The town of Dartford is situated in North West Kent, and is also the chief town of the borough of Dartford.

It 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 it has a long history.

History

Early history

Its position has meant that many people have lived here through the ages: there have been finds from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age .

The Romans built the Dover to London road (afterwards named Watling Street ) which crossed the River Darent here. Noviomagus (Crayford) is close by.

Dartford is mentioned in the Domesday Book.

Middle Ages

The town became a market centre during the Middle Ages, and two groups of friars - the Domicans and the Franciscans - built hospitals here for the care of the sick, especially those wayfarers on pilgrimage through the town.

In 1576 a school was provided for teaching grammar.

The parish church is dedicated to

17th & 18th centuries

Industry

Iron-making on the Weald was in full operation at this time, and iron ingots were sent to Dartford, to the mill set up by an immigrant from the Low Countries, Geoffrey Box. Here iron rods were manufactured.

Another immigrant, a German named Spielman, was allowed to set up what was the second papermill in England at Dartford in the eighteenth century; soon some 600 employees worked there, many themselves German.

In 1785, a Mr Hall, a blacksmith from Lowfield Street, began to make engines, boilers and machinery. Some of that machinery was for the local gunpowder factory.

Turnpikes

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.

19th & 20th centuries

Industry

• Dartford Paper Mills were built in 1862, when excise duty on paper was abolished.

• Engineering, especially heavy engineering, in the town and the Erith-Crayford -Dartford area expanded. WWI meant that output at the local Vickers factory multiplied, with a dramatic effect on the population.

• Burroughs, Wellcome established chemical works

Education

Dartford Grammar School was opened in 1904.

Communications

Roads

The 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.

Railways

The 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 ’’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 June 6 1926. The original station buildings at Dartford were replaced in the 1980s.

Population

In 1801, Dartford’s population was c2400; by 1961 it was over 46,000.

Dartford Heath

This area west of the town, escaped being enclosed during the late 18th/early 19th century. It is the original source for the name of the Dartford Warbler

References

The following references were used in writing this article:

• ‘’Kent Hoistory Illustrated’’ Frank W Jessup (KCC, 1966)
• ‘’Railways of the Southern Region’’ Geoffrey Body (PSL Field Guide 1989)

External link

The Dartford town archive