Denton (near Gravesend)

Denton is, ecclesiastically, in the diocese of Rochester, in the archdeaconry of Rochester and in the deanery of Rochester.  Denton is in the Lathe of Aylesford, Shamwell Hundred.  There is no church.

Denton, a parish in North Aylesford district, Kent; on the river Thames and the North Kent railway, 2 miles E of Gravesend. Post town, Chalk, under Gravesend. Acres, 1, 320; of which 130 are water. Pop., 101. Houses, 23. There is no church.¹

This parish lies on the east side of the road, leading from Chalk-street to Gravesend, from which it is distant about a mile. It is but small, being in extent, from north to south, less than two miles, and in breadth only half a mile. It contains about four hundred and thirty acres of land, of which one hundred are marsh land; its contiguity to the marshes makes the air very unhealthy. The surface is exceedingly flat, the soil a good fertile mould towards the north, and light and chalky towards the south; there are but two houses in it, one of which is the Court-lodge; the other the parsonage, lately built by Mr. Nicholas Gilbee (lessee under Mrs. Bevan) is a very handsome house, in which he resides.²

This parish is now usually called Lower Denton, from its low situation near the marshes, and also Denton near Gravesend, to distinguish it from Denton near Elham, in this county.²

The church, which was dedicated to St. Mary, was but a small building of one isle, with a chancel and bell tower. It stood on a bank, close to the road side; the whole has been some time in ruins, though it was not so in the Kilburns time, in the middle of the last century; soon after which, service being discontinued in it, the materials were taken down and sold, or otherwise disposed of. The outside walls, for the most part, yet remain, having the buildings of the adjoining farm yard built up against the north side of it. On the south east human bones have at times been dug up where the cemetery was, now part of the farm-yard.²

¹ John Marius Wilson, comp.  The Imperial Gazatteer of England and Wales. (London, England: A. Fullerton & Co., 1870).

² Hasted, Edward. "Parishes: Denton." The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3. Canterbury: W Bristow, 1797. 471-477. British History Online. Web. 16 December 2017. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp471-477.

Denton (near Gravesend) Bibliography

-- various. 'Archaeologia Cantiana'. Publisher: Kent, England: Kent Archaeological Society, various dates.  [Note:  The following volumes can be found on archive.org:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (1876), 11, 12, 13 (1880), 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 34, 35, vol. 1907 supplement.]

• General references to Denton: vol. , pp.
• Currently in revision

Great Britain, Public Record Office. 'Calendar of the patent rolls preserved in the Public Record Office--Edward II, Vol. 1. 1307-1313'Each volume has own index. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Great Britain, Public Record Office. 'Inquisitions and assessments relating to feudal aids : with other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office, A. D. 1284-1431', Vol. 3. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Great Britain, Exchequer. 'The book of fees commonly called testa de nevill, pt. 3'. The Book of fees contains information about the holdings of feudal tenants. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Hall, Hubert, 1857-1944. 'The Red book of the Exchequer - Liber rubeus de Scaccario, Vol. 3'. The Red book of the Exchequer was a register intended to preserve important documents comprising charters, statutes of the realm, public acts (Placita), private deeds and ordinances, correspondence. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Glencross, Reginald Morshead. 'Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Vol. 1. 1559-1571'. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Hasted, Edward. 'The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent; Containing the antient and present state of it, civil and ecclesiastical; collected from public records, and other authorities: illustrated with maps, views, antiquities, etc. The second edition, improved, corrected, and continued to the present time'. 12 volumes. Publisher: Canterbury: Printed by W. Bristow, 1797-1801. URL: British History Online

Hussey, Arthur. 'Notes on the churches in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, mentioned in Domesday book, and those of more recent date'. Publisher: London J.R. Smith,(1852).

Letters, Dr. Samantha. 'Kent', Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516 (2005).  URL: British History Online.

Page, William, 1861-1934, ed.. 'The Victoria history of the county of Kent'. Publisher: London: Constable (1908).  URL: British History Online

Sharp, J. E. E. S., ed.. 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward I, File 39', Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 2: Edward I. Published:(1906), pp. 315-323.  URL: British History Online.

Sharp, J. E. E. S., ed.. 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry III, File 45', Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 1: Henry III. Published:(1904), pp. 296-302.  URL: British History Online.

Location of Records

The following list of records is not intended to be exhaustive.  There are many records that are awaiting discovery in archive offices throughout Kent and England.  This list is intended only to set out those records that are available via at least two relatively easy-to-access avenues.  If you have used or discover a record that would be of benefit to other researchers, that is not on this list, please send me an email with the details of the archive - name, address and archival call number.

Census | Church of England | Non-Conformist | Parish chest | Workhouse and Poor Law | Land | Assizes and Sessions | School

Census

Church Records, Church of England

Church Records, Non-Conformist

Parish chest records

Workhouse and Poor Law Records

Land Records

Assizes and Sessions Records
(poor laws, jail terms, oaths, and other municipal and public records)

School Records