The Phantom Coach and Horses

There is one original story that can be ascertained and that is purely that a spectral coach and horses can be seen and heard galloping up Maltmans Hill towards the village centre.

However it actually gets more interesting than that.

There are no traceable authenticated reports of a visible ghost at Fright Corner.

Whilst we could take this a the end of the account let us also consider the reasons why this may be, as this may be pertinent. It may be as simple as there is no location such as Fright Corner or a tree on a corner or junction.

These are just a few of the 'actual' documented sightings.

1. One October a lady was lady driving home from babysitting her granddaughter, just after midnight. At Pinnocks Crossroads she could see a coach being pulled by horses with light coming from its windows.
2. On another occasion, one local resident using the back roads to get home had the coach pass straight in front of him.
3. In early November 1997, around 7.00pm some one who was driving through Pluckley had the inside of their car filled with the sound of horses' hooves on cobbles. The road wasn't cobbled but in the past it would have been.

It seems the late 1990's was the last alleged sighting of this phantom. There are other reports and the number of horses varies between two and four.

It is also clear that the locations vary around the village which also makes this phantom unique.

The History

Uniquely also, there is no history behind this ghost. By history we mean that there is no suggested link with an actual event or person of any standing or suggested names to research.

Unfortunately this means there is no tangible delving to be done.

One would imagine though that historically this mode of transport would place it somewhere between the early 1700's and early 1900's. Other than this we cannot speculate on an age for the apparition.

The Historical Figures

Again there is little research that can be conducted into this one.

Natural phenomena may be responsible for any original sighting although it hard to imagine what could be mistaken from such detailed alleged sightings of such detail. It is possible that some low lying mist in the autumn months, reflections of the witnesses own car headlamps, shapes caused by flora and fauna's shadows.

Unusually though, these sightings are quite detailed and some are also accompanied by the sounds of hooves.

The whole thing could be a story and nothing more.

The differing reports of this ghost could easily be sightings in another location of something else. Was a four horsed carriage seen in one location but a two horsed one in another?

As there are actual claims to have seen The Coach and Horses then this would seem to be easier to explore but in fact it is the opposite. Locations and features can be accounted for, history can be accounted for or indeed used and abused for ones own end (see The Hanging Man) but with varying, apparently genuine sightings this one is so much harder.

Yes it featured in Frederick Saunders 1955 book along with all the disputable ones but was this one already rooted in some factual account and needed no embellishment.

Could it also be that it is actually made up? Well it could be. The time period quoted was rife for such tales made up by smugglers to keep people away from their hidey holes. This may stem from one of those accounts.

We also cannot ignore that there are many other sightings of such phenomena claimed across England. This makes this type of ghostly apparition far from unique.

We may never be able to nail our colours to the mast on this one.

The Coach and Horses rides on!

As a footnote Ghost Connections have also investigated a location where a similar sighting has been reported in recent times. On one of our visits we were sure we heard the clatter of hooves come towards us along the driveway and stop right by us. We did not see anything to support the sounds.

Readers Article

Hello I read your article about Maltmans Hill which I found interesting.

I saw something very strange on Maltmans Hill many years ago and I was not alone at the time.

You say that a Coach and Horses is seen, I did not see that but read on,

T sent this account to BBC’s Uncanny recently

Pluckley Ghost?,

Well it goes like this,

About 44 years ago 1979 and late one dark wet winters night after midnight I was driving back to my home in a village called Headcorn (corny start I appreciate, but the truth) from a Village called Godmersham near Ashford, and going down Pluckley hill, “approaching Maltman’s Hill.

I had 3 passengers with me.

Two brothers, Ian and Brian and our friend Sue (all surnames withheld) who had organised the party at Godmersham Village Hall.

Although we had been to a pre-Christmas party in Godmersham near Ashford I had not been drinking since I was driving; we were so late, partly because we had to clear up after it. "The truth", they had been drinking and so this might call into question their reliability as witnesses. However, afterwards on the last leg of the trip home I asked them what they saw and unprompted by me they said exactly what I am about to tell you.

It was extremely dark the only light was from my headlights and there were no street lights or house lights or any other cars there were no lights on in the car either other than the dash / speedo etc none of which was blue or reflected onto the windscreen. I had just passed the village green on the left and the turn on the left to the Church was about 30 yards ahead.

Something ahead caught my eye as I approached the junction and the closer I got the brighter it got, it was an extremely bright there was nothing vague about it, an irregular ribbon of blue shimmering light (like a disco UV strip light) in the middle of the road I estimate it was some 2 or 3 inches in diameter and it arched up from the road and back down it was some 6 feet or more in width and probably 10 to 12 feet at its highest point. It was just an outline and I couldn't tell what it was an outline of, but whatever it was, it was large there was no infill, it did not resemble anything.

As soon as I saw it I shouted to the others who were not looking towards the front, what’s that, snapping round they saw it too and made a collective exclamation, but almost as soon as they saw it, the car drove through the right hand side of the ribbon which passed through the car and I was very conscious of it going through the bonnet, windscreen and past my left shoulder.

They all screamed, and having gone some way on down the road being curious by nature I suggested that we go back and see it again in more detail but they were having none of it No ooo!! they all agreed and so I drove on home. I've often wondered what we might have seen had we gone back. They and I never discussed it afterwards and I have not seen any of them in over 40 years.

Was it a ghost I don’t know what it was but it was there and all 4 of us saw it.

I lived near Pluckley for 16 years and drove through the village thousands of times day and night at all times of the year and visited my parents for many years after I left home, regularly driving through Pluckley and never saw anything before that day nor since

Anon

Thank you for your email, it's always fascinating to read other peoples accounts. February 2025