The Paranormal Database

Man in Black Cloak

Location: Northfleet - Ye Olde Leather Bottle public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: The landlord claimed the site was haunted by a man in a black cloak, and a maid who haunted the upper rooms. A poltergeist would push items off the shelves.

Blonde Man

Location: Northfleet - Ye Olde Leathern Bottle public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This tall ghostly gentleman has been reported within the building. A female form also haunts the place.

Scottish Clansman

Location: Otford - Private cottage
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Pre 1950s (Scotsman), 1951 (poltergeist)
Further Comments: A Scottish clansman traditionally haunted the kitchen of this property, although the owners in 1951 had never encountered anything strange until renovations were carried out and a strong presence could be felt near the fireplace.

Grey Lady

Location: Oxney Bottom - Road between town and Dover
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973?
Further Comments: This figure in a dark grey cloak is said to look so real that people have tried to speak to her, not realising what she is. The entity has also been blamed for causing several accidents as she drifts in front of incoming traffic. A bus conductor once saw her climb on board his vehicle and walk up the stairs - when he went up to collect the fare, she had vanished.

Highwayman

Location: Oxney Bottom - Woodland in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once the haunt of footpads and robbers, the woodland in the area is still said to be home to a ghostly highwayman prowling the area.

Old Lady

Location: Paddock - Paddock Wood
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 1912
Further Comments: This ghostly granny would cross the road in front of oncoming cyclists.

Young Woman

Location: Pembury - Area around Hawkwell Mansion
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This young woman escaped her wicked husband in London and returned with her baby to her mother's home in the village. However, when she arrived, she found the building had burnt down; she lay in the ruins and froze to death during the night. Her ghost remains.

Ann West

Location: Pembury - Great Bayhall Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1800s, early 1900s
Further Comments: Ann West, one time inhabitant of the manor house, is said to be to blame for the ghostly noises and shadow-like figure that was seen in the hall.

Anne West

Location: Pembury - Great Bayhall Manor house, and churchyard (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1803
Further Comments: Anne feared being buried alive, so she requested a bell be placed in her crypt when her time came. When she was buried, the bell rang for several nights, and her corpse was seen walking down the road towards her former home. She continued to haunt the area for many years afterwards.

Elisabeth

Location: Penshurst - Bottle House Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Felt rather than seen, this phantom lady has an unknown history.

Old postcard of Penshurst Place.

Sir Philip Sidney

Location: Penshurst - Penshurst Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2017
Further Comments: Stories say that the sixteenth century poet Sir Philip haunts his former home. Another ghost, that of an Elizabethan lady who takes the form of a lady in grey, has been observed in the garden. In 2017, a visitor felt a cold draft with weight and a body-like form move across her back in the tapestry room. The visitor mentioned the experience to a nearby guide, who said that they had seen the lady in grey several times.

Unsuitable Villager

Location: Penshurst - Vicarage, and road leading there
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 April 2004
Further Comments: This ghostly figure re-enacts the journey he took during life to rendezvous with his secret love, the vicar's daughter. A small group of people reported seeing a shade in this area in 2004, dressed in black and holding what appeared to be a bag or case.

Jenny the Dairymaid

Location: Plaxtol - Old Soar manor house, two miles from Plaxtol
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Priest seen 1972, other activity said to peak in June (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Jenny committed suicide (or died by misadventure) in the chapel area after finding out she was pregnant - people now report lights that flicker around the chapel after dark. A phantom priest was reported by two people in the chapel in 1972, accompanied by a fall in temperature. Other people have reported soft footsteps in different parts of the building.

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.