Dartford
Template:Infobox England place with map Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in north west Kent in South East England.
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 of cultural importance.
History
Early history
The town's situation 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, written after the Norman invasion in 1066.
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.
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.
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.
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 the 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.
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 centuries
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.
Dartford Cricket Club were arguably the best parish team in the game in the 18th century, with players such as William Bedle.
19th & 20th centuries
Dartford 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]
Employment
Unemployment levels, taken from the 2001 census, are at 38% - one of the highest unemployment rates for a medium-sized town in England at the time. The figure is estimated to have increased slightly since then.
Education
The town houses two prominent Grammar Schools - Dartford Grammar School for Boys (mixed sixth-form) and Dartford Grammar School for Girls.
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. 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 M25 crosses the river via the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, a toll bridge.
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 6 June 1926.
Population
In 1801, Dartford’s population was c2400; by 1961 it was over 246,000.
Notable residents
- Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones are said to have met at Dartford railway station in the early sixties, although they had already known each other at primary school.
- Sir Peter Blake is also a notable belfry.
- Wat Tyler, the leader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, lived in Dartford.
- Kenneth Noye, the notorious M25 murderer, lived close to the town and was tried at Dartford Magistrates' Court.
- Pete Tong, British BBC Radio 1 DJ was born in Dartford in 1960
- Pocahontas is buried in nearby Gravesend.
Dartford Heath
This area west of the town escaped being enclosed during the late 18th/early 19th century. It is now well known as a dogging hotspot. It is also the original source for the name of the Dartford Warbler.
References
The following references were used in writing this article:
- ‘’Kent History Illustrated’’ Frank W Jessup (KCC, 1966)
- ‘’Railways of the Southern Region’’ Geoffrey Body (PSL Field Guide 1989)