Dartford means a 'ford on the River Darent', first recorded in the Domesday Book as Tarentefort. The 'ford' element is Saxon, while the river-name is Celtic and means a 'river where oak-trees grow'.
The parish church of Holy Trinity was built in 1080 under the supervision of Bishop Gundulf, on the site of an earlier Saxon chapel. The chancel was rebuilt in the 13th century, and to accommodate the needs of pilgrims travelling to Canterbury, a new chapel was added and dedicated to St Thomas. In1235 Princess Isabella, sister of Henry III was married to Frederick II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. New windows were added in 1313, which were inspected by the visiting Bishop of Rochester (Thomas de Wouldham). On his return from France in 1415, Henry V celebrated his victory at Agincourt, by leading some 700 soldiers in a Thanksgiving Service at the Church. Later in 1422, Henry V's body rested overnight in the church on its journey from Normandy to Westminster. 500 Knights attended the candlelit service. The height of the tower was increased in 1470 to accommodate the hanging of bells, and the roof was s replaced with lead. In 1538, Becket's altar was removed and his festivals abolished as pilgrimages ceased. The church was ordered to display a copy of the English Bible. The Stampit Chantry in the Church was dissolved and the altar pulled down in 1545. Attendances had increased so much by 1773 that a new gallery was built on the south side. By 1793, an Organ had been installed.
The first people appeared in the Dartford area around 250,000 years ago, a tribe of prehistoric hunter-gatherers whose exemplar is called Swanscombe Man.
The Domesday Book entry for Dartford compiled by the Norman invaders in 1086 reveals that the royal manor of Tarentfort was a small but thriving agricultural community supporting a population of approximately 150 families. The manor of Dartford comprised a mixture of arable land, meadow, pasture and woodland. Other features of note were the parish church, Holy Trinity, three smaller chapels, a mill, and two wharves on the River Darent. Teams of oxen were used to plough the land; pigs foraged in the local woods.
During the medieval period Dartford, because of its strategic position en route for the Continent, and that taken by many pilgrims, became one of the sites in England where various religious orders established themselves. In the 12th century, the Knights Templar had possession of the manor of Dartford. In the 14th century, a priory was established, and two groups of friars - the Domicans and the Franciscans - built hospitals for the care of the sick. At this time, Dartford became a small, but important, market town.
The South Eastern Railway was given authorisation for the building of what became the North Kent Line in 1846. The line from North Kent Junction (just east of London Bridge) to Strood opened on 30th July 1849, with a station at Dartford opening on the same date.
