Darenth, Kent

Historical Description

Darenth or Darent, a parish in Kent, on the river Darent, 1½ mile N of Farningham station on the L.C. & D.R., and 2 SSE of Dartford. It includes part of the South Darenth hamlet, and its post town is Dartford; money order office, Sutton-at-Hone; telegraph office, South Darenth or Dartford. Acreage, 2222; population, including inmates of the Darenth Metropolitan asylum and schools, 2804. The manor was given by Duke Eudulf in 940 to the Archbishops of Canterbury, and exchanged by them in 1196 with Rochester Abbey for Lambeth. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester; value, £225 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Rochester. Part of the nave of the church is Old English or Saxon; the sanctuary, Pure Norman and part of chancel Transitional Norman. It is a very ancient church of great architectural interest. The font is large and tub-shape of Norman work. Its date is conjectured to be of King Stephen's reign, as his badge of Sagittarius is carved upon it. There is a Presbyterian chapel. The asylum for imbeciles and school for imbecile children was erected in 1878 by the managers of the Metropolitan Asylum District, and is one of the largest in the kingdom; a new wing was added in 1888. The grounds and a farm connected with the institution comprise about 170 acres. Imbecile schools and asylum contained at last census 2114, leaving a population of 690 for inhabitants of the parish.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

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	Darenth St. Margaret
Hundred	Axton
Lathe	Sutton-at-Hone
Poor Law union	Dartford

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The register of baptisms and burials dates from the year 1675; marriages, 1695.

Findmypast have the following online for Darenth, Asylum Cemetery: burials 1853-1985

Findmypast have the following online for Darenth, St Margaret of Antioch: baptisms 1683-1914, marriages 1610-1935, burials 1678-1991

Churches

Church of England

St. Margaret (parish church)

The church of St. Margaret is a small and ancient edifice of stone, in the Saxon, Norman and Early English styles, and has a tower with shingled spire containing 3 bells: there are some interesting monuments and five stained windows: the font dates from the reign of King Stephen: there are sittings for 150 persons.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Darenth from the following:

Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Darenth (St. Margaret))

Maps

Online maps of Darenth 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:

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.