River Darent
The River Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames in England. Its name is believed to be from a Celtic word meaning 'river where oak-trees grow'. Fed by water from greensand hills south of Westerham in Kent, it rises from springs at Sevenoaks, then flows northwards past the villages of Otford and Shoreham, past the castle and ruined Roman villa at Lullingstone, past Eynsford, Farningham, Horton Kirby, South Darenth, Sutton at Hone, Darenth, and through the large town of Dartford. As its name suggests, Dartford ('Tarentefort' in the Domesday Book) was once a fording place over the Darent where it crossed the road from London to the Kent coast. There are records of a ford operating in Roman times. A ferry, operated by a hermit, was established there by 1235. The post of hermit continued until 1518, long after the first bridge was built (a footbridge, constructed during the reign of Henry IV (1399-1413) and surviving until the mid-eighteenth century).
North of Dartford the Darent receives the waters of the River Cray from the west, then passes through Dartford Marshes and Crayford Marshes, joining the Thames near Crayford Ness. Its length from the springs at Sevenoaks to the Thames, estimated from a map, is about 17 miles (about 27 km).
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