artford occupied an area between East Hill
and West Hill, only one day’s walk from
London and was cut in
two by the
Rivers Darrent and Cranpit.
The
latter was the town sewer, and the Darrent,
which was much wider, then gave access to the
Thames by boat. A footbridge was
erected across
the Darrent in c.1400. Before this time people had
to seek out the hermit to ferry them across the river.
A hermit
is mentioned in 1235. In 1330, the yearly
cost of getting across the river was 13 shillings and
4 pence (about 62 pence today). Large
areas of salt
and fresh-water marsh outside of the town were used
for the grazing of animals and the growing of hay. Most of this marshland
lay next to the River Thames. A document called the Marsh Roll (now on display in Dartford Museum) lists many of the people who had
land in Dartford Salt Marsh. The Brent and Dartford Heath were tracts of common land for recreation, grazing of animals and military
camps.
