts and paranormal sightings that have been documented over the years.
We managed to get a few recent ones straight from a member of staff which is fresh and new for this article.
Here are some spooky stories that are very famous just in time for Halloween.
Pluckley Village is steeped in history and is situated in between Maidstone and Ashford in Kent, just off the A20. It’s also featured in the Domesday book which makes this Village very interesting indeed. Pluckley also made it into the Guinness book of records for being the most haunted place in England.
The village has seen its fair share of visitors throughout the years which has included tourists and TV crew from various TV shows about the paranormal. People have flocked here for decades to try and witness any spooky apparitions and activity.
There has been some big TV productions as well as some high profile ghost hunts and investigations. Pluckley is said to have at least 15 ghosts including The Highwayman, The Screaming Man, The Red Lady and The White Lady as well as The Schoolmaster.
Dering woods otherwise known as The Screaming Woods is the most fascinating of the stories and is the main focus of Pluckley being the most haunted place in England.
This dense woodland is reputed to be the oldest woods which has some pretty grizzly history. It’s believed to be haunted by various ghosts and it is known for people losing their way in the huge woods, never to be seen again. The most famous story is that many people have heard blood-curdling screams emanating from the forest as well as heavy eery footsteps.
The highwayman is said to haunt the woods and can also be heard in a carriage drawn by horses traveling along one of the roads.
There have been many other incidents that have caused hauntings in these woods. More recently 4 college students went missing in the woods and it’s been said that it’s not really advised for people to enter the woods after 9 pm.
We were lucky enough to have a video sent to us by Trevor Dawson who was staying near the woods in Pluckley for a few days. He was walking his dog one bright morning when he noticed what sounded like a scream in the distance coming from deep within the woods.
His dog picked up on the sound but Trevor Dawson never really knew much about the experiences that people have had in these woods or the fact that Pluckley has been known as the most haunted place in England.
“it was very creepy and I felt quite uneasy when I heard what sounded like a scream”
Trevor Dawson who was visiting the area told us “it was very creepy and I felt quite uneasy when I heard what sounded like a scream but just thought it was a fox or something similar. I really didn’t want to venture any further into the woods after hearing it”
There is a video clip at the bottom of this article that features the video.
St Nicholas Church
At St Nicholas church there is reputed to be a red lady and a white lady that haunts the churchyard. Various witnesses have seen apparitions at the church including glowing figures by the church door and in the graveyard. It certainly is a spooky place at night. Noises have been heard including footsteps, growling noises and clanking of gates when nobody is there.
The Blackhorse Pub
“I had just finished cleaning a glass that I had put down on the bar and it then moved on its own without my hand being placed on it”.
The Blackhorse Pub which is located near the church has its own mischievous ghost. We spoke to one of the staff who lives in the pub and he explained that there is an inflatable ball which is associated with the ghost which is kept on the premises of the Pub.
It had been witnessed by various staff members and seen rolling and flying around the room on its own accord.
One night the staff blew the candles out at the end of the shift only to return to the candles being lit again. There was nobody down there at the time.
The member of staff that we spoke to had also told us: “I had just finished cleaning a glass that I had put down on the bar and it then moved on its own without my hand being placed on it”.
After only living at the Pub for 2 months so far, he has witnessed several strange occurrences.
While on his own one night at 1 am in the morning his bedroom door flew open on its own to his disbelief to what was going on.
The member of staff also told us about the taxi drivers who refuse to come to Pluckley as they are afraid of who they may pick up. Apparently, some of the drivers have spoken of their experiences of picking some people up from the village and take them to their destination only to find out they are no longer in the back of the taxi.
Several reports of the taxi drivers witnessing these strange experiences were reported to the local taxi company on various occasions.
So as you can see there are many strange goings on in this village which has to give pluckily its label of the most haunted place in England and we have only brushed the surface in this article. We hope to bring you more videos and stories as we get them.
You can see the short video below.
