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Dartford
Dartford shown within Kent
Population	85,911 (2001)
OS grid reference	TQ538739
- London	18.8mi
District	Dartford
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DARTFORD
Postcode district	DA
Dialling code	01322
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Dartford
European Parliament	South East England
List of places: UK • England • Kent

Coordinates: 51°27′50″N 0°15′14″E / 51.464, 0.254

Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent in South East England, 16 miles (25 km) east south-east of central London.

The town centre is situated in a valley through which the River Darent flows, and where the old road from London to Dover crossed: hence the name, from Darent + ford. Although today it is principally a commuter town for Greater London it has a long history of cultural importance.

Contents 1 Geology and geography 2 History 2.1 Dartford's industrial history 3 Population 4 Culture 5 Facilities and amenities 5.1 Transport 5.1.1 Roads 5.1.2 Railways 5.2 Education 5.3 Places of Worship 5.4 Health 6 Dartford Heath 7 Notable people 8 International links 8.1 Twin towns 8.2 Associated towns 9 References 10 External links 11 See also

Further information: Geography of Kent

Dartford lies within the area known as the London Basin. The low-lying marsh to the north of the town consists of London Clay, and the alluvium brought down by the two rivers - the Darenth and the Cray - whose confluence is in this area. The higher land on which the town stands, and through which the narrow valley of the Darenth runs, consists of chalk surmounted by the Blackheath Beds of sand and gravel.

As a human settlement, Dartford became established as a river crossing-point with the coming of the Romans; and as a focal point between two routes - that from west to east being part of the main route connecting London with the Continent; and the southerly route following the valley of the Darenth. As a result the town's main road pattern makes the shape of letter 'T'. The Dartford Marshes to the north, and the proximity of Crayford in the London Borough of Bexley to the west, mean that the town's growth is to the south and east. Wilmington is to all intents and purposes part of the town to the south; whilst the almost continuous Thames Gateway development means that there is little to show the town boundary in an easterly direction.

Within the town boundaries there are several distinct areas: the town centre around the parish church and along the High Street; the Joyce Green area; Temple Hill estate constructed in 1927; the Brent; Fleet Downs; as well as two important areas of open space and several industrial estates. The open spaces are Central Park alongside the river; and Dartford Heath (see below).

In the prehistory period the first people appeared in the Dartford area around 250,000 years ago, a tribe of prehistoric hunters whose exemplar is called Swanscombe Man. Many other archaeological investigations have revealed the picture of occupation of the district: there have been finds from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.

When the Romans engineered the Dover to London road (afterwards named Watling Street) it was necessary to cross the River Darent by ford: giving the settlement its name. Roman villas were built alng the Darenth valley, and at Noviomagus (Crayford), close by. The Saxons may well have established the first settlement where Dartford now stands. Dartford manor is mentioned in the Domesday Book, written after the Norman invasion in 1086: it was owned by the king.

During the medieval period Dartford, because of its strategic position en route for the Continent, but also since it was the on route taken by many pilgrims, became one of the sites in England where various religious orders established themselves. In the 12th century the Knights Templar had possession of the manor of Dartford.^[1] The National Trust property at Sutton-at-Hone, to the south of the town, is a remaining piece of that history. In the 14th century, a priory was established here, and two groups of friars—the Domicans and the Franciscans—built hospitals here for the care of the sick. At this time the town became a small, but important, market town.

Wat Tyler, of the Peasants' Revolt fame, might well have been a local hero, although three other towns in Kent all claim the same, and there are various reasons to doubt the strength of Tyler's connexion to the town.^[2] However, the existence of the public house named after him in the town nevertheless gives a little credence to Dartford's claim.

In the 15th century, two kings of England became part of the town's history. Henry V marched through the town with his troops prior to fighting the French at the Battle of Agincourt in November 1415; in 1422 Henry V's body was taken to Holy Trinity Church by Edmund Lacey, the Bishop of Exeter, who performed a funeral. In March 1452, Richard the Duke of York camped on the Brent with ten thousand men, waiting for a confrontation with King Henry VI. The Duke surrendered to the King in Dartford. The place of the camp is marked today by York Road.

The sixteenth century saw significant changes in the hitheto agricultural basis of the market in Dartford, as new industries began to take shape (see below). The priory was destroyed in 1538 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and a new manor house constructed by King Henry VIII. In 1576 Dartford Grammar School was founded, part of the Tudor emphasis on education for ordinary people.

Many Protestants were executed during the reigns of Queen Mary (1553–1554) and Philip and Mary (1554–1558), including Christopher Waid, a Dartford linen-weaver burnt to death at the stake in front of thousands of spectators on Dartford Brent in 1555. The Martyrs Memorial on East Hill commemorates Waid and other Kentish Martyrs.

The earliest industries were those connected with agriculture, such as the brewing of traditional beers and ales. Lime-burning and chalk-mining also had their place. Fulling was another: the cleansing of the wool needed a great deal of available water, which the river could provide. This led to other water-based industries, using the power of the water to operate machinery.

Sir John Spilman set up the first paper mill in England at Dartford in 1588 on a site near Powder Mill Lane, and soon some 600 employees worked there, providing an invaluable source of local employment. Iron-making on the Weald was in full operation at this time, and iron ingots were sent to Dartford, to England's first iron-slitting mill, set up on the Darent at Dartford Creek in 1595 by Godfrey Box, an immigrant from the Low Countries. In 1785, a blacksmith from Lowfield Street began to make engines, boilers and machinery. Some of that machinery was for the local gunpowder factory run by Miles Peter Andrews and the Pigou family. In 1785, the firm of J&E Hall was set up, specialising in heavy engineering; later into refrigerating equipment; and by 1906 into vehicle production.

From those beginnings in the 18th century were to come the industrial base on which the growth and prosperity of Dartford were to follow.

In 1840 the mustard factory of Saunders & Harrison was described as being 'perhaps the largest in the kingdom'.^[3] Dartford Paper Mills were built in 1862, when excise duty on paper was abolished.

The demand created by World War I meant that output at the local Vickers factory multiplied, with a positive effect on the local economy. Burroughs-Wellcome chemical works (now called GlaxoSmithKline) made Dartford a centre for pharmaceutical industry. During the war, many Belgian refugees arrived in the town. Unable to house them all, many people were housed with volunteers.^{[citation needed]}

There has been a large power station on the Thames at Littlebrook to the north of the town since 1939. The current station, which has one of the tallest chimneys in the UK, dates from the early 1980s. In 1947 the large new estate of Temple Hill was built to the north-east of the town centre; the name may have some connection with the fact that the manor of Dartford, in the Middle Ages, belonged to the Knights Templar. The built-up area of the town now stretches east as far as Stone; southwards along Lowfield Street towards Hawley; and westwards to the London boundary and Dartford Heath.

In early 2006 SEEDA (The South East England Development Agency) purchased a 2.6 hectare site on the edge of the town which had been used by Unwins, an off-license chain, which went into administration in 2005. They also purchased the neighbouring Matrix Business Centre to protect its future. They intend to develop the site as 'Dartford Northern Gateway', with a mixture of retail and other businesses and housing.

In 1801, Dartford’s population was c.2400; by the 2001 census it had increased to 85,911. 2001 census figures for Dartford Much of this growth can be apportioned to the fact that Dartford became, for some time in its existence, an industrial town. Unemployment levels, taken from the 2001 census, were at 3.8%. By 2006 this had decreased to 2.2%, somewhat below the national average. 1

Since the time of the Romans, Dartford has always been of importance to road transport. The construction of what has become known as Watling Street was of great importance to the communications of the Roman Empire, connecting London to Dover and the continent. Even when the Romans left Britain, it was still maintained in good order and continued in use.

By the 18th century it had become necessary to control the upkeep of heavily-used roads and Turnpike Trusts were set up by Act of Parliament. Dartford was served by two: that for Watling Street; and the road south to Sevenoaks, both brought into being between 1750 and 1780.

The coming of the railways brought an end to the turnpikes, and road improvement came almost to a standstill. In the first quarter of the 20th century, which also saw the beginning of motor transport, tarmacadam was developed. In 1925 the building of what was to become the A2 main road took traffic away from Dartford town centre since it included a bypass to the town (Princes Way). Today the original main road trough the town is the A226. The erstwhile turnpike road south to Sevenoaks is now the A225).

Dartford is perhaps most well-known for the Dartford Crossing, the main mode of crossing the River Thames to the east of London, where the southbound A282 (part of the London Orbital) crosses the river via the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge toll bridge and the northbound carriageway crosses via the twin bore Dartford Tunnel. The first tunnel was opened in 1963.

The first railway from London to reach Dartford was the North Kent Line via Woolwich in 1849, connecting at Gravesend with the line through to the Medway Towns. Later two more lines were built:

• the Dartford Loop Line through Sidcup opened in 1866
• the Bexleyheath Line opened in 1895

The three routes make Dartford a very busy junction. All the lines were electrified on 6 June 1926.

Further information: List of schools in Kent#Dartford

Dartford houses several secondary schools :

• Dartford Grammar School
• Dartford Grammar School for Girls
• Wilmington Grammar School for Boys
• The Grammar School for Girls, Wilmington
• Wilmington Enterprise College
• Dartford Technology College
• Leigh City Technology College
• North West Kent College

• Church of England
  • Christ Church, Cross Road
  • Holy Trinity, High St
  • St Albans, St Albans Road
  • St Edmunds, Temple Hill
  • St Michaels, Church Hill
• Roman Catholic
  • St Anselms, West Hill
  • St Vincent's, Temple Hill
• Baptist
  • Temple Hill Baptist, St Edmunds Road
  • Baptist Chapel, Highfield Road
• Methodist
  • Dartford Methodist, Spital Street
  • Brent Methodist, Brent Lane
• Other denominations
  • St Andrews United Reformed Church, Watling Street
  • The Salvation Army, Hythe Street
  • Dartford Community Church (Dartford Christian Fellowship), Dartford Road
  • Emanuel Pentecostal Church, East Hill
  • Quaker Society of Friends, Holmesdale Gr
  • One With Grace Church, Hawley Road

There are, or have been, many hospital buildings in Dartford, the majority of which have been closed since the opening of Darent Valley Hospital. Thosr still functioning include Stone House Hospital, in Cotton Lane to the east of the town, was opened on 16th April 1866 as the "City of London Lunatic Asylum". It was, and still is, a large castellated structure built in spacious grounds. It remained under the direct administration of the City of London until 1948, when it was transferred to the National Health Service (NHS). It remains one of the largest and most visible structures in Dartford, and is currently operated by the NHS to manage regional health care delivery, and is also home to a nursing school.

Livingstone Hospital on East Hill ...

This area to the south-west of Dartford covers some 314 acres (125ha) of open space. Historically it has always been of importance: prehistoric barrows and Bronze Age artefacts having been discovered here. The first recorded cricket match took place here in 1723; and the Society of Royal Kentish Bowman were briefly established here between 1785-1802. The nearby area is still known as Bowmans.

The Heath is included as one Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is one of only three in the county. It contains three ponds (Donkey Pond, Woodland Pond and North Pond) and a variety of habitats: including acid grassland, broadleaved semi-natural woodland, heather and gorse, as well as other plantlife. It is common land and therefore escaped being enclosed during the late 18th and the early 19th centuries. It is also the original source for the name of the Dartford Warbler.

The Heath is also now well known as a dogging hotspot; the remoteness of the land makes it an ideal spot for such activity to take place.^[4]

The following have, or had, some connection with Dartford:

• Malcolm Allison (1927- ), football player and manager
• Andrea Arnold (1961- ), film producer, winner 2004 Oscar and 2007 BAFTA
• Simon Beale (1972- ), Heart 106.2 radio presenter
• Sir Peter Blake (1932- ), pop artist.
• Dave Charnley (The Dartford Destroyer)(1935- ), lightweight boxing champion
• Cobra (1963- ) TV personality from Gladiators (British TV show)
• Graham Dilley (1959- ) Kent and England cricketer
• Andy Fordham (1962- ), World Darts Champion 2004, was landlord of The Rose public house in Dartford
• Ivor Gurney (1890-1937), composer and poet
• Mark Homer, actor
• Sir Mick Jagger (1943- ) and Keith Richards (1943- ) of The Rolling Stones
• Glen Johnson(1984-), Footballer
• Sidney Keyes (1922-1943), the war poet
• John Latham (ornithologist) (1743-1837]
• Matt Morgan (1937- ), comedian, writer, DJ and a radio presenter
• Chris Pearson, BFBS Radio DJ
• Paul Samson (1953-2002), rock guitarist
• Richard Trevithick (1771-1833), inventor and mining engineer

• Hanau, Germany (Hesse)
• Capelle, Netherlands (Holland) since 1989
• Tallinn, Estonia since 1992

• Gravelines, France since 1992

• ‘’Kent History Illustrated’’ - Frank W Jessup (KCC, 1966)
• ‘’Railways of the Southern Region’’ - Geoffrey Body (PSL Field Guide 1989)
• Local History - Mark Chatwin (1997)

• The Dartford town archive
• Dartford Local History

• Dartford F.C.

v • d • e Towns and villages in the Dartford district of Kent, England
Bean • Betsham • Bowmans • Darenth • Dartford • Ebbsfleet • Greenhithe • Hawley • Hook Green • Longfield • New Barn • Northfleet Green • Southfleet • Stone • Sutton-at-Hone • Swanscombe • Temple Hill • Wilmington
List of places in Kent

v • d • e Ceremonial county of Kent
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