My Secret Dartford

A parish church is believed to have been in existence in Stone as early as 970 AD. In the Domesday Monachorum one name recorded is that of St Mary the Virgin, Stone. Internally, much of the interior of St Mary’s has remained unchanged since its construction in the 13th Century although there have been major periods of additional building work. How impressive must it be to go up into the bell tower! Source: Facebook Source: Facebook At the entrance to the churchyard  is a small garden created as a representation of the tomb and stone rolled away after Jesus' resurrection. Sources:   A brief history of St Mary's stmarystone.org Stone Church, St Mary the Virgin

  fireworks.co.uk In 1732 the former Dartford paper mills on Powdermill Lane were converted into gunpowder mills by Pyke and Edsall.   During the 18th Century Dartford played a significant role in gun powder production.  The ingredients were imported by ship to the Thames estuary.  Local woodlands provided the charcoal required and the river Darent was a source of water needed in the manufacturing process but also to drive the machinery.   Gunpowder manufacture was extremely dangerous and there were explosions at the site on a regular basis resulting in loss of life on occasion. Sources: darentvalley.org.uk-   Dartford Powder Mills and archeology Project Dartford Town Archive- Gunpowder 

The Romans brought roads to Britain including one from Londinium to Durovernum (London to Canterbury).  This was later named Watling Street.  It was a principal road during their rule. A map of Watling Street In 1897, the paved surface of the old Roman road was found towards the base of East Hill below the present roadway. It was constructed from large round pebbles set on end.  Roman stone coffins were discovered on East Hill in 1792 and 1882. In 2006 excavation of a Roman cemetery uncovered further remains but also prehistoric archeological evidence. Sources: Dartford Town archive- Archeology and Early History Kent Archeology - Excavation of later prehistoric remains and a Roman cemetery at East Hill, Dartford, 2006 Wikipedia : A map of Watling Street

Founded in 1957 by Thomas Walter Jennings, Vox is a musical instrument manufacturer. The Beetles and The Rolling Stones both used Vox amplifiers. The VOX AC30 was first made at 119 Dartford Road. It is world famous and catapulted the sound of British music into the global arena. Source: Kent Online Jennings worked for the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during World War II. In 1942 he was discharged on medical grounds and went to work at the Vickers munition plant in Crayford. Here he met amateur guitarist Dick Denny. Jennings started repairing accordions and trading in musical instruments in 1944. Two years later he set up his first shop in Dartford importing accordions and other musical instruments. Jennings invented the then popular Univox electric accordion. In 1957 he collaborated with Denny and they formed a partnership Jennings Musical Instruments (JMI) developing the AC15. The valves were prone to distortion due to their low headroom. This distortion was seen as a fau...

Dartford Creek is one of the last remaining natural tidal creeks in London. It was built in 1981 to minimise flood risk from the Thames Estuary to Crayford and Dartford. There are two gates that travel vertically and are driven by a chain system. The gates are balanced by two water-filled counterweights. When they close, the barrier is able to withstand up to 7 metres of water above average sea level. Most of the time the gates are raised but when flooding is predicted by the Met Office both are closed. Raised embankments along the lower reaches of the Thames estuary also act as flood defences. Before the barrier was built Dartford flooded significantly  in 1953 and 1968. In the face of global warming should we be worried about Dartford flooding once more?  There is certainly a lot of new housing on floodplain and reclaimed marshland.  Take a look at this map and judge for yourself.  It shows the land projected to be below annual flood level in 2030.   Clim...

  Presumably they didn't want the riff raff of Marriott Road mixing with the more posh side on Brandon Road when they built the fence between the two.  The two roads are still separated today.  How bizarre!

Situated directly next to the library, Dartford town war memorial is a monument to the First World War.  It was erected in 1922 and commissioned by Dartford War Memorial Committee. Created by the sculptor Arthur Walker it has a further  dedication to the fallen of the Second World War (1939-45) and the Korean War (1950-53).  The model for the statue was a soldier recently returned from Flanders who survived to see photographs of it finished.  The statue is cast from bronze with a granite pedestal and inscribed bronze plaques. In March 2015 two war memorial benches behind the statue were unveiled by council leader Jeremy Kite and the Mayor of Dartford Avtar Sandhu. Sources:  Kent Online-  Dartford memorial benches: Two commemorative benches honouring those who have died at war installed in Central Park, Dartford Historic England- Dartford War Memorial Wikipedia: Arthur George Walker