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UPPER WHITE HORSE STONE

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A large upright irregular sarsen measuring circa 3 metres by 1.6 metres, and 0.7 metres thick. It has been suggested to represent the remains of a Neolithic burial chamber, although no evidence other than its upright position and the relative proximity of other Neolithic monuments has ever been offered in support. There appears to be little pre-20th century reference to the site. The name reflects the fact that the stone appears to have inherited the legendary associations of its now-destroyed near neighbour, the original "White Horse Stone" (TQ 76 SE 12).

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[TQ 75336031] White Horse Stone [NR] (1)

Upper White Horse Stone: This has succeeded the original stone [see TQ 76 SE 12] and inherited its legend. It is mentioned in Beale-Poste's MSS but there is no further information to be gained. (2)

The Successor White Horse Stone is a large upright sarsen standing in the opposite angle of the cross roads to the site of the original stone and it has inherited both the name and tradition of the original, a fact which is not generally recognized. As it stands
upright it is very reminiscent of a chamber wall stone. There are many other stones in the vicinity. (3)

Upper White Horse Stone included in list of 'Megalithic Remains, probably Burial Chambers'. (4)

White Horse Stone sometimes Upper White Horse Stone - a large stone, 8ft by 5 ft by 2 ft, with fragments of others nearby, which may be the much ruined remnant of a burial chamber. In list of doubtful sites. (5)

TQ 75356032. The stone measures 3.0m x 1.6m and is 0.7m thick. It stands upright, lengthwise, within a small wood on the line of the Aylesford-Boxley parish boundary. (GP AO/59/6/2 from south east). Antiquity Model Survey has been carried out. (6)

Condition unchanged. (7)

TQ 754604. Aylesford. White Horse Stone, county number 17. (8)

Upper White Horse Stone, TQ 753603. This large upright stone is in anarrow strip of woodland east of the A229. The stone is 2.9m long, 1.65m high and about 60cm thick. Nearby are nine much smaller stones that extend westwards from the stone for about 10m. There is no trace of a mound and it is possible that some of these stones were moved from the adjacent field by farmers. Its identification as another chambered long barrow is therefore uncertain. Early antiquarians thought that it resembled a standing horse, hence its name, but stories of the god-like White Horse of Kent attached to it are quite without foundation. (9,10,11)

Paul Ashbee has in recent years published several articles discussing the Medway Megaliths, with a particular emphasis on historical records and early investigations, with detailed bibliographic references and early illustrations. He notes virtually no reference to the Upper White Horse Stone before 1907, by which time it had already become associated with the various legends previously linked to its destroyed predecessor the Lower White Horse Stone (TQ 76 SE 11), along with other tales. Identification of the stone as part of a Neolithic burial chamber, which Ashbee appears to tentatively support, is highly speculative. (12-15)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1936-47

( 2a) Externally held archive reference

Beale-Poste MSS (Maidstone Museum) Vol 3 Sect 3 p.111

( 2) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

Evans, JH. A Disciple of the Druids: The Beale Poste MSS. 62, 1949 Page(s)130-9

( 3) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

Evans, JH. Kentish Megalithic Types. 63, 1950 Page(s)63-81

( 4) Ordnance Survey professional papers : new series

Crawford, OGS. Notes on Archaeological Information Incorporated in the Ordnance Survey Maps. Part 2. The Long Barrows and Megaliths in the area covered by sheet 12 of the 1/4 inch map (Kent, Surrey and Sussex). 8, 1924

( 5) by Glyn E Daniel 1950 The prehistoric chamber tombs of England and Wales

Page(s)234

( 6) Field Investigators Comments

F1 ASP 14.05.59

( 7) Field Investigators Comments

F2 ASP 21.10.64

( 8) Scheduled Monument Notification

DOE(IAM) Ancient Monuments England 2 1978 109

( 9) Council for Kentish Archaeology Kent archaeological review

Philp, B. A Survey of the Medway Megaliths. 64, 1981 Page(s)77-92

(10) Ronald Jessup 1970 South east England

Ancient peoples and places no.69 Page(s)101-2

(11) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

Holgate, R. The Medway Megaliths and Neolithic Kent. 97, 1981 Page(s)221-234

(12) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

Ashbee, P. The Medway Megaliths in Perspective. 111, 1993 Page(s)57-111

(13) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

Ashbee, P. William Stukeley, The Kit's Coty hose and his coves: a note. 112, 1993 Page(s)17-24

(14) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

Ashbee, P. The Medway Megaliths in a European Context. 119, 1999 Page(s)269-284

(15) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

Ashbee, P. The Medway's Megalithic Long Barrows. 120, 2000 Page(s)319-345

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LOWER WHITE HORSE STONE
AYLESFORD

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Former location of a sarsen, destroyed circa 1823. It is presumed to have been a standing stone, but this is by no means certain, and consequently its...

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