148 



THE DOVER ROAD 



<i;rcat number of Roman })ots and fragments of pottery 

 turned up there by the plough. Tlie name of Keycol 

 Hill, too, is said to have had a Roman origin, and 

 Hasted derives it from Caii Collis, or Caius Julius 

 Cyesar's Hill. Finally, the modern roadside hamlet of 

 Key Street, between Newington and Sittingbourne, is 

 said to owe its name to Caii Stratuvi, or Caius Street. 

 The inn at Key Street, now ealled the " Key," was 

 previously to 1733 known as the " Ship." It stands 

 near the hill-top where Key Street eommences, and 

 commands a long, straight dip of the road towards 



KEY STREET. 



Sittingbourne, whose outlying houses are just beyond 

 the farthest clump of trees. 



The chance wayfarer little thinks how abundant 

 are the vestiges of antiquity here, both in fragments of 

 pottery, and in the time-honoured names of manors, 

 fields, and meadows. Such things are only to be 

 brought to light by the painstaking local historian 

 who has access to Court Rolls and ancient estate maps. 

 It is little known or considered by the dwellers in 

 populous towns that almost every meadow, field, croft, 

 pasture, down, or woodland has its name, as distinct 



