cultivation. Alexander believed the damage to the chamber was the result of robbery. Supporting this idea is comparative evidence, with the Close Roll of 1237 ordering the opening of barrows on the Isle of Wight in search for treasure, a practice which may have spread to Kent around the same time. Alexander believed that the destruction may have been brought about by a special commissioner, highlighting that the "expertness and thoroughness of the robbery" would have required more resources than a local community could muster. He further suggested that the individuals who damaged the monument might have also been responsible for the damage at Kit's Coty House, Coldrum Long Barrow, and Addington Long Barrow, while Ashbee suggested that the same could also be the case for Lower Kit's Coty House. Rather than robbery, Ashbee thought iconoclasm was the probable cause of the medieval damage to the chamber. He suggested that the burial of the stones indicated that Christian zealots had tried to deliberately destroy and defame the pre-Christian monument. Excavation also revealed evidence for modern activity around the site. Three post-medieval pits were identified in and around the barrow, as well as a post-medieval attempt to dig into the chamber. Finds from this period included ceramic sherds, clay pipes dated from between the 17th and 19th centuries, stone and clay marbles, brick tile, and bottles dated from between the 18th and 20th centuries. Alexander suggested that this evidence confirmed local accounts that Chestnuts Long Barrow had been used as a popular spot for picnics. There are also accounts that it was used as a well-known rabbit warren; during the late 19th century, the field was used as a paddock. Folklore In a 1946 paper published in the Folklore journal, John H. Evans recorded a Kentish folk belief which had been widespread "up to the last generation". This held that it was impossible to successfully count the number of stones in the Medway Megaliths. The countless stones motif is not unique to Kent, having been recorded at other megalithic monuments in Britain and Ireland. The earliest textual evidence for it is in an early 16th-century document, where it applies to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, although an early 17th-century document also applied it to The Hurlers, a set of three stone circles in Cornwall. Later records reveal that the folk story had gained widespread distribution in England and single occurrences in both Wales