Addington Long Barrow

Chestnuts Long Barrow, also known as Stony Warren or Long Warren, is a chambered long barrow near the village of Addington in the south-eastern English county of Kent. Probably constructed in the fifth millennium BC, during Britain's Early Neolithic period, today it survives only in a ruined state. Archaeologists have established that long barrows were built by pastoralist communities shortly after the introduction of agriculture to Britain from continental Europe. Representing an architectural tradition of long barrow building that was widespread across Neolithic Europe, Chestnuts Long Barrow belongs to a localised regional style of barrows produced in the vicinity of the River Medway. The long barrows built in this area are now known as the Medway Megaliths. Chestnuts Long Barrow lies near to both Addington Long Barrow and Coldrum Long Barrow on the western side of the river. Two further surviving long barrows, Kit's Coty House and Little Kit's Coty House, as well as the destroyed Smythe's Megalith and possible survivals as the Coffin Stone and White Horse Stone, are on the eastern side of the Medway. The long barrow was built on land previously inhabited in the Mesolithic period. It consisted of a sub-rectangular earthen tumulus, estimated to have been 15 metres (50 feet) in length, with a chamber built from sarsen megaliths on its eastern end. Both inhumed and cremated human remains were placed within this chamber during the Neolithic period, representing at least nine or ten individuals. These remains were found alongside pottery sherds, stone arrow heads, and a clay pendant. In the 4th century AD, a Romano-British hut was erected next to the long barrow. In the 12th or 13th century, the chamber was dug into and heavily damaged, either by treasure hunters or iconoclastic Christians. The mound gradually eroded and was completely gone by the twentieth century, leaving only the ruined stone chamber. The ruin attracted the interest of antiquarians in the 18th and 19th centuries, while archaeological excavation took place in 1957, followed by limited reconstruction. The site is on privately owned land.

The Coldrum Long Barrow, also known as the Coldrum Stones and the Adscombe Stones, is a chambered long barrow located near the village of Trottiscliffe in the south-eastern English county of Kent. Probably constructed in the fourth millennium BCE, during Britain's Early Neolithic period, today it survives only in a state of ruin. Archaeologists have established that the monument was built by pastoralist communities shortly after the introduction of agriculture to Britain from continental Europe. Part of an architectural tradition of long barrow building that was widespread across Neolithic Europe, the Coldrum Stones belong to a localised regional variant of barrows produced in the vicinity of the River Medway, now known as the Medway Megaliths. Of these, it is in the best surviving condition. It lies near to both Addington Long Barrow and Chestnuts Long Barrow on the western side of the river. Two further surviving long barrows, Kit's Coty House and Little Kit's Coty House, as well as possible survivals such as the Coffin Stone and White Horse Stone, are located on the Medway's eastern side. Built out of earth and around fifty local sarsen-stone megaliths, the long barrow consisted of a sub-rectangular earthen tumulus enclosed by kerb-stones. Within the eastern end of the tumulus was a stone chamber, into which human remains were deposited on at least two separate occasions during the Early Neolithic. Osteoarchaeological analysis of these remains has shown them to be those of at least seventeen individuals, a mixture of men, women, and children. At least one of the bodies had been dismembered before burial, potentially reflecting a funerary tradition of excarnation and secondary burial. As with other barrows, Coldrum has been interpreted as a tomb to house the remains of the dead, perhaps as part of a belief system involving ancestor veneration, although archaeologists have suggested that it may also have had further religious, ritual, and cultural connotations and uses. After the Early Neolithic, the long barrow fell into a state of ruined dilapidation, perhaps experiencing deliberate destruction in the Late Medieval period, either by Christian iconoclasts or treasure hunters. In local folklore, the site became associated with the burial of a prince and the countless stones motif. The ruin attracted the interest of antiquarians in the 19th century, while archaeological excavation took place in the early 20th. In 1926, ownership was transferred to heritage charity the National Trust. Open without charge to visitors all year around, the stones are the site of a rag tree, a May Day morris dance, and various modern Pagan rituals.

Trottiscliffe Meadows is a 4.8-hectare (12-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Trottiscliffe in Kent. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I.These meadows on gault clay are crossed by calcareous streams, and they are two of the few remaining areas of unimproved grassland in the county. They have a number of uncommon plants, such as marsh valerian, carnation sedge, brown sedge and the rare moss cratoneuron filicinum.The meadows are private land, but a public footpath crosses one of them.

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is an active Anglican parish church in Church Lane, Trottiscliffe, in the Borough of Tonbridge and Malling, Kent, England. It is situated below the North Downs on the lowest levels of the Lower Chalk, above a spring on the Gault clay top at approximately 280 feet above ordnance datum.The church dates from the late 11th century and is dedicated to saints Peter and Paul. It is a Pilgrim Church as it is located near to the Pilgrims' Way, the historical route purportedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester in Hampshire, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. The church has been recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building since 1959 and is also notable for its large pulpit, which stood in Westminster Abbey until 1820.

Trottiscliffe ( TROZ-lee) is a village in Kent, England about 2.5 miles (4 km) north west of West Malling. It is often incorrectly spelled Trosley after Trosley Country Park at the top of the North Downs, which was once part of the Trosley Towers Estate. The spelling Trottesclyve appears with nearby Hallyng in 1396. Labelled as Trotterscliffe on the Ordnance Survey map published in 1870.

Offham is a village in the local government district of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England, five miles to the west of Maidstone. Offham has a quintain on the village green that was reported in medieval times for use in jousting. It is reputed to be the last English quintain in its original position, though it was removed for safekeeping during the Second World War.The village gets its name from "Offa", the name of a Saxon landowner, and "ham", a village or homestead.

Addington is a village in the English county of Kent. It is close to the M20 motorway, and between the villages of Wrotham Heath and West Malling. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is called Eddintune. The meaning of the village's name is "Æddi's (or Eadda's) estate". The village is notable for the long barrows, Neolithic chamber tombs. Its parish covers a little under 700 acres (2.8 km2), containing 291 houses. Addington Brook runs through the parish.

Ryarsh is a village and civil parish in the local government district of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is home to around 1,000 residents. Ryarsh is west of Maidstone and north of West Malling.

Wrotham Heath is a settlement in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is part of the civil parish of Wrotham, and is approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south-east of the village of Wrotham, 7 miles (11 km) east of Sevenoaks, and 7 miles (11 km) west of Maidstone. It is located on the A20 road, close to the junction between the M20 and M26 motorways. Wrotham Heath Golf Club was founded in 1906.

Vigo Village is a village and (as simply Vigo) a civil parish in the Gravesham district in Kent, England. It takes its name from a 15th-century public house, which was renamed in the 18th century after the Battle of Vigo Bay. While a nearby hamlet named Vigo was recorded on an 18th-century map, the present village was built in the mid-20th century, on a site that was previously a disused World War II army camp. The civil parish was created on 1 April 2000 from the parish of Meopham.The village is situated in the middle of chestnut woodland at the top of the North Downs, east of the road between Gravesend and Wrotham. Trosley Country Park lies immediately south of the village and forms part of the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In the 2001 census Vigo civil parish had a population of 2,201, reducing to 2,065 at the 2011 Census.

The North Downs Way National Trail is a long-distance path in southern England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Kent Downs AONB.

Tonbridge and Malling is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. The council is based at Kings Hill. The borough also includes the towns of Tonbridge and Snodland along with numerous villages including Aylesford, West Malling and surrounding rural areas. The neighbouring districts are Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Gravesham and Medway.