Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

In 1822 or 1823 it was reported that a skeleton had been found in a field about a quarter of a mile fom Kits Coty House. A plough had disturbed 2 large stones 6ft X 2ft (1.98m X 0.61m) lying lengthways on edge, East to West. A separate report suggested 4 stones and one or two skeletons at a depth of 4ft (1.22m).The bones disintegrated after exposure to air. A small fragment of an unglazed urn was also found. In 1955 two more stones of megalithic size were hit by a plough in the same field but 100m SSE of the previous site. These were probably unconnected with the 19th century find which was possibly a chambered tomb.

Nothing can now be seen at the site.

Monument Types

• HUMAN REMAINS (Later Prehistoric - 4000 BC to 42 AD)
• HUMAN REMAINS (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• LONG BARROW (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• CIST (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• HUMAN REMAINS (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)

Associated Finds

• VESSEL (Late Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age - 2600 BC to 1600 BC)

Full description

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[TQ 75446066] Dolmen [NR] (Site of) (NAT) (1) [TQ 75266058] Burial Chamber [NR] (Site of) (NAT) (2) In 1822 or 1823 (4,4b) in a field belonging to George Fowle, about quarter of a mile from Kits Coty House, [TQ 76 SW 4] the plough ran into two stones about 6.5 ft by 2 ft lying lengthways on edge, between which the workmen found "a skeleton, in nearly a perfect state," lying E-W, but which disintegrated after exposure to the air. A third stone lay flat. (3) Manuscript by Smythe, (b) now in Maidstone Museum notes that "in the summer of 1823 a British Tomb or Druidical Monument was discovered in the parish of Aylesford on the Warren Farm belong to Geo. Fowle" Investigation by Smythe revealed a monument composed of four irregular shaped stone similar to those at Kits Coty House. At a depth of 4 ft.human bones are found lying E-W on a flat stone. Dr Charles of Maidstone pronounced these to belong to two individuals. A small fragment of an urn, now lost, was also found. The stones were removed. O.S. siting adjusted (2) (4) (5) conforming to Bensted's map (c) (in Maidstone Museum). In 1955, two more stones of megalithic size were struck by the plough in the same field at TQ 753605. (6) The smaller stone was removed, but the larger can now [1955] be "clearly be seen in a low east to west mound." Daniel (7) lists Warren Farm as a doubtful site more likely to be a large cist than a chamber tomb. (3-7) An examination of Smythe's MSS and Bensted's map disclosed that only one burial site was found (see map diagram for history of various sitings) the area is under plough and there is nothing to be seen on the ground. The stones uncovered in 1955 lay some 100.0m SSE of the published site. Assuming Bensted's map to be correct, these stones cannot have formed a part of the chamber or cist and were probably natural erratics, which are common in the area. (8) TQ 753606. Smythe's megalith. What was almost certainly a chambered tomb once stood in a large field east of the dual carriageway (A229). Nothing can now be seen and the site cannot be visited. It was found and destroyed in 1823. Bones of at least two adults and a sherd of 'an unglazed urn' were recovered. (9,10,11)

<1> OS 6" 1909 (OS Card Reference). SKE48324.

<2> OS 6" 1936-47 (OS Card Reference). SKE48342.

<3> Gents Magazine July 1922 84 (OS Card Reference). SKE43608.

<4> Clement T Smythe Collections V f 30 (OS Card Reference). SKE39020.

<5> Map of the Country around Kits Coty House c1863 (H Bensted) (OS Card Reference). SKE46540.

<6> Arch Cant 61 948 135-140 illust (JH Evans) (OS Card Reference). SKE35334.

<7> OS Prof Papers New Series 8 1924 6 (OGS Crawford) (OS Card Reference). SKE48427.

<8> Arch Cant 70 1956 251-2 ( A McCrerie) (OS Card Reference). SKE35472.

<9> Prehistoric Chamber Tombs 1950 234 (GE Daniel) (OS Card Reference). SKE48646.

<10> F1 ASP 16-DEC-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE42133.

<11> Philp, B, 1981, A survey of the Medway megaliths (Article in serial). SKE24000.

<11> Philp, B. and Dutto, M., 2005, The Medway Megaliths: An illustrated guide to the famous Neolithic chambered long-barrows of the Medway area, KAR 64 1981 87 (Monograph). SKE23999.

<12> Arch Cant 97 1981 233 (R Holgate) (OS Card Reference). SKE36280.

<13> South East England 1970 101 (RF Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE49516.

<14> Field report for monument TQ 76 SE 10 - December, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4147.

Sources and further reading

Related thematic articles

• Neolithic Kent (Thematic Essay)