top of page

Dartford DA1 DA2

A town in the north-west corner of Kent, Dartford was developed by the Romans at a ford throughout the River Darent, and also the town name originates from 'Darent ford'. Dartford expanded in prosperity throughout the Middle Ages, because of its area on the main pilgrim route to Canterbury.

The Romans established a major road between Dover and London that crossed the River Darent, and a number of suites were established in the location of the crossing. It was not up until the Saxon period that the negotiation of Dartford grew up, nonetheless. The estate was owned by the crown at the time of the Domesday Book of 1086.
By the 12th century the Knights Templar owned the manor, and also by the 14th century, an abbey as well as 2 monastic health centers were established. Wat Tyler, the leader of the unfortunate Peasant's Revolt of 1381, is generally said (by residents) to be a native of Dartford, though other Kent towns also make the very same claim! Certainly, Dartford was a gathering place for rebels prior to they marched on Canterbury as well as Rochester.
In 1422 Henry V's funeral solution was held at Holy Trinity Church in Dartford. His child, Henry VI, accepted the abandonment of Richard, Battle Each Other of York right here in 1452.
Dartford's medieval abbey was liquified by Henry VIII in 1538, and a brand-new royal mansion home created from the damages. Today the gatehouse of Henry VIII's mansion still stands.
The Martyr's Memorial on East Hill celebrates the death at the risk of Christopher Waid, melted as a heretic by Queen Mary I in 1555.
There is more to Dartford than martyrs and also rebels, though! The town has a lengthy background as a centre of sector. The very initial paper mill in England was developed here in 1588, as well as the community later on came to be a hectic iron-making centre.
The famous engineer Richard Trevithick is buried in the parish church. Trevithick, a native of Cornwall, helped the Dartford firm of J&E Hall and also died here in 1833. Yearly he is kept in mind in Trevithick's Industrial Dartford Event, usually kept in early May.
Just outside Dartford are the remains of St John's Jerusalem, a 13th-century chapel and also yards as soon as had by the Knights Hospitaller.

Dartford originates from the Old English 'ford' as a 'ford' integrated with a river name; for that reason, a 'ford over the River Darent'-- a Celtic name meaning 'river where oak-trees grow. The Domesday Book documents Dartford as Tarentefort.

The first individuals showed up in the Dartford area around 250,000 years back, a people of primitive hunter-gatherers, referred to as Swanscombe Guy.

The Domesday Publication entry for Dartford exposes that the imperial estate of Tarentfort was a small yet successful agricultural community sustaining a population of about 150 households. It comprised a mix of cultivable land, field, field and also woodland. Other features of note were the parish church, Holy Trinity, three smaller sized chapels, a mill, as well as two wharves on the River Darent. Teams of oxen tilled the land; pigs foraged in the neighborhood woods.

During the medieval duration Dartford, due to its critical location en path for the continent, and that taken by many explorers, became one of the websites in England where different religious orders established themselves. In the 12th century, the Knights Templar had possession of the manor of Dartford. The 14th century, generated a priory, and two teams of friars - the Dominicans and the Franciscans-- who built medical facilities for the care of the sick. At this time, Dartford became a small, although crucial, market town.
Dartford parish church is a Quality: I listed building, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Diocesan Gundulf monitored its building in 1080. Right after the preliminary construct, the Normans included a belfry to the north side of the refuge. In the 13th century, they included aisles to the nave and restore the chancel eastward and added a brand-new church devoted to St Thomas, to satisfy the demands of explorers taking a trip to Canterbury. On his return from France in 1415, Henry V commemorated his victory at Agincourt, by leading some 700 soldiers in a Thanksgiving Solution at the Church. Later on in 1422, His body relaxed over night in the church on its trip from Normandy to Westminster. 500 Knights participated in the candlelit service. In 1470, they enhanced the tower to fit the dangling of bells. In 1552, there is a record of four bells in the tower.

The reformation caused the removal of Beckets altar in 1538, as well as his events abolished. In 1702, Philip Wightman cast a ring of eight bells from the former ring. Presences had raised so much by 1773 that Robert Mylne developed a new gallery on the south side, as well as installed an organ. In 1797, Edward Hasted explained the Dartford church as a 'huge handsome building, containing three isles' and two chancels ... The tower goes to the west end of it, in which there is a clock and also a good ring of bells; among which, of the smaller dimension, made use of till of late to be continuously sounded, since old personalized, at 4 o'clock every morning, and also again at the time of time limit at night'. In 1862, the engineer A W Blomfield performed repair job to the chancel as well as sanctuary floorings, and also in 1877, brought back the nave. Mears and Stainbank modify all 8 bells in 1917

Dartford railway terminal opened up on the North Kent Line from London Bridge to Strood, on 30 July 1849

Accountants in Dartford are based at DA2 6QD

           How to find us from Crayford 

bottom of page