Dartford
lay some two miles from Crayford, and on the stretch of road between
the two towns was a hill which displayed good views of the Magazine
at Purfleet. Dartford was named from the River Darent, on which
it stands; there has been a bridge over the river at Dartford since
medieval times. Anciently there was a nunnery in Dartford, later used
as a palace by the English monarchs, but by late Georgian times it was
little more than a ruin situated on a piece of land known as the King's
Field. The main street of Dartford was very wide and contained many
fine houses. The local church was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The
town contains an almshouse founded by Henry VI for lepers.
In
the Regency period Dartford was a thriving town, mainly because it straddled
the main road to London. A good market was held every Saturday, which
was well supplied with corn, butcher's meat and poultry, and an annual
fair was held on August 2nd. Dartford was also famed for its artichokes,
as well as a peculiar kind of gunpowder, known as Dartford Powder.
A
little distance from the summit of Dartford Hill stretched an open plain
(sometimes known as Dartford Brim), and eighteenth and early nineteenth-century
observers thought this the plain where Edward III held many tournaments.
It was also thought to be the site of executions from the medieval period
when the assizes were held in Dartford; in digging out a gravel pit
on the edge of the plain during the late eighteenth century there were
found many buried corpses.
