Most towns in southern England at this time had an average population of 500-600 residents. Dartford, with
its population approaching 1,000, was larger than average. Market towns like Dartford still managed to retain strong links with the
surrounding countryside.
By twenty-first century standards, Medieval Dartford was more like a village than a town;
the countryside penetrated almost into the town centre, where Timber-framed properties occupied a long thin strip of land and often
had gardens, orchards and vegetable plots adjoining.
There were also more orchards, fields and gardens surrounding the settlement,
and even as late as 1500, only 5% of England’s population lived in towns like Dartford.
Medieval communities like Dartford tended
to be quite self-sufficient in that most crafts and trades were represented in the town and surrounding villages. Church house Overy
Street. A document dated 1450 illustrates some of the crafts and trades people based in the town. It mentions William Worthe (Innkeeper);
Richard Holte (Sadler); John Page (Plumber); Thomas Revet (Cooper); William Herry (Barber) and Walter Wortle (Labourer). Other sources
mention a cornwainer, smith, baker and tanner. Certain commodities, especially foodstuffs, trade would be intensively local. Grain,
livestock, fruit, vegetables, and dairy produce were all produced and sold locally.
