AYLESFORD, a village of England, in the county of Kent, 3j miles from Maidstone, and 32 from London. It stands at the base of a hill on the right bank of the Medway, which is here crossed by a stone bridge of six arches. The church stands on an eminence behind the village. At a short distance to the W. was a Carmelite friary, founded in 1240, the remains of which now form a part of the family mansion of the earl of Aylesford. The vicinity exhibits several remains of antiquity, among which is, or rather was, for it is grievously destroyed, a cromlech called Kit’s Coity House, about a mile N.E. from the village. This is supposed by Mr Fergusson, in accordance with tradition, to mark the burial-place of Catigern, w ho was slain here in a battle between the Britons and Saxons in 455 a.d. The tomb of Horsa, who fell in the same battle, is situated at Horsted, about 2 miles to the N. Near Aylesford, too, are other remains, known as the Countless Stones. Population of parish in 1871, 2100.
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