Allington Castle

( 337 ) ALLINGTON CASTLE. BY SIR W. MARTIN CONWAY, M.A., E.S.A. THE immediate neighbourhood of Allington Castle appears to have been a very ancient site of human habitation. It lies close to what must have been an important ford over the Medway, at a point which was approximately the head of low-tide navigation. The road from the east, which debouches on the right bank of the river close beside the present Malta Inn, led straight to the ford, and its continuation on the other bank can be traced as a deep furrow through the Lock Wood, and almost as far as the church, though in part it has recently been obliterated by the dejection of quarry debris. This ancient road may be traced up to the Pilgrims' Way, from which it branched off. In the neighbourhood of the castle, at points not exactly recorded, late Celtic burials have been discovered containing remains of the Aylesford type. Where there were burials there was no doubt a settlement. In Roman days the site was likewise well occupied, and the buried ruins of a Roman villa are marked on the ordnance map in the field west of the castle. The site seems to be indicated by a level place on the sloping hill, and when the land in question falls into my hands I propose to make the researches necessary to reveal the situation and character of the villa. Roman interments have also been discovered by the quarrymen at points both north-west and south of the supposed villa site, so that probably the neighbourhood was settled in Roman days. There can hardly be any doubt of the object of the settlement. It was probably a village of quarrymen, and the villa was the residence of the overseer or owner of the quarry. I t will be remembered that the Roman wall of London VOL. xxvm, 55