South Darenth

South Darenth
South Darenth
	South Darenth Location within Kent
Civil parish	Horton Kirby and South Darenth ;
District	Sevenoaks ;
Shire county	Kent ;
Region	South East ;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DARTFORD
Postcode district	DA4
Dialling code	01322
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Sevenoaks ;
	List of places UK England Kent 51°24′11″N0°14′42″E / 51.403°N 0.245°E

Last updated March 29, 2024

South Darenth is a village in the civil parish of Horton Kirby and South Darenth in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 4.2 miles east of Swanley & 4.4 miles south of Dartford.

Village

South Darenth boasts a supermarket, a cafe, a newsagent, a hairdresser and a post office/pharmacy, as well as two public houses: the Jolly Miller on East Hill and The Queen on New Road. The Bridges public house on the corner of Horton Road and Station Road, which was run by former wrestler Wayne Bridges, sadly closed in 2022 after the death of his widow. The small retained fire station has now closed. The village hosts a small brewery on St Margaret's Farm, called Millis, which supplies some of the pubs in the surrounding area. The South Darenth Village Society organises a number of events, often in conjunction with neighboring Horton Kirby. An Independent Travel Agency operates from Willow Cottage in the center of the village. The paper mill, which defines the village, was closed in February 2003 and is now a redevelopment of 210 homes and four new businesses: Chris Parry Handmade Jewellery, The Mill Osteopath Clinic, Bow Beauty Salon, and The Co-operative Food.

History

The village history is relatively recent as it was developed around the Horton Kirby mill, originally built in 1820 by Henry Hall. Before the mill there were only a few farms and some small cottages for workers, as well as a forge. The mill was at first a flour mill, which employed a handful of local people.

Some years later the site was expanded and converted into a paper mill which took up a much larger area, and included a small tunnel through which the River Darent was diverted. The paper produced was said to be a good quality, used for magazines and plans.

Towards the end of the 19th century the mill further expanded, with a boiler house and large chimney built in 1881. In 1918 an extra 70 ft of circular stock was added to the chimney made of mostly red brick to ensure that emissions escaped from the valley. The chimney is now Grade 2 listed.

Accommodation was needed for the workers, so small terraced houses were built close by. The mill ceased operating in February 2003 and has since been redeveloped extensively for housing. A Co-op Food supermarket is located in one of the listed mill buildings.

South of the village is the Chatham Main Line, which runs between London and the East Kent coast. The viaduct, built in 1859-60, has 10 arches each approximately 10 metres wide and 20 metres in height. Arch 2 goes over a footpath where arch 3 spans across the Horton road, the 6th across the River Darent and the 8th over a small road leading to an industrial estate. The viaduct was designed by Victorian architect Joseph Cubitt, known for designing the original Blackfriars Railway Bridge in London. It was built by teams of Irish 'navvies' for the London, Chatham & Dover Railway. Farningham Road station to the west of the village was opened in December 1860. A signal box was constructed in 1886. The station previously had some sidings, as well as a water tank, which was removed in 1939.

At the end of the 20th century there were protests about the proposed High Speed 1 rail line passing close to the village, including a new viaduct parallel to the existing line. The planned line was later diverted away from the area into Thurrock.

The Farningham home for little boys was located south of the village, and organised on the ‘cottage homes’ principle. In 1866 the foundation stone for the new buildings was laid by the Prince of Wales, and the home was opened the next year by the Earl of Shaftesbury.

Its chapel (standing on high ground) once had a spire but was destroyed in the Great Storm of 1987. The home was officially closed in 1961 and saw various educational uses until its reopening as a retirement village in 1978.

The fire station

The village had a fire station for over 100 years. It first served the paper mill with a small truck, in case of a fire in the mill. After a few years a small fire station was built in the centre of the village which served local communities with a horse and cart. As the villages grew, so did the crew, and new appliances were acquired. The fire crew had a wide presence in the community, visiting schools and local youth groups as well as attending village fetes.

The station had been threatened two times before its eventual closure. The first proposal led to protests with wide community support, which helped secure the station’s survival for the following 30 years. In 2012, Kent Fire and Rescue Service proposed to close the station. Meetings were held between local communities and KFRS, and thousands signed a petition in opposition to the closure. After more than a century of firefighting in the area the station was closed due to budget cuts at the end of 2013. The event was marked by a ceremony attended by local residents and councillors.

Transport

The A225 road between Dartford and Sevenoaks passes to the west of South Darenth, on the opposite side of the River Darent. The M20 and M25 motorways can both be accessed via the Swanley Interchange, approximately 3.5 miles from South Darenth.

The closest National Rail station to South Darenth is Farningham Road on the Chatham Main Line, located approximately 0.6 miles away. The station is served by hourly Southeastern services between London Victoria and Gillingham via Bromley South.^[1]

The village is served by the Arriva Kent Thameside route 414 which provides hourly connections to Horton Kirby, Sutton-at-Hone, Hawley and Dartford.^[2]

Related Research Articles

The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford. 'Darenth' is frequently found as the spelling of the river's name in older books and maps, Bartholomew's Canals and River of England being one example. Bartholomew's Gazetteer (1954) demonstrates that Darent means "clear water", a result of it springing from and running through chalk. The purity of the water was a major factor in the development of paper and pharmaceuticals in the area.

Swanley is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, 16 miles (26 km) southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2021 census was 17,826.

West Kingsdown is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England, on the A20 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Swanley, 5.5 miles (9 km) northeast of Sevenoaks and 22.5 miles (36.2 km) from London.

Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located 18 mi (29 km) south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in Essex, which can be reached via the Dartford Crossing. To its east lies the Borough of Gravesham and to the south the district of Sevenoaks.

Eynsford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.3 miles (5 km) south east of Swanley, 7 miles (11 km) south of Dartford.

The Chatham Main Line is a railway line in England that links London Victoria and Dover Priory / Ramsgate, travelling via Medway.

Farningham Road railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the villages of Farningham, Sutton-at-Hone, Horton Kirby and South Darenth, Kent. It is 20 miles 41 chains (33.0 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Swanley and Longfield.

Swanley railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the town of Swanley, Kent. It is 17 miles 31 chains (28.0 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between St Mary Cray and Farningham Road on the main line. The Maidstone Line branches from the main line south of Swanley and the next station on that route is Eynsford.

Eynsford railway station serves Eynsford in Kent, England. It is 20 miles 32 chains (32.8 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Swanley and Shoreham. Train services are provided by Thameslink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sevenoaks (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885 onwards

Sevenoaks is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Laura Trott, a Conservative who has served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury since 13 November 2023. The seat was previously held by Michael Fallon, who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2014 to 2017.

Darenth is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles south east of Dartford and 4.6 miles north east of Swanley.

The Kent Downs line is a railway line between Otford and Ashford International in Kent, England. It adopted its current name in 2020, by the Kent Rail Partnership.

Horton Kirby and South Darenth, formerly just Horton Kirby is a civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The parish is located in the River Darent valley between Sevenoaks town and Dartford: it consists of the two villages of Horton Kirby and South Darenth. On 1 April 1979 the parish was renamed from "Horton Kirby" to "Horton Kirby & South Darenth".

Horton Kirby is a village in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.9 miles east of Swanley & 4.9 miles south of Dartford. Together with the nearby village of South Darenth, it forms the Horton Kirby and South Darenth civil parish.

Farningham is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3 miles (5 km) south-east of Swanley. It has a population of 1,314.

Dartford Rural District was a rural district with an area of 34,037 acres (138 km²) in the county of Kent, England. In 1971 it had a population of 64,561 and an electorate of 43,911. At dissolution it was the most populous rural district council in Kent, but had once been larger, having lost territory when Crayford Urban District was created in 1920, and Swanscombe Urban District in 1926.

Sutton-at-Hone is a village in the civil parish of Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located 3.5 miles south of Dartford & 3.6 miles north east of Swanley.

The waymarked path Darent Valley Path is 19 miles (31 km) long, following the River Darent from the banks of the River Thames at Dartford through the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the Greensand Hills above Sevenoaks. It runs through the villages of Shoreham and Otford.

Horton Kirby Boys Home also known as Home for Little Boys was a private railway station opened in 1870 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to serve "Home for Little Boys", a cottage homes village in Horton Kirby, which was opened in 1867. It was sited between Farningham Road and Longfield stations on the Chatham Main Line. It only had a 'down' platform and there was no 'up' platform. The station closed by 1930 and was demolished in 1939.

References

↑ "Farningham Road Station Information". Southeastern . Retrieved 29 January 2023.
↑ "Route 414: South Darenth to Dartford". Arriva Southern Counties . Retrieved 29 January 2023.

External links

Media related to South Darenth at Wikimedia Commons

Horton Kirby Paper Mill

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[1] "Farningham Road Station Information". Southeastern . Retrieved 29 January 2023.

[2] "Route 414: South Darenth to Dartford". Arriva Southern Counties . Retrieved 29 January 2023.

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