Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: Kent

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

Kentish Longtails

The inhabitants of Strood in Kent were once nicknamed Kentish Longtails. Though this could relate to the belief in medieval mainland Europe that the English had tails, there is a folk tale relating a curse placed on the people of Strood by Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Apparitions / Hauntings

The White Lady of Rochester Castle

Rochester Castle is situated in the City of Rochester, one side is the River Medway, Rochester Cathedral stands opposite and many Victorian and older buildings surround on all sides. The moat has long since silted up and was used as a graveyard.

Apparitions / Hauntings

Henry Jacob’s Ghost

The following account of an apparition experienced by the physician and politician Dr William Jacob (Born 1623 – Died 1692) was taken from ‘The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain’ by John Ingram (1897).

Occult / Occult Traditions / Witchcraft

Hoo St Werburgh Witch Buried

On 14 March 2009 a funeral service and burial was held at Hoo St Werburgh parish church for the remains of a suspected witch, buried seven centuries ago and discovered in an archaeological dig in 2007. On 3rd March 2009, The Daily Mail printed the following article entitled ‘Teenage ‘witch’ decapitated 700 years ago to be given Christian funeral service.’

Apparitions / Ghost Ships / Hauntings / Legends

Goodwin Sands

The Goodwin Sands is a treacherous sand bank in the Channel a few miles off Deal, which has been the site of litterally hundreds of shipwrecks in centuries past, one of the last notable victims being the Ross Revenge, last of the pirate radio ships, in 1991.

Apparitions / Hauntings

Bayham Old Abbey

Established in 1207, Bayham, a Premonstratensian abbey was created from two floundering monastic sites at Otham and Brockley. It was built from local sandstone and being right on the border between Kent and Sussex, Bayham had a gate in each county.

Black Dogs / Hauntings

Leeds Castle

Leeds Castle is named after Led who is supposed to have been the Chief Minister of King Ethelbert IV of Kent. Originally a Saxon manor house called Esledes, built in AD857, it consisted of a wooden palisade and earthwork enclosure. It was granted to the Godwin family by King Edward the Confessor but did not become a stone castle until Robert Crevecoeur started upgrading it in 1119.

Apparitions / Hauntings / Roman Hauntings

Dover Castle

A headless drummer boy who was murdered during the Napoleanic wars is said to haunt the castle as are a monk and a Roman soldier. The castle was also the scene of an ASSAP vigil in which a door in the castle was filmed shaking violently.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

Biddenden Maids

Every Easter Monday the village of Biddenden, not far from Staplehurst in Kent, is the scene of old custom, called the Biddenden Maids’ Charity. Tea, cheese and bread are given to local widows and pensioners at the Old Workhouse, while the celebrated Biddenden Cakes, baked from flour and water, are distributed among the spectators.

Hauntings / Roman / Roman Hauntings

Reculver

Reculver is a popular summer holiday resort on the north coat of Kent. It has two key sites of archaeological interest, the remains of a Roman fort and a ruined medieval church.