Lifestyle

The legend of the Red Lady

Pluckley, Kent – various generations

Writing in 1983, Alan Bignell asserts that Pluckley is famed for its ghost visits, giving it the reputation of "the most haunted village in England" adding that "it becomes more and more difficult to find anyone who will admit to having seen or heard of any of them".

Several are linked to the Dering family, landowners in this area for many generations. There is the Red Lady, wearing a 15th-century red gown, who wanders round the family chapel in St Nicholas' church, and also the churchyard.

She is said to search for the grave of her dead baby. The theory is that the baby died at birth, which would mean that it was never baptised, and so had to be laid in an unmarked grave rather than in the family vault.