Eynesford, Kent

Historical Description

Eynesford, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands on the river Darenth, 5¼ miles S of Dartford, and has-a station on the L.C. & D.R., 18 miles from London, and a, post and money order office under Dartford; telegraph office,. Dartford. The parish includes also the hamlet of Orocken-hill. Acreage, 3544; population of the civil parish, 1841; of the ecclesiastical, 886. The manor belonged anciently to the archbishops of Canterbury; was held under them till the-time of Edward I. by the family of Eynesford or Ainsford; passed then to the gieat family of Criol; and went afterwards to numerous proprietors. A castle was built on it by the Eynesfords; seems early to have fallen into decay; and is now represented by little more than the walls. These enclosed nearly an acre of ground, are of Norman architecture½ consist of flints from the chalk with intermixture of many Roman bricks, and include fragments of the keep. The moat has been converted into an orchard. There is a paper mill. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £256 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is chiefly Early English, has a rich Norman W door, is cruciform, and has a Later English N transept. The vicarage of Crockenhill is separate. There-ale a Baptist chapel, two public schools, and charities.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

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

Church Records

Findmypast have the following online for Eynsford, Baptist Chapel: baptisms 1813-1836

Findmypast have the following online for Eynsford, St Martin: baptisms 1538-1919, marriages 1539-1919, burials 1540-1922

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 Eynesford from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Eynesford (St. Martin))

Maps

Online maps of Eynesford 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.