Overview

• Pluckley, a village in Kent, has been known as England’s 'most haunted' village for over 70 years, with claims of 10 to 17 resident ghosts.
• Dr Simon Moreton, an academic at UWE Bristol, published research uncovering the origins of the village’s ghostly folklore in the journal *Folklore*.
• Ten ghost stories were first recorded by Frederick Sanders, a local storyteller, through self-published books, press contributions, and ghost hunts.
• Four prominent ghost legends—such as the Watercress Woman and the Screaming Man of the Clay Pit—were traced to real 19th- and early 20th-century deaths.
• The village’s haunted identity has shaped local tourism and culture since it was first labeled 'most haunted' in 1950 and mentioned in the 1989 Guinness Book of World Records.