Cossington is a small farm settlement on

Blue Bell Hill Blue Bell Hill is a chalk hill between Maidstone and Rochester in the English county of Kent. It overlooks the River Medway and is part of the North Downs. Settlements on the hill include the Walderslade suburb of Chatham and the villages o ...

north of

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

county of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. It is the site of a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

and also the site of a now lost group of

sarsen Sarsen stones are silicification, silicified sandstone blocks found extensively across southern England on the Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs in Wiltshire; in Kent; and in smaller quantities in Berkshire, Essex, Oxfordshire, Dorset, an ...

stones thought to possibly be the remains of a

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

chambered long barrow Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repres ...

and one of the Medway megaliths. The area is very close to the nearby sites of

Kit's Coty House Kit's Coty House or Kit's Coty is a chambered long barrow near the village of Aylesford, Kent, Aylesford in the southeastern English county of Kent. Constructed ''circa'' 4000 BCE, during the Neolithic British Isles, Early Neolithic period of Br ...

and the

Countless Stones The countless stones is a motif that appears in English and Welsh folklore. It is associated with various megalithic monuments, including chambered long barrows from the Early Neolithic and the stones circles of the Late Neolithic and Early Bro ...

. Little is known of the stones at Cossington; the lack of available knowledge and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

interest at the site may mean that they may not be megalithic remains but natural

periglacial Periglaciation (adjective: "periglacial", referring to places at the edges of glacial areas) describes geomorphic processes that result from seasonal thawing and freezing, very often in areas of permafrost. The meltwater may refreeze in ice wedg ...

stones. The upstanding stones may have been destroyed in the nineteenth century to provide building stone for the military garrisons at

Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...

and Chatham further downstream in the

Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

valley. In 1980 four stones buried in a pit were found in the area by a local farmer who broke his plough on them. The precise location has not been shared by the archaeologist who excavated them, apparently for fear of treasure hunters.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , title = Kent Records , publisher = Kent Archaeological Society , series = Kent Records , issue = v. 28 , year = 2000 , isbn = 978-0-906746-40-0 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_GtQAQAAMAAJ , access-date = 10 July 2018 , page = 98 Archaeological sites in Kent Tonbridge and Malling