On the southern slopes of Blue Bell Hill and to the north of Aylesford village is the Aylesford megalithic cluster.  This is four megalithic monuments that are all a comfortable distance from each other and are within the bigger grouping known as the Medway Megaliths.   The proximity to each other of these four important monuments means that the the Aylesford megalithic cluster is unique in south-east Britain  and extremely rare in the whole of the British Isles. The cluster comprises: Kits Coty House, Lower Kits Coty aka The Countless Stones, The White Horse Stone, and the Coffin Stone.  There is also some historical evidence of other megalithic monuments in the same area, including the General's Tomb nearby Kits Coty House.  However, these four are all that remain.  They have each made sufficient impression on earlier generations that they each have: names; legendary associations; and they either form boundaries and/or lie on or near ancient rights of way. 

The layby off Rochester Road and just west of the Lower Bell pub is a convenient place to park for a tour of the megaliths.  Where they can be reached on foot they form the Aylesford megalithic trail.  If you park at the layby and then head uphill along Chatham Road, you soon come to the entrance to footpath MR 447 (now also signposted as part of the North Downs Way).  Turn off here and then head downhill along the wide path shaded with a hedge including yew, damson and wild privet until you get to Kits Coty House on the right.  This is probably the most famous of these monuments.  It is mentioned by: Samuel Pepyss, the diarist; Stukely, the antiquarian; and Hasted, the Kent Historian.The railings are not to everybody's taste but undoubtedly serve to protect it. There are some good views of the Medway Valley and the Downs on the western side of the Valley.  (See some photographs elsewhere on this website, at Site Page E - Antiquities in the parish.)

Heading downhill from Kits Coty House you come to the junction with Pilgrims Way (the road), Rochester Road and Pilgrims Way (the footpath, MR448 and also part of the North Downs Way).  If crossing by foot, take care, as this is a busy road junction with traffic approaching from 3 directions.  Heading east along Pilgrims Way (the footpath), the path comes out at the underpass under the A229 Chatham to Maidstone road.  Continuing east to the other side of the underpass, then over the CTRL footbridge, continue along the footpath.  Where the path enters the treeline there is a noticeboard on the left saying "Welcome to Boxley Warren Nature Reserve".  The White Horse Stone is a  few yards further in on the left and just inside the treeline.  I was always mystified that it is supposed to look like a horse as I have never seen any likeness.  However, I have recently been told that, if you look at it from the side, rather than from in front, then, from that sideways perspective, it does look like a horse. Anyway, see what you think.  I am also mystified by William Coles Finch's assertion, between the 1st and 2nd World Wars, that the White Horse Stone looks like a sphinx. In fact; Cole Finch gave it the alternative name of "The Western Sphinx."  I'm afraid that I can't see any similarity to a sphinx.  However, it makes a good story.  (Incidentally, Coles Finch gave the collective name of "Greywethers" to these monuments, apparently because they look like grey wethers - grey sheep - on the hillside.  However, I haven't found any other authorities that use this name.)  The White Horse Stone still serves a useful purpose in the 21st Century as a boundary marker between Aylesford and Boxley parishes (Tonbridge and Malling and Maidstone Boroughs respectively).  See some photographs of the White Horse stone elsewhere in this website at Site Page E - Antiquities in the parish. The current  White Horse Stone appears to have inherited its name from a former stone now long gone further to the south-west. and located more or less where Pilgrims Way crosses the A229 via the Cossington Underpass.  Don't worry if you had heard that the Underpass is flooded.  Yes, it had been flooded for a few years recently which meant that the path had to be diverted.  However, it is now dry and has scarcely any puddles even when it has been raining hard. 

Walking back from the White Horse Stone, the megalithic trail has a shortcut to the layby.  You turn right immediately on coming out of the underpass then walk up as far as the Lower Bell on the right and the layby is just across the road on the left.  From the layby Lower Kits Coty is just south of the Rochester Road/Pilgrims way junction along Rochester Road.  Rochester Road here is busy and has no footway so I can't suggest walking to it.  It is enclosed by railings and set back along a grassy path just east of Rochester Road and is now an attractive and picturesque jumble of old sarsens.  Hasted has an engraving of its condition in the 18th century when it appeared to have still been a structure of sorts but it has since tumbled down.

The Coffin Stone is set in picturesque surroundings within sight of and to the east of footpath MR446 south of Pilgrims Way (the road).  You would need binoculars to get a good look.   The Coffin Stone has been moved since I first saw it in the late 70s and there are a number of other sarsens on and around it that appear to have been cleared from the field.   Pedestrian access to MR446 from the layby cannot be recommended as there is no footway.  (Current update: the fields around the Coffin Stone are currently being planted as a vineyard.  I understand that the vineyard owners have a public-spirited plan to arrange the planting so that public access to the Coffin Stone is possible .)   

The other monuments of the Medway Megaliths that still exist are the Coldrum Stones, at Trottiscliffe, and The Chestnuts and the Long Barrow, both at Addington.  These are all on the west side of the Medway and outside the boundary of Aylesford parish.  There are also some historical references to former monuments at Cockadam Shaw, at Harvel, and at Cobham.