Coldrum Long Barrow

Coldrum Long Barrow was built between 3985 and 3855 BC, more than a thousand years before Stonehenge, and is Kent's least damaged megalithic long barrow and the only one in the Medway Valley to survive largely intact. Medieval villagers who thought it unholy pulled down stones and levelled the mound, and chalk quarrying took the eastern side, so archaeologists argued for a century over what it was before settling on a communal tomb: the chamber held the bones of more than 22 men, women and children, probably one close family. The National Trust took it on in 1926 in memory of the archaeologist Benjamin Harrison, and to mark a hundred years of care the fence has been removed, so visitors can now walk among the sarsens; the Hartley Morris Men still gather at dawn each May Day to sing up the sun. Dogs are allowed on the site. Reviewers come for the views over the Kentish countryside and note the ribbons tied to the trees by wish-makers. Tips from regulars: the Trust car park off Pinesfield Lane holds only ten cars, with a ten-minute field walk to the barrow, and the steps and uneven ground rule out wheelchairs.