TQ 6245 7416. Northfleet. (1) [Temporary record pending further recording. Town included in English Heritage MPP Provisional list of urban areas July 1992]

"The presence of an early Saxon settlement in the area is suggested by a fifth to seventh century cremation and inhumation cemetery discovered to the south and west of St Botolph’s church, on the hillside overlooking the Ebbsfleet (TQ 67 SW 42). Fifth century urns were also discovered at Perry Street, c. 1.2km to the east of Northfleet (see Archaeological Assessment Document for Gravesend), and a seventh century inhumation cemetery was excavated, about 1.3km to the south of Northfleet, in advance of construction of the CTRL.

From AD 798 the estate of Northfleet, with lands for grazing and pannage in Aylesford Common, was a possession of the archbishops of Canterbury. By the mid-tenth century there was a stone church on the same hilltop site where the parish church of St Botolph still stands. It consisted of a rectangular nave and a small square chancel. The surviving south-west corner of the nave is built of long-and-short quoining, a feature of mid-tenth century Saxon architecture.

A rare Saxon timber-built water mill, probably constructed between AD 684 and 720 (on the basis of dendrochronology), was discovered in the river Ebbsfleet close to the Northfleet villa, during excavations in advance of construction of the CTRL. In addition, eight Saxon sunken feature buildings were found in and around the Northfleet villa complex, and a further four in the adjacent area. A Saxon sunken feature building was also discovered in the Roman town of Vagniacae to the south of Northfleet."(2)

<1> OS 1:10000 1980 (OS Card Reference). SKE48166.

<2> Kent County Council, 2004, Kent Historic Towns Survey: Northfleet Archaeological Assessment Document (Bibliographic reference). SKE12909.

<3> Kent County Council, 2004, Kent Historic Towns Survey: Northfleet Archaeological Assessment Document (Bibliographic reference). Ske12909.