Researcher found he was ghost's 'distant cousin'

Dr Simon Moreton has published research on the origins of Pluckley's ghost stories

An academic discovered he was the distant cousin of a rumoured ghost when researching the folklore of a "haunted" village.

Simon Moreton, a researcher at University of the West of England in Bristol, has published research on the origins of more than a dozen ghost mysteries in Pluckley.

Phantoms including the Hanging Schoolmaster and the Screaming Man of the Clay Pit first earned the Kent village its reputation as England's "most haunted" in the 1950s.

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

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

Ms Sharp burned to death in August 1911.

Dr Moreton scoured newspapers, birth, marriage and death records and parish papers to piece together the origins of Pluckley's folklore.

St Nicholas's Church in Pluckley is thought to be home to many of the town's "ghosts"

The associate professor of creative economies found 10 of the ghost stories were first recorded by local man Frederick Sanders in self-published books on ghost hunting, letters to the local press, and newspaper articles.

At least four stories can be traced to real events including the Lady of Rose Court, Mary Ann Bennett, who killed herself in 1862 and the Screaming Man of the Clay Pit, Richard Bridgland, who died in a quarry accident in 1899.

"Storytelling is a fundamental human behaviour and, whether or not you believe in ghosts, Pluckley's reputation demonstrates how fascinated we are with tales with a spooky edge to them," Dr Moreton said.

"What's exciting about this research is that it's been possible to demonstrate how one person with a passion for these kinds of story was able to shape, for better or worse, the identity of a whole village through his storytelling."

He added: "It reminds us there are real people and real places behind these stories, both of which deserve our respect."

A mention in the 1989 Guinness Book of World Records, although not an actual award, bolstered the village's spooky reputation.

Pluckley also featured in the 1990s TV adaptation of HE Bates's novel The Darling Buds of May and its sequels, starring David Jason and Pam Ferris.