Laying ghosts of 'most haunted village' to rest

A SERIES of tantalising mysteries associated with the “most haunted” village in England has been solved by a university academic.

- ROD MINCHIN

It is said that over a dozen ghosts haunt Pluckley in Kent, which for more than 70 years has had the title of the scariest village in England.

Dr Simon Moreton, associate professor of creative economies at UWE Bristol, set out to discover how the village gained its notoriety.

Ghosts said to haunt the village include the Hanging Schoolmaster and the Screaming Man of the Clay Pit.

Through extensive archive research, and by scouring newspapers, birth, marriage and death records and parish papers, Dr Moreton has pieced together the origins of the village's folklore.

"I've been fascinated by the ghost stories of Pluckley since I was a child," he said.

"My late father's ancestors came from the village, so the research has been a personal as well as a professional journey.

"Over the course of the research I even discovered that one of the alleged ghosts is a distant cousin - Sarah Sharp, the Watercress Lady."