Ralph Whitlock, in his book Salisbury Plain, published in 1955, writes:
The next parish southwards from Maiden Bradley is Kilmington, which lies high and exposed to the east winds. Its story, such as can be gleaned from asides and allusions, is closely connected with that of the Forest of Selwood and also with that of the Friary of Witham, just over the Somerset border. This friary was one of four monasteries built by King Henry II to atone for his murder of Thomas a Becket. Wolves were apparently to be found in the forest to the end of the thirteenth century, and there are still deer in it and an abundance of lesser wildlife. That ancient prehistoric road, the Hardway, which climbs Kingsettle Hill from the Somerset side, swings due east through Kilmington and continues over the crest of White Sheet Hill across the downs towards Hindon. The section known as Long Lane, marking the boundary between Kilmington and Stourton, is a sunken road made lovely in May by masses of bluebells and red campion.