River Darent

The River Darent or River Darenth 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' (compare "Derwent"). The tidal part of the river is known as the Dartford Creek.

Fed by springs in the greensand hills south of Westerham in Kent and below Limpsfield Chart in Surrey it flows for 21 miles (34 km) eastwards and then 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. North of Dartford the Darent receives the waters of the River Cray from the west as it passes through Dartford Marshes and Crayford Marshes, where it forms a boundary between Greater London and Kent (and specifically, the London Borough of Bexley and the borough of Dartford). The Darent joins the Thames near Crayford Ness.

On the river, close the junction with the River Thames is the Darent Flood Barrier. Which has two 160-tonne drop leaf gates which are lowered if the sea (from the tidal Thames) threatens to inundate the land. The barrier is managed by the Environment Agency.

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-18th century). The landscapes of the river's valley were painted in a visionary manner by the early Victorian artist Samuel Palmer.

The river is largely small and peaceful, a surprise given the breadth of the valley it has cut out. Apparently the 'proto-Darent' was formerly much larger than the present day but the River Medway, through erosion of the soft chalk and clays of the North Downs/Western Weald, has captured much of the headwaters that once supplied the Darent.

The river was used for trade and in 1835 approximately 50,000 to 60,000 tons per annum were being carried on the river. The size of the river limited single cargoes to 50 long tons (51 t) even on spring tides and as a result a ship canal was proposed. The proposal was unable to overcome its critics and as a result in 1839 an alternative based on dredging the river and a few short cuts was taken up. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1840 allowing construction to start and tolls to be levied once the work was complete. The project was completed in 1844 and included shortening the upper part of the navigation through the use of a cut and dredging.

By 1989 it was realised that the flow of the river was decreasing dramatically, when it was officially recognised as the 'lowest flow' river in the country. Wildlife was being destroyed. Since then much work has been carried out to rectify the situation, including shutting down of a number of boreholes along its length, by the Environment Agency. A sculpture was unveiled in 2004 to celebrate the renewed life of the river, depicting the wildlife which has been saved.