Swanscombe

Swanscombe is a small town in the Dartford Borough of Kent. It borders the Gravesham Borough. It is located north-west of Gravesend. Bone fragments and tools, representing the earliest humans known to have lived in England, have been found from 1935 onwards at the Barnfield Pit about 2 km (1 mile) outside the village. This site is now the Swanscombe Heritage Park. Finds from this site include 400,000-year-old skull fragments of hominids (possibly Homo erectus) and an extinct species of elephant.

Swanscombe in A Different Flesh
In the mid 17th century, remains of a hairy elephant were found in Swanscombe. The unexpected appearance of this American beast in Europe caused Samuel Pepys to wonder about this geographical discrepancy, and begin his line of inquiry which led to the transformational theory of life.