Swanscombe, Kent
Historical Description
Swanscombe, a parish in Kent, on the river Thames, 1 mile from Northfleet station on the S.E.R., and 5 miles E of Dartford. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Greenhithe. Acreage, 2140; population of the civil parish, 6577; of the ecclesiastical, 5037. The manor was known at Domesday as Swede's Camp; took that name from a winter camp formed by Sweyne the Dane to protect his fleet; passed to W. de Valence and the Mortimers; was. given by Queen Elizabeth to the Weldons; went afterwards to the Childs; and passed to the Earl of Jersey. The manor house is an ancient building. Swanscombe Wood is a famous rural retreat, frequented by gipsying parties; and contains a cavern, called Clappernappers Hole, associated with much curious legend. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester; net value, £430 with residence. Patron, Sidney-Sussex College, Cambridge. The church is partly Transition Norman, but claims to be Saxon, and contains monuments to the Weldon family. There are Congregational, Wesleyan, Baptist, and Primitive Methodist chapels and some almshouses. Galleyhill is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in 1883. out of the parish of Swanscombe. The church is small. The living is a vicarage; gross value, £300 with residence. There are very extensive cement works in the neighbourhood.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Kent | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Swanscombe St. Peter and St. Paul | |
Hundred | Axton | |
Lathe | Sutton-at-Hone | |
Poor Law union | Dartford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Swanscombe from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Swanscombe (St. Peter and St. Paul))
Maps
Online maps of Swanscombe are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:
- Kent & Sussex Courier
- Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
- Dover Express
- Kentish Gazette
- Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
- Kentish Chronicle
- Maidstone Telegraph
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.