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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.
Geological historyDuring the Cretaceous Period (70–100 million years ago), the Dartford area was under 700ft of water, part of a sea covering Northern Europe and reaching as far south as Turkey, which means that Dartford and the surrounding area is rich in chalk and flint deposits, which have been mined in the area immediately east of Dartford for many years, including the quarry in which Bluewater Shopping Centre has been built. The chalk deposits are hundreds of feet deep, and soft near the surface. Chalk and flint played a vital part in the early development of the area, used for building as well as for trade, and both materials can now be seen in the walls of Holy Trinity Church. The geological environment of the Dartford area has changed several times. During the Eocene Period the Thanet Sands were deposited, a mixture of loam, silt and sand. The new river systems led to the formation large lagoons nearby, known as the Woolwich Beds, which later became the Blackheath Beds due to relocation of the sand and pebbles by gradually changing tidal patterns. As the sea became more shallow the London Clay beds were deposited, which can today be found at Swanscombe. Pressures in the continental rocks (also responsible for the creation of the Alps) led to the elevation of South East England, exposing the chalk beds and the resultant drainage led to the formation of the local rivers, such as the River Darent. HistoryEarly historyThe first people appeared in the Dartford area around 250,000 years ago, a tribe of prehistoric hunters called Swanscombe Man (a piece of skull from Swanscombe Man can be seen in the Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, South East London), and the town's situation has meant that many people have lived there through the ages: there have been finds from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The Romans engineered the Dover to London road (afterwards named Watling Street) which crossed the River Darent here; there was also a Roman villa. Noviomagus (Crayford) is close by. Dartford is mentioned in the Domesday Book, written after the Norman invasion in 1086. Middle Ages
Wat Tyler's 1381 Poll Tax Revolt is believed to have been started in Dartford. 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 12 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. 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. 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. In 1576 the now highly successful Dartford Grammar School was founded. 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. 17th & 18th centuriesIron-making on the Weald was in full operation at this time, and iron ingots were sent to Dartford, to England's first iron-splitting mill, set up on the Darent at Dartford Creek by Geoffrey Box, an immigrant from the Low Countries. Sir John Spilman, set up the first paper mill in England at Dartford in the 18th century, on a site near Powder Mill Lane, and soon some 600 employees worked there, providing an invaluable source of local employment. In 1785, a blacksmith from Lowfield Street began to make engines, boilers and machinery. Some of that machinery was for the local gunpowder factory. Due to Dartford's status as a market town and its proximity to the Hops fields of Kent, it has a long history of brewing traditional beers and ales. Dartford Cricket Club was in the 18th century a national fore-running parish team, home to players such as William Bedle. 19th & 20th centuriesDartford paper mills were built in 1862, when excise duty on paper was abolished. Engineering, especially heavy engineering, both in Dartford and the surrounding area expanded. 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] Stone House, formerly known as the "East London Lunatic Asylum", was built in the 19th century on spacious grounds with a large castellated structure, to house and treat the mentally ill. It remains one of the largest and most visible structures in Dartford, is currently operated by the NHS to manage regional health care delivery, and is also home to a nursing school. EmploymentUnemployment levels, taken from the 2001 census, are at 3.8% - one of the highest unemployment rates for a medium-sized town in England at the time. [citation needed] By 2006 this had decreased to 2.2%, somewhat below the national average. 1 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. EducationDartford houses several schools :
TransportRoadsThe coming of the railways brought an end to the turnpikes. Eventually tarmacadam roads appeared; and in 1925 the building of what was to become the A2 main road took traffic away from Dartford town centre. In the middle of the 18th century a toll road, following the course of Watling Street and connecting London with Canterbury, was completed through Dartford. Later, a road south to Sevenoaks was built. 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. RailwaysThe first railway from London to reach the town was the North Kent Line via Woolwich in 1849, connecting at Gravesend with the line through the Medway Towns. Later two more lines were built:
The three routes make Dartford a very busy junction. All the lines were electrified on 6 June 1926. PopulationIn 1801, Dartford’s population was c.2400; by the 2001 census it had increased to 85,911. 2001 census figures for Dartford Dartford HeathThis area west of the town escaped being enclosed during the late 18th/early 19th century. It is now well known as a dogging hotspot; the remoteness of the land makes it an ideal spot for such activity to take place.[1] It is also the original source for the name of the Dartford Warbler. Notable residents
International linksTwin towns
Associated towns
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