It attracted the interest of antiquarian John Aubrey, who wrote about it in his "Monumenta Britannica", in which he included an image of the site drawn by classical scholar Thomas Gale. William Stukeley first visited the site in October 1722, making various drawings and plans of the monument, and would later publish his findings, albeit without reference to either Horsa or Catigern. In 1722, Hercules Ayleway recorded a local belief that the monument had been erected in memorial to two contending kings of Kent, who died in a battle nearby.