Longfield

History

The place in Kent is recorded as Langanfelda in the Saxon Charters of 964-995, and as Langafel in the Domesday Book of 1086.

It had been proposed by town planner Patrick Abercrombie as part of the Greater London Plan in the mid-1940s to build a new town in the Longfield area, however other satellite areas around London were selected instead.

Localities

Longfield and New Barn is a civil parish named after the adjacent villages it covers, the eastern part being New Barn, it also covers the smaller settlement, the neighbourhood of Longfield Hill. Longfield is the ancient village, situated on the road between Dartford and Meopham; the historic church there is dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. New Barn is larger in population than Longfield, although has little in the way of services, being a comparatively recent development and purely residential in nature.

Topography

Longfield is four miles south east of Dartford and near Gravesend. It is a linear development that is partly contiguous with the village of Hartley immediately to the south.

The whole civil parish gently slopes from southeast and south to north. Elevations range from 92m AOD in the southwest of the developed area of New Barn in the east which is on a wide rise, to 45m AOD in and around the chalk pit just west of Longfield across the largely disused HS1 south-of-London link railway line towards Southfleet (just north of the village). Just above this is the tiny settlement, a farmed area named Pinden, to the south, however before this on the road towards London is another named community, no more than a row of cottages on the road named Whitehill.

The villages of New Barn and Longfield are within and give their names to the civil parish of Longfield and New Barn which also covers the settlement of Longfield Hill. Longfield is the ancient village, situated on the road between Dartford and Meopham. New Barn is larger in population than Longfield, although has little in the way of services, being a recent development and purely a residential location.

Governance

Longfield fell within the Hundred of Axtane and its successor Dartford Rural District. The Local Government Act 1972 made the village part of the Sevenoaks district of Kent in 1974. It was transferred to the borough of Dartford in 1987.

Dr Howard Stoate (Labour), who had been the MP since 1997, decided not to stand again as a candidate at the 2010 general election. His successor candidate was defeated by Gareth Johnson (Conservative) at that election.

Economy

The village has a shopping area consisting of a local baker and butcher, two local supermarkets, a post office, chemist, estate agents, hair-dressers, an antiques shop, various restaurants and take-aways, a pet supply store, an undertakers and a country market on Fridays.

Culture

There is one pub in Longfield, the Railway Tavern,. Another, The Wheatsheaf, a 15th-century thatched pub, outside the village on the B255 road to Bluewater. closed down in 2011. The Long Valley Club and the Hartley Country Club are club-based venues restricted to paid membership. Other pubs in the area include the Green Man on Longfield Hill, the White Swan near Ash and the Rising Sun in Fawkham.

The church is dedicated to St Mary Magdalene, and was built in 1343.

Transport

Longfield station serves the area with services to London Victoria via Bromley South, Gillingham and a splitting service to Ramsgate and Dover Priory. Longfield is served by Arriva Kent bus routes 423/433 to Dartford via Bluewater and to New Ash Green, 489 to Gravesend via Southfleet and to New Ash Green, and Redroute services 474/475 to Greenhithe via Bluewater.