Southfleet, Kent

Historical Description

Southfleet, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands near Watling Street, 3 miles SW of Gravesend, and has a station on the L.C. & D.R., 25 miles from London. It has a post and money order office under Gravesend; telegraph office, Betsham. Acreage of parish, 2409; population, 968. There is a parish council consisting of seven members and a chairman. Southfleet originated in the Roman station Vagniacse on Watling Street, was known at Domesday as Suthfleta, took that name and its present one from a flete or creek which came to it from The Thames at Northfleet but is now shut out by an embankment, and is much frequented by visitors. The parish contains also the hamlets of Betsham and Westwood, and the gardens of Spring Head, famous for water-cresses. Many Roman relics, including a milestone, a sarcophagus, earthen vessels, glass urns, trinkets, and coins have been found. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester; gross value, £750. Patron, the Bishop of Rochester. The church is Decorated English, and contains some interesting monuments.

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.

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 Southfleet from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Southfleet 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.