Kentish paradise Why South suited the early humans

From 800,000 to 600,000 years ago, Britain was connected to mainland Europe by a land bridge stretching approximately from the north Norfolk coast to the Isle of Wight.

The climate fluctuated significantly across millennia, but glaciation is believed never to have reached south of the Thames. This meant that in warmer periods, Kent would have been a hospitable area.

Southern Kent is an area rich enough in flint that huntergatherers may have been content to drop their stone tools to carry meat, said Prof Bridgland.