Aylesford (Kent)

Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, England, northwest of Maidstone. Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. Two pubs, a village shop and other amenities including a hairdresser, estate agent, two restaurants, a chiropodist and a coffee shop are located on the high street. Aylesford's current population is around 5,000. The Parish of Aylesford covers more than , stretching north to Rochester Airport estate and south to Barming, and has a total population of over 10,000 (as of 2011), with the main settlements at Aylesford, Eccles, Blue Bell Hill and (part of) Walderslade. Aylesford Newsprint was a long-established major employer in the area and was the largest paper recycling factory in Europe, manufacturing newsprint for the newspaper industry. In 2015, Aylesford Paper Mill, as it was known by local residents, was closed down and stripped of all its assets. There has been activity in the area since Neolithic times. There are several chamber tombs north of the village, of which Kit's Coty House, to the north, is the most famous; all have been damaged by farming. Kit's Coty is the remains of the burial chamber at one end of a long barrow. Just south of this, situated lower down the same hillside, is a similar structure, Little Kits Coty House (also known as the Countless Stones). Bronze Age swords have been discovered near here and an Iron Age settlement and Roman villa stood at Eccles. A cemetery of the British Iron Age discovered in 1886 was excavated under the leadership of Sir Arthur Evans (of Knossos fame), and published in 1890. Many of Evans' finds are now kept in the British Museum, including a bronze jug, pan and 'bucket' with handles in the form of a human face from a cremation burial. With the later excavation at Swarling not far away (discovery to publication was 1921–1925) this is the type site for Aylesford-Swarling pottery or the Aylesford-Swarling culture.