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This timeline traces 100 years of Dartford history, from the opening of Dartford Public Library on 1st January 1916, through the 20th Century and into the 21st Century.
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Dartford became a market town in medieval times and, although today it is principally a commuter town for Greater London, it has a long history of religious, industrial and cultural importance. It is an important rail hub; the main through-road now by-passes the town itself.
- Prehistory
- Roman Heritage
- Anglo-Saxon
- Mediaeval
- Early Modern
- Late Modern
- The 20th Century
The human settlement of the Darent Valley dates to more than 400,000 years ago. On the outskirts of the scheme area, the remains of the so-called ‘Swanscombe Skull’ were discovered close to Dartford. These were identified as being from a woman in her early twenties, and were dated as being some 300,000 years old. They are amongst the earliest human...
The River Darent and hence its surrounding valley was an important feature in Roman Kent. Archaeologists are already aware of at least eight Roman villas along the valley, but this is a rather incomplete picture of its occupation during Roman times. The best known and most notable example is the villa at Lullingstone which is in the ownership of En...
Little is known about the siting, size and nature of Saxon settlements in the Darent Valley. Any traces of their sunken-floored huts made from timber, wattle and thatch have long-since disappeared. A few occupation sites have been identified in the local area, some of these were sited close to former Roman villa sites. Some of the largest or most i...
Probably the most significant heritage feature in the valley from this period is Eynsford Castle. This is a rare survival of an early Norman ‘enclosure castle’, which remained unaltered by later building work. Begun by William de Eynsford I in the late 1080s, the castle was later the subject of a hotly disputed inheritance, which reached a climax i...
The period from around 1500 onwards brought about significant change to the Darent Valley. Dartford developed into a market town, benefiting from the relatively close proximity of London. The reliable source of water power from the River Darent supported the valley’s own ‘Industrial Revolution’. The first commercially successful paper mill was esta...
The Darent Valley remained an idyllic rural setting well into the early 19th century as illustrated by Samuel Palmer’s paintings of the time. The villages would have been recognisable as the settlements we see today, and the landscape would have looked very familiar. However, during this period the towns of Dartford and Sevenoaks began to grow, the...
Whilst the effect of the Industrial Revolution was profound, substantial change continued into the twentieth century. London continued to grow and its impact on the communities, industry and landscape was significant. Dartford and the lower reaches of Dartford were enveloped by the Capital’s expansion, and brought urbanisation to the very edge of t...
Dartford through time. Click here for graphs and data of how Dartford has changed over two centuries. For statistics for historical units named after Dartford go to Units and Statistics.
Dartford’s history has been divided into five periods: Early History and Archaeology (From Prehistory to the Saxons), Medieval, Early Modern (from 1500 to 1800), the Nineteenth Century and the Twentieth Century.
View Larger Map. History of Dartford. Dartford comes from the Old English ‘ford’ as a ‘ford’ combined with a river name; therefore, a ‘ford over the River Darent’ – a Celtic name meaning ‘river where oak-trees grow. The Domesday Book records Dartford as Tarentefort.
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Its 19th century Registration District & Poor Law Union was Dartford. Probate Jurisdiction was Rochester to 1845, PCC 1846-57. See NWKFHS publications West Kent Sources and School Records for further information.
