Dartford History

1. Introduction.

Being so near the River Thames and close to England's Capital London, Dartford has always played a big part in our land's history. It has seen the Romans with their roads, and villas; the Saxons, Normans; right through to two World Wars in the 20th century. Dartford looks like being at the front of the action in the 21st Century when a science park and an industrial complex are built at Ebbsfleet near Swanscombe. A sure way to live up to the inscription under Dartford's Crest - FLOREAT DARTFORD - May Dartford Prosper!

While this is not a comprehensive history I do hope that it will rouse a desire to find out more. It has certainly been a learning process for me.

Mark Chatwin, July 1997.

2. Prehistoric Dartford.

Local Geology.

Humanity has only lived in the local area for around 250,000 years. A very small amount of time when compared to the age of the Earth. Studying the Rocks, fossils, and other ancient features tell a lot about the Dartford area, eons before Man arrived. During the Cretaceous Period (70 - 100 million years ago) when dinosaurs walked the Earth, this area was under 700ft of water.

This sea stretched across Northern Europe to Southern Russia and Turkey. As many locals know, the area around Dartford is rich in Chalk deposits, and it has been mined around Greenhithe, Swanscombe and Northfleet for years. This chalk was once a sludge which built up on the bottom of the sea. In the sea lived many creatures from urchins, ammonites, corals, and plankton-like plants called coccoliths, which floated to the sea bed and formed the white chalky sludge when they died.

North Kent Chalk is many hundreds of feet in depth, being soft near the surface. Because of the way the chalk was deposited layer upon layer, the oldest chalk is at the bottom. Hence by examining the fossils in this chalk we are looking back in time, and can see how life evolved. Chalk has always been a useful resource - being used for building, as fertiliser, and as a very important part in the making of cement.

It is also common to find flint in chalk deposits. Flint is a dense mass of very small crystals which absorb light. Hence flint has a shiny look, and has a black / dark-brown or grey colour. It was once soft and was able to run into veins and cracks in the muddy chalk at the bottom of the sea. Flint was often used by Stone Age Man to make fire, and for their tools and weapons. Flint and chalk can be seen in the walls of Holy Trinity Church.

Many geological changes have occurred, each bringing new deposits to the local area. During the Eocene Period the Thanet Sands were laid down. The Thanet Sands are a mixture of Loam, Silt and Sand. The flowing of the rivers led to the formation of the Woolwich Beds close to Dartford, these were large lagoons. Later the sea returned to deposit the sands and pebbles of the Blackheath Beds.

As the sea got shallower the London Clay was put down. London Clay can be found at Swanscombe. The rising temperatures brought mammals to the area. The Alps were created by pressures in the continental rocks, which led to the uplifting of South East England, exposing the chalk. Drainage from these newly lifted surfaces made rivers, for example, the River Darent.

The Ice Ages then came four times, each time the ice never reached Dartford. The last Ice Age ended 10,000 years ago. Lots of gravel found in this area was left during the warm periods between the Ice Ages. During the second of these warm periods (250,000 years ago) a tribe of prehistoric hunters called Swanscombe Man appeared. 8,000 years ago France was connected to England via a land mass - thus animals could cross from the continent. A piece of Skull from Swanscombe Man can be seen in the Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, South East London.

The Coming of Man.

As discussed above, tribes of nomadic hunters lived in the Dartford area some 250,000 years ago. Much of our knowledge of this has been found from discarded tools and bones. Prehistory has been divided into three eras by archaeologists. The Old Stone Age (Palaeolithic), the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic), and the New Stone Age (Neolithic). Bronze Age and Iron Age are given to the periods in history when man learnt to use these metals for the construction of tools, and other objects. Before man discovered how to use bronze and iron he made all of his tools from wood, stone, and bone. Many remains from the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic have been found around Dartford.

Hand-axes and other flint tools from the Palaeolithic era have been found at several sites around the area (including Dartford Heath and Swanscombe). One of the most famous archaeological sites in the world is Barnfield Pit, Craylands Lane, Swanscombe. It is also the richest Palaeolithic site it Britain. This site has provided us with an historical record of South East England during the Ice Age.

In June 1935 Alvan T. Marston, a Clapham Dentist who was an amateur archaeologist, found part of a human skull in Barnfield Pit. It belonged to an early form of modern man (Homo sapiens). This skull is now housed at the Natural History Museum in London, along with two other parts of the same skull found in 1936 and 1955. It is reckoned it belonged to a young woman from the Swanscombe Man tribe of 250,000 years ago.

These people were probably nomads who lived in temporary shelters on the banks of the River Thames. They would have hunted many animals as they came to drink at waterholes. 80,000 plus flint implements have been excavated from Barnfield Pit. The remains of 26 other species of animal have been found there too, including horses, dogs, deer, lemmings, and elephants!

The lower layers of Barnfield Pit have given us tools from an older, more primitive, tribe of man living at Swanscombe earlier than 250,000 years ago. This tribe is known as Clactonian Man. Over 4,000 items of flint from Barnfield Pit are housed in Dartford Museum. The most common item from Swanscombe is the hand-axe. These were not axes in our sense of the word - they were worked pieces of flint which were held in the hand and used for cutting, chopping and skinning. As time went on man discovered new ways of making better tools. A site of an implement factory was found north of Crayford.

Between 12,000 - 3,000 BC the Ice which had covered much of Europe began to melt. This period is called the Mesolithic, and is between the Old Stone Age and the New Stone Age. The land uncovered by the icy glaciers became forest. Prehistoric man was slowly changed from a hunter to a farmer with some control over his food supply. Forests grew over much of this area, so Mesolithic people had to adapt. Tools were similar as to those used by Palaeolithic man. Thames Picks were developed to assist in the felling of trees. These were flint heads slotted into a wooden shaft.

5,400 years ago (3,400 BC) the first farming and stock-raising communities reached Britain. Soon farmers settled in the Dartford area. Now prehistoric man could control food production, plan his agriculture, and exert some control on nature. The nomadic ways of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic gave way to a more settled way of live. As well as axes, Neolithic farmers required hoes and rakes. Arrowheads were used for hunting of animals, some heads of which have been found in York Road, and Hesketh Park.

The Beaker Culture from Brittany of about 1,900 BC were the first metal users in England. They buried their dead in trenches or boxes made of stone slabs - so-called Round Barrows. These Bronze Age people made flint and bronze daggers - often placed in their graves. Dartford Heath was an important area during the Bronze Age. In 1906-1907 a hoard of 17 gold brooches was found there - these are now housed in the British Museum.

The Iron Age came to Britain during the 7th and 1st centuries BC Pottery, brooches, and farming equipment have been found in Dartford, many from Farningham, Crayford, Stone and Sutton-at-Hone. A Pre-Roman Iron Age site at Farningham was excavated in 1975. This consisted of a farm with underground storage pits which held crops grown in adjacent fields. Animal bones prove that cattle were the main source of meat, along with sheep, pig, and deer.

3. Roman Dartford.

AD 43 saw the invasion of England by the mighty Roman Empire. With the Romans came their knowledge - roads, villas, towns, new ways of farming and the Roman Economy. This great empire's invasion resulted in the military occupation of England until AD 410; and the Roman way of life, and its religion, influenced local life for the best part of 400 years.

Being the first place invaded it is not surprising that Kent is rich in Roman remains, North Kent more so. Important sites found are along the length of the River Darent at Dartford, Wilmington, Farningham, and Lullingstone. Other evidence of Roman life have been found in Ash, Longfield, Joydens Wood and Springhead (on the borders of Dartford and Gravesend).

One reason Dartford was at the forefront of Roman life was its proximity to London (Londinium), and one of the first roads built linking Londinium to the Kent Coast passed through Dartford. Many artifacts have been found near the town centre of modern-day Dartford. The evidence from these finds point to an affluent Roman society in Dartford. Pots, coins, human and animal remains have been clues to life nearly 2,000 years ago. The main Roman London to Dover road follows the modern East Hill to West Hill route through the town, and continues through Crayford and Bexleyheath.

This road was known as Watling Street, and is still called the same in many places. The exact course through Dartford's centre is unknown but it has been suggested that it passed under the tower of Holy Trinity Church. Of course 2,000 years ago the River Darent was a lot wider than it is today. Local archaeologists discovered that the Romans built a metalled ford across the river. A suggestion of Dartford's name perhaps. Darent-ford contracted to Dartford.

In 1895 the remains of a Roman Villa were found in Tenter's Field, East Hill. This building was lived in during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, and was left after the end of the 3rd century. This east-west facing villa was a rectangle some 50 feet by 100 feet, and surrounded by a courtyard. Storage rooms, and a kitchen were found. A room at the south-east corner was used as a shrine to the Roman Gods.

Close to the heart of Dartford at East Hill, near Darent Road, there was a Roman Cemetery. The size of this cemetery means that the Roman population of Dartford must have been quite large. Excavations of the cemetery site have revealed more graves, and pottery and bracelets which would have been buried with the dead.

Farming in the Darent Valley.

Rich soils meant that the local area was widely used by the Romans for agriculture. The Darent Valley was given over to farming as it is today. The Romans used this valley extensively, and many coins and pieces of pottery have been found along the valley. Before the Romans, buildings were made of wood and wattle and daub, with thatched roofs. Since these buildings were not very durable little trace of them has been found. After the Roman invasion small farms were made part of the larger farms centred on Roman Villas. Many of these villas were in fact lived in by native Britons working in the rural-framework laid down by the Romans.

The Romans picked the Darent Valley because the rich alluvial soil of the valley offered fertile ground for arable farming. There were also extensive woodland which provided timber for construction, and protected the Roman estates from bad weather. The river was the source of drinking water, water for the baths, and for Roman industries. Since the river was wider it has been suggested by some historians that boats from the villas could sail up the Darent to the confluence with the River Thames.

Most of the villas grew a wide and varied range of crops, and reared many animals - keeping geese, ducks, hens and growing fruit and vegetables. The pressures of feeding the Roman army meant that growing grain prospered. Wheat became the main crop over much of Southern England. Barley was next popular, and both were harvested by hand using reaping hooks. Beans, peas, vetch and clover were also grown.

4. The Saxons in Dartford.

After the Romans left in AD 410 the Jutes, Angles and Saxons began to settle in Southern England. The German borders of the North Sea flooded in the 5th century, and this forced Germanic tribes to move. Inter-tribal warfare also helped the Saxons to change abode. The first Saxon settlers in Kent were Jutes from Jutland, and some tribes from Frisia. The Saxons and Franks had been allies on the continent during the late 4th century, and this was an important part of their early settlement in Kent. At first the River Medway divided up the Saxon kingdoms, but over time via interbreeding and trading all the Saxon groups lost their identities - and were called Anglo-Saxons.

The Dark Ages.

AD 410 to 1066 is a period of history known as the Dark Ages because little is known about what happened. Most of what we know comes from Archaeological evidence, and we know little about what happened in Dartford.

Once the Romans left chaos ensued. The villas and roads fell into ruin, and the populous forgot many of the Roman skills and technology. The Saxons lived in sunken huts made from timber - these were called Grubenhaus. These buildings did not last over time, and the only evidence nowadays is the post holes left in the ground.

Most evidence is from what the Saxons left in their cemeteries, and some of the largest are found around the Dartford area. The Saxons often buried objects next to their dead. Evidence being found at Littlebrook near Temple Hill, and at Riseley Cemetery, Horton Kirby. Finds often include Saxon spearheads, bells, axe-heads and items of pottery.

The Dartford Parish of Stone has given us some fascinating finds - a metal circular brooch, pottery, a copper alloy bracelet and some human remains. Charcoal was found at Riseley Cemetery indicating burning of the dead. Two graves also had animal remains. Many items were excavated here including a brooch, a knife, keys, nails and pottery. Many objects from the Riseley site are housed in the Dartford Museum.

5. The Arrival of the Normans.

The Normans originated from a band of Norwegian Vikings that settled near Rouen in Northern France. The powerful Duchy of Normandy was created by these Northmen. In the 11th century they were led by a young Duke called William. After beating the French King, Duke William looked to attack England.

The Norman attack was launched in 1066, and was led by Duke William who later became known has William the Conqueror. The English Saxon forces clashed at Senlac Hill near Hastings, but the English were beaten. During the Battle of Hastings the English King Harold was killed by receiving an arrow in the eye. William was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066. The events around this battle are recorded in the Bayeux Tapestry.

Important jobs in the church and state were given to the Normans. The old estates were ruled by overlords. The Normans built many churches, castles, and cathedrals. Holy Trinity church was built in c.1080 under the supervision of Bishop Gundulf who also watched over the construction of Rochester Cathedral, and the Tower of London. It was probable that the church was a defense overlooking the ford over the River Darent.

Because the Normans knew little about our country they ordered the compilation of the country's economic strengths and weaknesses. This record of information was written down (in Latin) in the Domesday Book. It lists over 13,000 towns and villages, some long gone. The Entry for TARENTFORT (Dartford) gives a basic picture of life in 1086. It is clear that Dartford was a flourishing farming community. Dartford Manor was owned by the King, and run by a French official called a Reve who increased the taxes paid by the residents of Dartford.

It is reckoned that 600 to 800 people lived here during Norman times. Three classes existed - Villans or Villeins who were farm workers who owned a small bit of land, Bordars who were poor and kept pigs, and the slaves. Dartford contained 1 church, 3 chapels and a mill, 2 wharves, arable and meadow land, pasture land and 11 extracts of woodland.

6. Medieval Dartford.

The Medieval period of our history was from 1200 to 1500. Many Medieval buildings survive to this day. Some of these 14th and 15th century buildings are to the west of Holy Trinity Church along Bullace Lane, and at the junction of Overy Street and East Hill - The old Jolly Miller Restaurant built circa 1500. Some of Dartford's Medieval Road names are recognisable today.

Records from 1338 tell us of Highstrett, Overie, Hithstreet, Highfield and Lofhellestrett, and these roads still form the framework of Dartford's modern roads. The Highstrett (called Kyngis Highstrett in 1476) was the main route through Medieval Dartford, and it was home to many shops, inns, private tenements and a few big houses.

Medieval building plots were called crofts and tofts and many of these along with tenements and courtyards can be seen on 19th century town maps. The earliest of these buildings were made of clay and wattle. Chalk and flint was also used.

Dartford in Medieval times occupied an area between East Hill and West Hill, and was cut in two by the Rivers Darent and Cranpit. The later was the town sewer, and the Darent which was much wider then gave access to the Thames by boat. A footbridge was erected across the Darent in c. 1400. Before this time people had to seek out a hermit to ferry them across the river. A hermit is mentioned in 1235. In 1330, the yearly cost of getting across the river was 13 shillings and 4 pence (about 62 pence today).

The Medieval high street continued towards Up Street or Spital Street which was named after the town's leper hospital, and branched at the town centre where Waterside ran north to the wharves at Dartford Creek. Waterside later became Hythe Street. Lofhelle (Lowfield Street) and Bullace Lane came off the High Street. An area of town called Overie or Overy which meant Over the River lay at the bottom of East Hill. At the centre of Overie Street was Overie Liberty which led to Marsh Street, and had a road leading to Fullage.

Between the 14th and 16th centuries Dartford became an important religious centre - it had its own Dominican nunnery (Dartford Priory) which opened in 1356. Day to day life was controlled by the church. The chancel of Holy Trinity was re-built in the 13th century. Two small chapels were added to meet the needs of pilgrims passing through the town on their way to Canterbury. Another chantry dedicated to St. Edmund was built on the Upper Burial Ground on East Hill. This is now the site of the Martyr's Memorial in St. Edmund's Pleasance.

Medieval Dartford had a boom in its economy due to the many pilgrims stopping at the inns after a day's walk from London whilst on their way to the Shrine of Thomas a Becket at Canterbury or the shrine of William of Perth at Rochester. The town had a hospital for lepers dedicated to the Blessed Mary Magdalene and St. Laudus, a mill called Orchard's Mill in 1299, and several large houses.

Central to Dartford was the market place. John Sherborne gave his son a piece of land in Dartford via his will on the condition that he put up a market cross similar to the one in Sevenoaks. Wrongdoers were sometimes whipped around ye market place. Some Medieval inns in Dartford were named le Hole Bull, The Cock-on-the-Hoop, The Bell and The Saracen's Head.

Large areas of salt and fresh-water marsh outside of the town were used for the grazing of animals and the growing of hay. Most of this marshland lay next to the River Thames, and in 1402 it is recorded that the Templars of the Order of St. John owned 98 acres of this marshland. A document called the Marsh Roll (now on display in Dartford Museum) lists many of the people who had land in Dartford Salt Marsh.

The Brent and Dartford Heath were tracts of commonland for recreation, grazing of animals and military camps. Medieval Dartford had several small manors - the Manor of Portbrugge acquired in 1372 by Dartford Priory; the Manor of Charles; the Manor of Temple; the Manor of Baldwyns (west of Dartford Heath); and the Manor of Dartford. It is reckoned from a town valuation of 1301 that the population of Medieval Dartford was roughly 800.

Many events happened in Dartford around this time. For example in March 1452 Richard Duke of York camped with his 10,000 soldiers at The Brent, waiting for a confrontation with King Henry VI. The Duke surrendered to the King in Dartford. Before the Battle of Agincourt in November 1415, Henry V marched through the town with his troops. In 1422 Henry V's body was taken to Holy Trinity Church by the Bishop of Exeter who performed a funeral for the King.

Urban Problems and Wat Tyler's Rebellion.

The rapid growth lead to social problems which were exasperated by natural disasters such as the Black Death of 1348-1349 which must have left a heavy toll on the local community. Some British towns lost over a third of their population during the Black Death. In 1391 Dartford suffered a famine because corn was expensive and scarce but Adam Bamme, Lord of the Manor of Charles and also Lord Mayor of London, organised the import of corn to be sold cheaply to the town's residents.

The expansion of many Medieval towns and the collapse of the feudal system lead to the growth of the population of beggars, and working people traveling the country looking for employment. In some places this lead to a break down of law and order. Criminals and trouble makers suffered harsh punishments including flogging, branding, and the removal of limbs!

On of the biggest problems was Wat Tyler's 1381 rebellion which is believed to have been started in Dartford. A Poll Tax was in force during the reign of King Richard II, and the rate was 3 groats (5p) per year on everyone over fifteen. This caused a lot of discontent - as in the recent Community Charge of the 1980s - but it was rigorously enforced. There was widespread resistance to the collection of the Poll Tax.

It is said that a tax collector called on Tyler's house in Dartford and indecently assaulted Tyler's adolescent daughter whilst demanding payment. Wat Tyler who was working nearby came back and when he found out took a hammer and beat the tax collector's brains out. News of this quickly spread to Gravesend and Canterbury and the local population was in uproar. Thousands of peasants marched to Dartford with thoughts of going to London to face the government and to get rid of the Poll Tax.

Peasant forces led by Wat Tyler, Jack Straw and John Ball met at Blackheath. They marched on London on the 12th June 1381, and much rioting took place. King Richard II finally agreed to meet Tyler to discuss grievances and a meeting took place near Smithfield. However during the talks the Lord Mayor of London attacked Wat Tyler with the city mace. Tyler was killed by a group of the King's courtiers, and the peasants were soon routed.

7. Tudor Dartford.

The Tudor period of our history was from 1485 to 1603, and during that time the layout of Dartford can only be guessed at. One part of a map from 1596 survived. Some of the Tudor buildings are still standing today, and a few of the modern façades hide Tudor beams and plaster. Tudor Dartford covered the area from the High Street, Spital Street, Hythe Street, Bullace Lane, Lowfield and Overy Street. The High Street had many large timber-framed buildings, many of which survived to the 19th century, and was a busy thoroughfare.

The buildings along the High Street included houses, inns, workshops and shops. Smellier items such as fish, meat and vegetables were sold in an market area known as The Shambles. This was situated at the eastern end of the High Street. A timber framed market house was constructed in 1576, and it later housed the grammar school. It was demolished in 1769. The Dartford skyline was very much dominated by Holy Trinity Church, and the Church played an important role in the local community.

The Cranpit river flowed along Lowfield. The River Darent formed a barrier between Overy Street and the High Street. The Church Houses of the Guild of All Saints stood in Overy Street. Dartford Priory and it successor, King Henry VIII's Manor House could be found north of Dartford High Street. Horsman's Place in Lowfield was rebuilt in 1551 by John Beer and an area close to this Tudor mansion was excavated by the Dartford District Archaeological Group. A 1565 survey of maritime towns of Kent showed that Dartford had 182 houses, four quays, and seven boats on the River Darent.

The English Reformation brought many social and economic problems to Dartford. Henry VIII's attack on the Catholic Church began in 1529, and by 1534 the English Church was severed from the Church of Rome and the Pope. The religious traditions declined, and in 1539 Dartford Priory was dissolved. There was a cessation of Pilgrims from London to Canterbury. Merchants who sold souvenirs to the Pilgrims complained that their profits were down, and that their trade was ruined. 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 who was burnt to death at the stake in front of thousands of specators on Dartford Brent in 1555. The Martyrs Memorial on East Hill commemorates Waid and other Kentish Martyrs.

Increased urbanisation and the poor sanitation led to many diseases. As well as the Plague new diseases entered England in the Tudor period; smallpox and sweating sickness which could kill a victim in two to three hours. Untreated sewage, offal, dung and other unpleasant things in the rivers of Dartford led to diseases associated with food and water - typhus, cholera and dysentery.

Fear of the Spanish invasion was high, and three barrels of gunpowder were always kept in the town. The local military assembled at Dartford. From 1560 to 1565 during the reign of Elizabeth I the County Assizes were held in Dartford. The Assizes dealt with crimes of a serious nature. Alice Latter of Dartford was accused of witchcraft and acquitted in April 1565. Wrongdoers were forced to stand in the pillory of the market or were whipped around the town.

Aside from the problems, new developments in industry occured in Dartford. Sir. John Spilman set up England's first paper mill on a site near Powder Mill Lane, and Geoffrey Box built England's first iron-splitting mill on the Darent at Dartford Creek. Over 500 men worked on the construction of King Henry VIII's Dartford Manor House. Part of this still stands today in Priory Road South. Henry VIII was a regular visitor, and Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's fourth wife lived there from 1553 to 1557. Queen Elizabeth I also stayed at the Manor House in 1559 and 1573.

Often Dartford's problems were from outside and beyond the control of the town folk. The decline of the church led to the gentry and merchants forming almshouses, a grammer school, a Bridewell (small prison) and other institutions to help sort out the town's problems. Despite urbanisation Dartford still held its links to the rural community. The town was surrounded by fields, common land, and orchards; and was the focal point for many rural manors and villages. Dartford's role as a market town grew.

One of Dartford's other famous visitors was Cardinal Wolsey (Lord Chancellor of England) who in July 1527 passed through Dartford on his way to France. He had some 900 men on horseback with him. The Cardinal rode on a mule, and a riderless horse clad in dazzling trappings was led in front of him. Cardinal Wolsey stayed in Stone at the house of Sir. Richard Wiltshire, whilst his men stayed in the many Dartford inns. Another visitor was Sir. Thomas Wyatt, whose rebellion was crushed in February 1553-1554. He was executed in the Tower of London.

A failed business venture was set up by Martin Frobisher on the River Darent (near Powder Mill Lane) in 1578. He planned to extract gold from black ore brought back from the Arctic at his smelting works. The ore contained very little gold, and his venture brought many people who had invested in his works to bankruptcy.

8. Dartford in the 17th and 18th Centuries.

17th Century Life in Dartford, the Civil War and The Plague.

Dartford was not very pleasant in the 17th century. The expanding town had social problems and was caught-up in the English Civil War, and was ravaged by several plagues. The important position on the London to Dover road attracted lots of traffic, Human and vehicular. The number of paupers and beggers increased, and by 1611 a house formally owned by William Vaughan was given by the Vicar of Dartford to the local justices to be used as a Correction House. The building was used up until the early years of the 18th century.

Many local philanthropists tried to tackle the poverty problem by donating money or giving away land for the poor. John Twisleton gave an acre in 1660, this land called the Poor's Acre south of Heath Lane was to be broken up amongst the needy. In 1666 the residents of Dartford collected £5 for the poor who suffered in the Great Fire of London. In 1670 Stage coaches began to run through Dartford to Canterbury.

Many royal visits occured, and these raised morale and were a valued source of income for the local bellringers who got paid for ringing celebratroy peals each time a monarch passed through the town. King Charles II passed through Dartford from Cobham on the 29th May 1660, and the church bells were rung nearly the whole day.

The bellringers received 30 shillings (£1.50). Several foot regiments were stationed at Dartford Heath and the troops swore their loyalty to the new King James II who passed through Dartford on the 13th December 1688. Since the Darent had overflowed the King couldn't reach the Town Bridge. He was carried across by a local on his back, and the townsfolk spread their aprons on the ground for the King to walk on. King William III came through Dartford at least three times later in the 17th century.

The Churchwardens' Accounts began in 1642 the same year the English Civil War started. Church records show that Parliamentary troops were stationed in Dartford on Friday 19th August 1642, and that General Fairfax was with his troops on The Brent. Holy Trinity was used as an ammunition depot during the Civil War.

In 1643 there was a receipt in the accounts for "...mony for fiting a rome for the powder and magasien in the Church £2.19s.7d." Thomas Round collected 5 shillings (25p) for bringing the gunpowder from London. On July 26th 1644 some Kentish Royalists six thousand strong broke in to the powder magazine and carried off its contents.

During 1648 there was Royalist rising when Sir Thomas Fairfax and four regiments of horsemen and three regiments of foot solidiers mustered on Crayford Heath. One group of soldiers marched through Dartford to attack the Royalists (under Major Child) at Northfleet where he had fortified the bridge and was prepared to defend it with only six hundred men!

In 1637 there was another large outbreak of the plague and a sum of £29.8s.2d was collected for the poor sufferers. The plague re-appeared in 1644, and Churchwardens reported that "...many houses are shut up... A seriousness pervades the whole town, and there is daily service in the church and many persons having the sickness upon them attend... yet amidst this danger, and while many of the bodies dying of the infection are carried by the vicar's window, he is mercifully preserved." A further outbreak in 1666 left 72 Dartford townsfolk dead in only two months. The same year a pest house was made available for the poor with the plague.

18th Century Life in Dartford.

The 18th century was a period of transition for Dartford. During this time an effective local government evolved aimed at dealing with the rooted social problems from the earlier centuries. A Workhouse and a Bridewell were constructed to help attack the problems of poverty and crime. In 1746 there were so many vagabonds that an official was appointed to weed them out. Improvements did not include public health.

In 1740 the Parish of Dartford feel under the attack of the sore disease - probably smallpox - which killed many residents. 78 funerals in 1740 and another 128 in 1741. At this time Dartford was a main agricultural centre and the onset of smallpox kept people away and trade suffered and did not recover for some years. Smallpox hit the town again in 1760 and 1766.

The town centre was improved to accomodate the increasing Stage coach, wagon and private horse-drawn traffic, and efforts were made to clean up the dirty parts of the town. The town bridge was widened and partly re-build in 1754 and again in 1792.

Stage coaches found it hard to get past the old Market House and Shambles in the High Street - so it was all moved to a site where Market Street is. During the 18th century Dartford experienced the start of a mini Industrial Revolution. This prepared for an industrial boom in the 19th century.

Gunpowder was made at Bignores in 1732, and Dartford Powder Mills was the scene of a catastrophic series of explosions in the later part of the century. In October 1790 an explosion killed seven workmen. Dartford had its own cotton mill in 1790 on the site of the Phoenix Mill now Glaxo Wellcome. The mill employed over 400 men and boys but was burnt down on New Year's Sunday in 1795.

In 1760 an act was passed allowing the widening, altering, and keeping in repair the road from the East end of Dartford Bridge to the Parish Church of Strood. Gates, turnpikes, toll-houses, and weighing engines were erected, and tolls were levied to anyone travelling along the road. A toll-gate was built on West Hill, and a toll-house was erected at John's Hole in Stone. Dartford obtained its first public street lamp in 1771 outside the Parish Chruch, and the lamp was fueled by colsa oil. Dartford had its first Fire Engine in 1740.

The rapid growth of Dartford encouraged a rise in the rate of crime. Employment of law enforcement officers and local penal institutions ensured that more culprits were brought before justice than before. Some crimes were of a serious nature including the shooting of John Parker Esq at the Bull Hotel by Mr. Stackpoole in 1777. Gill Smith a notorious criminal was hanged at Kennington Common in March 1738 for murdering his wife and poisoning the family of Thomas Polhill Esq of Horton Kirby. Public executions were common, and the Pillory was last used in 1772.

9. The 19th Century.

The population of Dartford boomed from 2,406 in 1801 to 18,643 in 1901. The 19th century was a period of massive growth and economic expansion. Many of the developments which made the growth possible had their basis in the 18th century. Papermaking, brewing, engineering and gunpowder production started in the 18th century but really took off in the 19th century.

The most significant factor was the coming of the railway to Dartford in 1849. Goods could then be moved by train from Dartford to the rest of Britain, and raw materials could be brought in via rail. The new industries opened up many opportunities for employment and many newcomers came and settled in the area. Local builders had to build whole new streets to accomodate the influx of people.

The town expanded from the town centre. Suburbs like New Town added new structure to the town which had not changed size since Medieval times. The rapid growth over a short time led to the inadequacy of the public utilities and infrastructure. A change from the Parish Vestry style of government to the first elected Urban Council took place in 1894. This new Council was given many powers under the Local Government Act.

Dartford was a dirty place during the early 19th century, and in 1814 an act for improving the town was passed. Watchmen were employed to help keep law and order. In 1826 the Dartford Gas Light company was formed and the following year the main streets were gas-lit, and Dartford was one of the first towns in England to have a high standard of street lighting. The fears of a large cholera epidemic encouraged the formation of a Board of Health in 1831. One of the problems was that of the quality of the drinking water. Joseph Jardine summed up the inadaquate toilets and sewers in a poem, part of it below describes the town's cess-pits.

Seldom emptied - Overflowing
Germs of death on all sides sowing.
The children sometimes slipping in
(One lately sank up to his chin)...

Overy Street was well known for its poor sanitation, and was described thus:

To paint the horrors which assail: Refuse from hog-sites in the street Through which must tread the unwilling feet; Water courses once badly stopp't, Where the watercress was cropp't. ...Cabinets d'aisance minus the doors And others wanting seats or floors...

A damning report was written about the authorities in 1848 by the government appointed Health Inspector. It said that locals suffered from cholera and typhus because The rivers Darent and Cranford... had been converted into receptacles of filth putting human life at risk. Some of the housing conditions in Dartford were awful especially in Waterside, Bullace Lane, Overy Street and Lowfield Street.

Very large families were crowded into small houses and the residents of some small streets all had to share one lavatory! Few people had a water supply and the town pump was well used. Because of such squalid conditions diseases like cholera spread at an alarming rate. In 1832 there were 116 cases in 15 days and this resulted in 30 deaths. A new system of sewers was built late in the 19th century.

Dartford had one of the largest workhouses in Kent which took in people from the local parishes including: Ash, Darenth, Eynsford, Farningham, Hartley, Longfield, Swanscombe and Wilmington. The first matron of the workhouse was fired for being drunk and ill-treating the children, and even trying to fit a dead child into a coffin that was too small! Because ill-health was a major cause of the towns unemployment the Workhouse soon took on the role of a hospital - this being the start of public health care in Dartford.

The Workhouse had accomodation for male and female wards, tramps' wards, mentally ill wards, a chapel, morgue and kitchens A Fever Hospital was built away from the main buildings. Specialised hospital facilities were set up in the 19th century. The Bow Arrow Hospital for infectious diseases opened in 1893, and the Livingstone Hospital on East Hill in 1894. Several hospital ships Atlas, Endymion, and Castalia were moored at Long Reach on the Thames from 1884 onwards, and these ships accomodated smallpox victions.

The 19th century saw the creation of several schools. Local children were educated in the three R's - writing, reading, arithmetic - and religion. Teachers worked with up to one hundred pupils from different ages and abilities in one classroom - a nearly impossible teaching environment.

1816 saw the establishment of a school to educate the poorer classes based on Dr. Bell's system. Dartford National Schools on West Hill opened in 1826, and by 1868 the town had a Grammar School, Wesleyan Boys' School, Wesleyan Girls' School, Ragged School, Infant School, Roman Catholic School and a private school named East Hill Academy.

Dartford's Local Economy in the 19th Century.

Rapid growth of the population and the coming of rail and the availability of hops grown in the Darent Valley encouraged the development of Dartford's breweries. There were 60 pubs within a radius of half a mile of the town centre as late as 1900. Beerhouses also added to the towns drinking problem.

The main breweries were the Dartford Brewery Company 1897-1925; Miskin Brewery c. 1832-1867; and Kidd's Steam Brewery 1868-1937, and they all provided employment for many local people. Papermaking was another major Dartford industry at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries.

Many developments were made by local men at local mills. The major invention was that of the machine method of producing paper, and the first machine was built by Brian Donkin employed by Halls of Dartford. The changeover led to increase output from the mills. The Phoenix Paper Mill built in 1852 produced high quality paper. This mill closed in 1889.

Clay pipe smoking was at its peak in the 19th century and the manufacture of them was an important craft in Dartford. The centre of this production was at the Pipe House 15-17 Overy Street, Dartford. Other important activities were agriculture, flour milling, brick making, engineering, printing, tanning, fabric printing and the making of gunpowder.

Dartford's role as a shopping centre came to light during the Victorian times. Local directories list a wide range of shops, crafts and trades in the town. Shop windows were packed with as many wares as possible in an attempt to attract customers. Shop assistants had to work long hours upto and over ninety per week, and live on the premises.

The first bank opened in 1805 and by 1815 seventy-two stage coaches came through Dartford in twenty four hours. Visitors stayed at local hostelries. Important visitors included King George IV, Richard Trevithick who invented the locomotive and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. However with the coming of the railway the number of stage coaches passing through the town dropped quickly.

A list of 1886 showed the range of commercial, retail and craft businesses in Dartford. Some of the figures included 19 Bakers, 20 Bootmakers / Shoemakers, 11 Butchers, 3 Chemists, 15 Dressmakers, 22 Grocers, 1 Gunsmith, 31 Shopkeepers, and 7 tailors.

10. The World Wars.

World War One - 1914 to 1918.

Local people knew we were at war with Germany when many London buses carrying troops passed through the town on their way to Dover. At the start of the war a barricade was placed across the Brent near the entrance to Hesketh Park. Armed soldiers patrolled this barricade and stopped every vehicle that passed through. September 1914 saw the formation of the Dartford Division Recruiting Committee and many local men signed up. Many of those volunteers were killed in France and Belgium in the trenches.

Belgian refugees fled to Britain at the start of the Great War, and the people of Dartford helped by housing and feeding over one hundred of them. The first of them arrived on the 27th October 1914 and were housed in the Workhouse on West Hill. Accomodation of better quality was soon given by the the families who had offered their hospitality. A sum of £567 was raised to support the refugees, and local companies gave them jobs, and the doctors treated them free of charge. No 1 The Brent was converted into a Belgian Café by Mr. and Mrs. Hesketh so that the Belgians could meet in the evenings.

Towards the end of 1917 obtaining food became difficult and local shops were under seige by people trying to buy the limited stocks. Local authorities imposed food rationing which was officially introduced in Southern England in February 1918.

Each household was given three ration cards - a meat card for the butchers, a food card for butter, and a sugar card which had been given out earlier. The rations per week were: 15 ounces (oz) of beef, lamb, mutton or pork; 5 oz of bacon; 4 oz of butter, margarine or lard; and 8 oz of sugar per person. By April 1918 rationing was extended to all of Britain.

The Orchard Hospital at Long Reach was taken into possession by the Government in 1915 for use by the sick and wounded soldiers. The Lower Southern Hospital was also taken over for the treatment of badly wounded Germans, and became known as the Dartford War Hospital. Many of the Germans died and were buried in the grounds.

The defence of London was helped by anti-aircraft guns at the Brent, Dartford Heath and the Dartford Marshes, and searchlights and listening posts. Air raids in or near Dartford during World War One was 37, and nobody was killed by them, despite high explosive and incendiary bombs being dropped. Regular bombing runs took place by the infamous German Zeppelins, great airships that came across the North Sea to bomb military installations.

They were large and could fly at high altitudes. Because of the fear they created the Lord Mayor of London offered a £500 reward for the first pilot or anti-aircraft crew that could shoot one down. The reward was claimed by members of The Brent gun crew who helped bring down Zeppelin L15. This was contested by the other gun crews along the Thames Estuary, and in the end all the gun crews shared the £500.

The area near the confluence of the Darent and the Thames is a large flat area of agricultural land which formed part of Dartford Salt Marshes. This was the site of Joyce Green Aerodrome. Prior to the war it was used by Messrs. Vickers Ltd for the testing of prototype planes.

During the war it played an important role in the training of the Royal Flying Corps and in the defence of London. This marshland site couldn't have been less suitable. Vice Marshal Gould Lee wrote the following comments about it:

To use this waterlogged field for testing every now and then was reasonable and to take advantage of it as an emergency landing ground for Home Defence forces was credible, but to employ it as a flying training station was folly and as a Camel (i.e. Sopwith Camel aeroplane) training station was lunacy. A pupil taking off with a choked or failing engine had to choose, according to wind direction, between drowning in the Thames (half a mile wide at this point) or crashing into the Vickers TNT (explosives) Works; or hitting one of their several high chimney stacks; or sinking into a vast sewage farm; or killing himself and numerous patients in a large isolation hospital; or being electroucuted in an electrical station with acres of pylons and cables; or trying to turn and get back to the aerodrome. Unfortunately, many pupils confronted with disaster tried the last course and span to their deaths.

Air raids killed 1,413 people in Britain during the First World War. This is very small compared to what was to come in World War Two. The threats posed by the Zeppelins and aeroplanes were real, and many people were frightened by the idea of aerial bombardment.

Dartford was vunerable due to its proximity to London, and the munitions works at Crayford, Erith and Woolwich were likely targets for air raids, and the aerodrome at Joyce Green offered another bombing target. Planes from Joyce Green were often sent to engage enemy planes and Zeppelins. Some aerial battles were witnessed by Dartford people especially if the raid was during daylight.

After the Great War in 1919 Joyce Green aerodrome closed when Vickers transferred their work to Brooklnads, Surrey.

World War Two - 1939 to 1945.

Dartford was as much a part of the front line in World War Two as that experienced by the soldiers. The Dartford Area was the most heavily bombed area per acre in Britain. The town suffered much destruction and loss of life. Dartford was the front line for the German bombardment of Britain. Planes which could not make it to London often dumped their bombs on Dartford before returning home.

Flying bombs (V1 Doodlebugs and V2 rockets) fell short of London on many occasions. Over 13,000 houses were damaged by bombing and some 150 people were killed. Local A.R.P. (Air Raid Precautions) officials kept records of incidents, and records kept by Fire Watchers and Home Guard gave an idea of how many bombs fell.

Short of 6,000 high explosive bombs were dropped, as well as 23 land mines, 73 phosphorous bombs and 200 oil bombs. An estimated 2 million incendiary bombs were dropped in the Dartford Rural area. Despite this widespread destruction the courage and resilience of the Dartford people meant that 1939 to 1945 was Dartford's finest hour.

Preparations had been taking place well before the war started in September 1939, and some 27,000 gas masks were issued to local people, and 80,000 sandbags had been obtained to protect key buildings. Many men and women volunteered to become A.R.P. personnel. These units did dress rehearsals of full scale aerial attacks.

Each warden was in charge of a group of streets or village. Ambulance and First Aid parties were trained to cope with air raid casualties. First Aid stations were set up at St. Alban's Hall and at the County Hospital, West Hill.

The public were invited to lectures telling them how to deal with incendiary bombs and how to recognise the different gases which the Germans could drop. Air raid shelters were installed at key points, and 2,000 Anderson shelters (half-cylindrical metal structures) were delivered to local homes.

The following schools were equipped with shelters: Dartford Grammar, Dartford County School for Girls, East Central Boys, and West Hill Schools. Information leaflets were issued to show people how to look after their homes, and families during air raids. These leaflets covered blackout precautions, anti-gas precautions, evacuation, food and the use of telephones.

Many people believed that the Germans would try to wipe out the population of Britain by dropping poisonous gas canisters from the air. These gas attacks never happened but the people of Dartford were always reminded to carry their gas masks at all times. Children had special Mickey Mouse gas masks. Rooms were gas-proofed with cellulose sheets.

Many parents knew that their children would be safer away from the town at the outbreak of war. Lots of Dartford School children were evacuated, but not until June 1941. Some went to stay with relatives, but the majority were sent to homes in the West Country (Exeter, Kingsbridge and Lauceston). It was common to observe many evacuees making their ways to the railway station from their schools.

Again food became scarce, and so rationing was reintroduced. Butter, bacon and sugar had been in short supply since the start of the war. Rationing began on January 8th 1940, three months after the war started. Everybody received a ration book, and could get 4 ounces (oz) of bacon or ham and 4 ounces of butter every week. Sugar was rationed at 12 oz per week from January 1940. Meat rationing followed in March 1940 on a value basis, meaning that each person over six was allowed one shilling and ten pence (8p) worth of meat per week.

Meat rationing covered beef, veal, mutton and pork, but not poultry or rabbits. Offal was also not rationed, so many diets consisted of liver, kidney and brains. Later rationing covered margarine and cooking fat. At the peak of rationing in August 1942, every person from Dartford was allowed 1s. 2d (6p) worth of meat per week - this equated to nearly a pound (weight) per person per week.

Clothes were rationed from June 1941, and by 1942 a man on a basic ration could only buy one pair of socks every four months, one pair of shoes every eight months, one shirt every twenty months, one vest and pair of pants every two years, one pullover every five years, and an overcoat every seven. Clothes available were limited, and utility clothing made out of cheap cloths were bought by most people.

Many bombs fell on the Dartford area, and the worst incident occurred during the small hours of September 5th 1940 when a high explosive bomb fell on the women's wards at the County Hospital, West Hill. A nurse and twenty-four patients were killed. Sister Gantry earned the praise of all in Dartford. Unconcerned about her own life, she crawled among the wreckage with hypodermic syringes giving morphia injections to trapped women.

On 23rd January 1944, Bexley Hospital was bombed killing a male nurse and twelve patients in the collapse of a block of wards. Thirteen people were killed in Kent Road when two high explosive bombs fell on the 19th April 1941. During the Autumn of 1940 from 25th August to 23rd November, bombs fell on Dartford for 69 out of a possible 90 days. The 10th November 1940 saw the destruction of the Star Inn Swanscombe and the loss of 27 lives during a crowded darts match. Carringdon Road, Dartford was hit by a flying bomb on the 26th August 1944 killing 12 people, and Crockenhill (South of Swanley) was the most blitzed of the villages in the Dartford area.

Information about the A.R.P. and Home Guard units can be found in Dartford Central Library.

11. The Late 20th Century and Beyond the Millenium.

After the Second World War much of Dartford's destruction was rebuilt. In 1979 Dartford was surrounded on all sides: the River Thames to the north, Green Belt (land unavailable for urbanisation to limit London's growth) to the South, Chalk quarries to the east and Greater London to the West. Communications with the rest of the country were improved, the A2 dual carriageway Dartford Bypass appeared from 1969, and the M25 London orbital motorway was completed in the 1980s. In the 1950s the Dartford Tunnel opened to allow travel to Essex without going up to the centre of London, and a second tunnel appeared in the late 1970s. Now we have the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge spanning the Thames at the Dartford Tunnel location.

In the town centre the High Street was pedestrianised, and a one-way system was set up running from East Hill, Market Street, Lowfield Street, Instone Road, and Highfield Road on the Southern side; and from Highfield Road, Westgate, Home Gardens to Overy Street on the Northern Side. A Civic Hall was built near the new station on Home Gardens. Two shopping complexes appeared - The Orchards Centre and The Priory Centre.

To cope with the rising population new housing has been built over the last 25 years. Pheonix Place off Lowfield Street was built in 1978, and in the 1980s many houses were built in adjoining villages - Stone, Greenhithe, Swanscombe, all to take in commuter families and the ever growing population.

Beyond 2000 we expect to see the completion of Bluewater Park near Stone, a large shopping and retail complex in a disused chalk pit. Work started in 1996, and the first phase is expected in 1999. Ebbsfleet near Swanscombe will see the Union Railway which will link the Channel Tunnel to London International Station at St Pancras for links to Paris and Brussels.

Also a science park and university is proposed on the Swanscombe peninsula, all creating many jobs in the area. Local transport is to be improved, trams are planned to link Dartford with Gravesend, and the local roads will be improved to link Bluewater Park and Ebbsfleet to the A2 and M25. All of these developments will ensure that Dartford prospers well into the 21st century and the 3rd Millenium.

Bibliography.

© Copyright Mark Chatwin.

Copyright © 2008 Dartford Borough Council If only all councils were like Dartford