Southfleet | |
---|---|
Location within Kent | |
Population | 918 2011 Census |
OS grid reference | TQ615715 |
Civil parish |
|
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Gravesend |
Postcode district | DA13 |
Dialling code | 01474 |
Police | Kent |
Fire | Kent |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
UK Parliament | |
Southfleet is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Dartford in Kent, England. The village is located three miles southwest of Gravesend, while the parish includes within its boundaries the hamlets of Betsham and Westwood.
Southfleet takes its name from the River Fleet, a minor tributary of the River Thames. The water that supplied the river came from a place called Springhead, where there were watercress and oyster beds; the river then flowed through Southfleet, Ebbsfleet and Northfleet.
The village is grouped around a crossroads and many of its buildings, including the Ship Inn, are extremely old. The parish church of St Nicholas has 14th-century origins, although pre-Roman Christian remains have been found in the area. The church has memorials of the Sedley, Swan, and Peyton families. [1]
Southfleet fell within the Hundred of Axstane. [2] The Local Government Act 1972 made the parish part of the borough of Dartford of Kent in 1974. The settlement of New Barn in the south of the parish was transferred to Longfield and New Barn parish in 1987. [3]
Southfleet had a railway station on the Gravesend West Line, which operated from 1886 to 1953. The section of the trackbed south of the A2 road of that closed line was used by Eurostar services to London Waterloo.
Currently, the closest railway station to Southfleet is Longfield on the Chatham Main Line, located approximately 2.3 miles from the village. The station provides rail services to London, The Medway Towns, Dover and Ramsgate. [4]
The village is currently served by the Go-Coach routes 474/475 buses as well as the Arriva Kent Thameside route 489. These services provide connections to Gravesend, Bluewater, Longfield and New Ash Green. [5] [6]
The Borough of Dartford is a local government district with borough status in the north-west of the county of Kent, England. It is named after its main town of Dartford, where the council is based. Other notable settlements include Greenhithe, Stone and Swanscombe, along with an emerging new town at Ebbsfleet, and a number of smaller villages. It also includes Bluewater, one of the UK's largest shopping centres. The borough lies just outside the administrative boundary of Greater London, but a sizeable part of it lies within the M25 motorway which encircles London. Many of the borough's urban areas form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. The borough had a population of 116,800 at the 2021 census.
Dartford railway station serves the town of Dartford in Kent, England. It is 17 miles 12 chains (27.6 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. Train services from the station are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink. Southeastern also manages the station. Dartford is a major interchange station in the North Kent region of the Southeastern network. Ticket barriers control access to the platforms.
Northfleet is a town in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. It is located immediately west of Gravesend, and on the border with the Borough of Dartford. Northfleet has its own railway station on the North Kent Line, just east of Ebbsfleet International railway station on the High Speed 1 line. According to the 2021 census, Northfleet has a population of 29,900.
Stone is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located 2.5 miles east of Dartford. In 2011 the parish had a population of 10,778.
Greenhithe is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is located 4 miles east of Dartford and 5 miles west of Gravesend.
Longfield is a village in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located 6 miles south east of Dartford and the same distance south-west of Gravesend.
Hartley is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. It is located 7 miles (11 km) south west of Gravesend and the same distance south east of Dartford.
Greenhithe railway station serves the village of Greenhithe in north Kent and Bluewater Shopping Centre. It is 19 miles 69 chains (32 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. All services are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink.
Meopham railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the village of Meopham, Kent. It is 25 miles 76 chains (41.8 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Longfield and Sole Street. The station is managed by Southeastern.
Dartford is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Jim Dickson of the Labour Party since 2024.
Arriva Southern Counties Limited, trading as Arriva Southern Counties, is a bus operator in Kent, Essex, Hemel Hempstead, and Watford in England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.
Ebbsfleet International railway station is in Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent, 10 miles east of London, England, near Dartford and the Bluewater Shopping Centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. The station, part of the Thames Gateway urban regeneration project, is on the High Speed 1 (HS1) rail line, 300 metres south-west of Northfleet railway station, off the A2 trunk road, 5 mi (8.0 km) from its junction with the M25 motorway. It served as a primary park-and-rail service for the London 2012 Olympics.
Bean is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located 4.4 miles south east of Dartford and 5.4 miles south west of Gravesend. In 2011 the parish had a population of 1643.
Arriva Kent Thameside Limited, trading as Arriva Kent Thameside, formerly known as London Transport, London Country and Kentish Bus, is a bus operator based in north-west Kent, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. The company operates services in Northfleet, Gravesend & Dartford as part of the Arriva Southern Counties division from their Northfleet depot.
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.
Fastrack is the name given to two bus rapid transit schemes in Kent. The original network began on 26 March 2006 in Dartford and Gravesend, part of the Thames Gateway regeneration area, and on 17 November 2024 a separate network was launched in Dover.
New Barn is a village in Kent, England. It is a compact residential area surrounded by open fields which lies four miles southwest of Gravesend. It is in the local government district of Dartford. The villages of New Barn and Longfield are within and give their names to the civil parish of Longfield and New Barn. New Barn is larger in population than Longfield, although has little in the way of services, being a recent development and purely residential in nature
The Gravesend West Line was a short railway line in Kent that branched off the Swanley to Chatham line at Fawkham Junction and continued for a distance of 5 miles (8 km) to Gravesend where the railway company constructed a pier to connect trains with steamers. It was opened in 1886 and closed to passenger services in 1953, remaining open to freight until 1968 before reopening briefly between 1972 and 1976. Part of the railway's former alignment was incorporated into the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
Longfield Halt was a railway station on the Gravesend West Line which served the settlement of Grubb Street in Kent, England.
Southfleet was a railway station on the Gravesend West Line which served the small village of Southfleet in Kent, England.