Smarden

Although the historical details have become tangled over time, one man associated with the legend was Henry Edgar Martin, a papermaker who died in 1919.

Later accounts confused him with the schoolmaster named Harry Martin, who died in the nearby village of Smarden in 1923.

But it is the image behind the legend that has captured people's imaginations.

A solitary man, burdened by despair, whose final moments supposedly left a permanent mark on the place.