In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is an archaeological site or historic building of "national importance" that has been given protection against unauthorised change by being placed on a list (or "schedule") by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; Historic England takes the leading role in identifying such sites.
[4] The monuments range in date from a neolithic standing stone to a tiny 18th-century mortuary, but the majority are medieval.
Although mostly reduced to ruins and earthworks, the district contains the remains of four castles and five moated manor houses that are scheduled monuments.
A number of monuments are buildings of ecclesiastical origin including an abbey, a priory and two tithe barns.
The buildings associated with the former College of All Saints and the Archbishop's Palace in Maidstone town centre form the best preserved group of scheduled monuments.