EARLY MAN 



known as ' the coffin stone,' so called from the fancied resemblance of its shape to that of a 

 coffin. 



Lower Kits Coty House. This is the popular name of a group of large stones situated 

 in a field lower down the hill in the direction of Aylesford. The group is also known as ' the 

 countless stones,' from the fact that it is by no means easy to count their number owing to 

 the confused condition in which they lie. Stukeley ' gives, in the engraving, a bird's-eye 

 view and plan of this structure, from which it appears that there were ten upright stones 

 arranged roughly in the form of the letter D, and apparently two capstones. Stukeley's 

 ideas on these points, however, were purely conjectural and valueless. All the blocks of 

 which the Lower Kits Coty House was composed appear to be of more regular shapes than 

 those used in the Upper Kits Coty House. From accounts which have been preserved it seems 

 that what is now a fallen heap of from sixteen to twenty stones consisted originally of some 

 four or five cromlechs. They lie on a space of ground measuring 20 ft. 7 in. from north to 

 south, and 29 ft. 7 in. from north-east to south-west. The stones were thrown down in the 

 early part of the eighteenth century, and between the years 1772 and 1824 they suffered con- 

 siderable further damage. At one time it was proposed to break them up into smaller blocks 

 and take them down the river to Sheerness for the paving of the barracks there, but for- 

 tunately the stones proved to be too hard for the purpose. 



Beyond the fact that this must have been a very important megalithic monument or 

 series of monuments it is impossible to say much definitely about it. 



The Coffin Stone. Reference has already been made to this magnificent recumbent 

 monolith. It lies in an open field at Great Tottington Farm, practically opposite Lower 

 Kits Coty House, and measures 14 ft. 6 in. in length, 8 ft. 6 in. in breadth, and about 2 ft. 

 in thickness. Several human remains, including two skulls, were found in association with 

 this massive stone in 1836. 



Stones on Blue Bell Hill. Just above the site of Kits Coty House there are several 

 scattered stones which were considered by the late Mr. Thomas Wright to be the coverings 

 of, or entrances to, sepulchral chambers. It was found that each group of stones was sur- 

 rounded by a small circle of stones, and excavations carried out in 1844 showed that one of 

 these stones was laid across what was apparently the mouth of a round pit cut in the chalk 

 and filled with flints. According to the reports of the inhabitants of the district many similar 

 pits had been found on the hill in former times, and generally one or two large stones were 

 found placed in the pit's mouth. Enormous numbers of flints were found in the pits, and 

 many of them were utilized as road metal when a new road was made. 2 



Addington. There are in Addington Park, nearly 5 miles to the west of Aylesford, 

 several stones occurring in groups or as separate monoliths which having once received the 

 appellation ' Druidical circles ' have, without the sHghtest reason, continued to be called 

 circles even by those who have abandoned the position that the stones were of Druidical 

 origin.^ In 1878, however, Mr. W. M. Flinders Petrie * published a careful description and 

 plan (the latter based upon actual survey and probing) in which it was clearly shown that the 

 stones form an avenue of two parallel lines with a chamber (now disturbed) at the north-east 

 end. The importance of this fact was at once perceived by Mr. Petrie. He writes : ^ ' There 

 seems to be a type in these Kentish works ; at Kits Coty in Stukeley's time, there was a long 

 mound, with the chamber at one end ; at Addington, there is a chamber at one end of a long 

 mound, which has a row of stones along it ; and at Coldreham there is similarly a chamber, 

 and a row of stones leaning in against a slight elevation of earth around it, in both cases the 

 chamber being at the east end of the long group.' 



There are three principal groups of stones at Addington. The first, on the right-hand 

 side of the road leading from Addington Church to Wrotham Heath, consists of a large up- 

 right mass of rock somewhat pyramidal in form, 6 ft. 6 in. high, 8 ft. broad at the base, and 

 I ft. 5 in. thick. Near it is a large recumbent slab, probably a capstone, and measuring 15 ft. 

 by 9 ft. 8 in. and i ft. 9 in. thick. The other stones in this group are not remarkably large. 



The second group, which is situated a few yards further on, on the same side of the road, 

 contains three stones, two lying nearly flat and one standing almost upright. The upright 

 stone is 5 ft. 2 in. high. 



» Stukeley, Itin. Curios, pi. 32 (2). > ^uh. Joum. i. 264. 



» Arch. ii. 107 et seq. G. Payne, in Coll. Cant. (1893), p. 140, speaks of 'an imperfect circle' at 

 Addington. 



' Arch. Cant. xiii. 14, 16. " Op. cit. l.\. 



