Pretty village is the 'most haunted' in Britain with 12 ghosts and 'screaming woods'

This village may look like your typical countryside town, with its old church and beautiful buildings, but it's actually hiding a darker story within its borders. In 1989, the Kent village of Pluckley appeared in the Guinness Book of Records as "the most haunted village in Britain."

While Guinness no longer uses this category, the mythology surrounding the town continues, and Pluckley still attracts ghost hunters to this day. Still considered to be the UK's most haunted village, Pluckley is said to have at least 12 ghostly inhabitants, although some have argued that there could be even more. With its history as a settlement believed to stretch back to the Roman times, it's perhaps unsurprising that Pluckley would be home to some ghost stories.

However, the sheer number of ghostly sightings in the village sets it apart from others in the country. From highwaymen on the run to tragic drownings and suicides, there are plenty of stories surrounding the ghosts that make a visit to the town interesting, even for the most sceptical among us.

The Pluckley website lists a number of the ghosts that haunt its streets:

• The spectre of the highwayman hid in a tree at the Pinnock
• A phantom coach and horses that have been seen in several locations around the village
• The ghost of a Gypsy woman who drowned in a stream at the Pinnock
• A miller has been seen at Mill Hill
• The hanging body of a schoolmaster in Dicky Buss’s Lane
• A colonel who hanged himself in Park Wood
• A man who was smothered by a wall of clay, who drowned at the brickworks
• The Lady of Rose Court—A woman who is said to have poisoned herself in despair over a love triangle
• The White Lady—A young woman apparently buried inside seven coffins and an oak sarcophagus who haunts St Nicholas’s Church
• The Red Lady, reputedly a member of the Dering family who haunts the churchyard of St Nicholas’s Church. A small white dog has also been reported in the same location

While these are the "official" hauntings according to the village itself, there are plenty of other ghostly stories surrounding Pluckley, adding to its spooky mythology.

On the outskirts of the village, you'll find Dering Woods, named for the aristocratic Dering family. These woods have a second, rather horrifying name, and have become known as the 'Screaming Woods.'

This is due to claims that bloodcurdling screams can be heard coming from them at night. The woods have continued to intrigue visitors, and ghost stories surrounding their mysteries have appeared online in recent years.

One claims that on Halloween night in 1948, lights and sounds were seen and heard emanating from the woodlands, with 20 bodies discovered in the woods the following morning.

The story claims these had been residents from the nearby Maltman’s Hill area, and that since there were no signs of struggle, and an autopsy proved inconclusive, the police determined that these 20 individuals had fallen victim to carbon monoxide poisoning.

This has since been labelled the 'Dering Woods Massacre.' However, despite adding to the village's ghostly reputation, there are no official reports of the incident, and many now believe it's nothing more than an urban legend.

Another story claims that in 1990, four college students disappeared from the woods during a camping trip; however, this is another claim that appears to have been fabricated.