Dering Woods AKA Screaming Woods
A woodland close to England's "most haunted village" has been the site of many unexplained events and deaths.
History
The Dering Woods, also known as Screaming Woods are situated in Kent. Between the villages of Smarden and Pluckley. They are reputed to be the most haunted woods in Britain and they were given their name because of the many reports of people hearing terrifying screams coming from the forest at night or footsteps and whispers during days of fog. The forest is said to be haunted by the ghosts of the people who get lost in them, in particular the locals mention a suicidal army colonel of the 18th century and a highwayman who was captured by the villagers, pinned to a tree and beheaded. Many from the nearby villages swear to have seen black shadows following them while they were traveling across the forest. The wood is also famous for presenting one of the oldest Neolithic sites in the world.
The Hauntings
The Highwayman
One of the enduring legends associated with the Screaming Woods involves an unnamed highwayman from the 18th century whose spectral presence is said to haunt the Dering Woods and the nearby road.
According to local lore, this highwayman was captured and met a gruesome end at the hands of vengeful villagers. He was chased through the Screaming Woods when the villagers, or so called peacekeepers got a hold of him, pinned him to one of the old oak trees and decapitated him.
This is said to have taken place close to the Smarden Bell Road that has been nicknamed the Fright Corner and is also the place were people have reported about seeing his ghost.
The blood-curdling screams are often attributed to his tormented spirit, suggesting a lingering grudge that transcends the boundaries of the afterlife and seems to have given the forest its name.
The Ghost of the Colonel
Another ghost said to haunt the grounds of the Dering Woods is the ghost of an army officer that in the 18th century ventured into the forest and committed suicide in one of the trees in the former Park Wood that used to be an adjacent forest.
The trees are no longer there but It is said that the ghost of the 1700 soldier is still seen hanging from the trees, or some even claim he is still marching through the woods still wearing his uniform.
No one really knows his rank, however the locals have dubbed him the Colonel.
The Missing Students
The Halloween Massacre was not the last time something strange and tragic happened inside of the forest. On a Friday on November 6th in 1998 the residents of Pluckley reported about some strange strange lights coming from the Screaming Woods. It was described as “Figures of light resembling a spider’s web.”
That night, four university students went missing after they went camping in the woods. They were never found.
The Halloween Massacre of Dering Woods
Delving deeper into the annals of Dering Woods’ haunted history, another tale emerges—the mysterious Dering Wood Massacre of 1948 found on many of the high ranking paranormal blogs as well as most haunted lists in magazines like Conde Nast Traveler. But how many of these more recent tales are actually true?
The first story goes like this: On the morning of November 1, a dog walker was out in the woods where he made a horrifying discovery. Locals were left in shock as 20 lifeless bodies were reportedly discovered in a pile inside of the Screaming Woods. Eleven of the dead victims were children. They were all identified as villagers from the nearby Maltman’s Hill area.
The previous night, Halloween, had been marked by strange lights emanating from the woods, creating an eerie backdrop to the unfolding tragedy.
Autopsies failed to determine a cause of death, adding to the mystique surrounding the event. There were no wounds og signs of struggle that could point to what they died of. What they did settle on though after a few weeks was that they had all died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The public were not satisfied with these answers though and there have been many questions and speculations after it all. One of them was the possible involvement of the police forces as they closed the case down too quickly.
In 1964, there was a private investigator that did a deep dive into the mystery. Robert Collins interviewed and speculated that it could be an unknown religious cult in Smarden village close to the Dering Woods.
His investigation became inconclusive though as he died in a car accident that year.
