Editing Swanscombe (section)

==History==

===Prehistory===
[[File:Swanscombe occipital 01.jpg|thumb|Back of the Swanscombe-skull (replica)]]
[[File:Franks HouseDSCF7154.jpg|thumb|Box of 8 [[hand axe]]s from the middle gravels of Barnfield Pit, contained in the [[British Museum]]]]
[[File:Swanscombe tools.jpg|thumb|Lithics from Swanscombe on display at the [[Museum of London]]]]
[[File:Swanscombe bear skull.jpg|thumb|Bear skull from Swanscombe on display at the [[Museum of London]]]]
Bone fragments and tools, representing the earliest humans known to have lived in England, have been found from 1935 onwards at the Barnfield Pit about {{convert|2|km|0|abbr=in}} outside the village. This site is now the [[Swanscombe Heritage Park]]. [[Swanscombe Man]] (now thought to be female) was a late {{lang|la|[[Homo erectus]]}} or an early [[Archaic humans|archaic ''Homo sapiens'']].<ref>Francis Wenban-Smith, [http://www.swanscombeheritagepark.co.uk/interpretation.htm Interpretation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726004024/http://www.swanscombeheritagepark.co.uk/interpretation.htm |date=26 July 2013 }}. Retrieved 1 November 2013</ref> According to the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]], however, the remains are those of a 400,000-year-old early [[Neanderthal]] woman.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160403075311/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/natureplus/blogs/whats-new/2014/02/11/neanderthal-woman-in-pieces Neanderthal woman in pieces] Retrieved 16 May 2018</ref>

The c. 400,000-year-old skull fragments are kept at the Natural History Museum in [[London]] with a replica on display at the Dartford Museum. Lower levels of the Barnfield Pit yielded evidence of an even earlier, more primitive, human, dubbed [[Clactonian Man]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://kentarchaeology.org.uk/node/12033|title=Clactonian Flints from Rickson's Pit, Swanscombe|last=Tester|first=P. J.|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana |volume=100 |year=1984|publisher=Kent Archaeological Society |access-date=12 July 2016}} {{open access}}</ref>

Nearby digs on land for the [[High Speed 1|Channel Tunnel Rail Link]] revealed a c. 400,000-year-old site with human tools and the remains of a [[straight-tusked elephant]] (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus''), and evidence of [[Arvicola|water vole]], [[microtus|pine vole]], [[newt]]s, [[frog]]s etc., indicating a site with standing water similar to a swamp. The elephant is thought to have been butchered by humans at the site.<ref name="essex">{{cite news|last1=McKie|first1=Robin|title=The mysterious end of Essex man|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/jan/23/research.science|access-date=10 June 2017|work=The Guardian|date=23 January 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Giant prehistoric elephant slaughtered by early humans|url=http://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2013/09/20-prehistoric-elephant-slaughtered-by-early-humans.page|date=20 September 2013|publisher=southampton.ac.uk|access-date=10 June 2017}}</ref>

===Viking era===
[[File:St Peter and St Paul, Swanscombe, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 326667.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Church of St Peter and St Paul, Swanscombe]]
During archaeological work undertaken at [[Ebbsfleet Valley|Ebbsfleet]], before construction of [[High Speed 1]], an [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] mill and a [[Roman Britain|Roman]] [[villa]] were found near Swanscombe.

From [[Crayford]] to the [[Isle of Thanet]] the [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]] occupied the land and terrorised the [[Saxons|Saxon]] inhabitants, giving rise to the appearance of [[Denehole]]s, of which many have survived to this day. These were [[water well|well]]s, cut deep into the [[chalk]] landscape, thought to be for concealing people and goods. They have a simple vertical shaft with short tunnels bearing horizontally from the base.

The [[Vikings]] settled throughout the winter along the [[Thames]] estuary with their ships and established camps in Kent and [[Essex]]. In surveying the distribution of the many deneholes along the Thames corridor it would appear that Essex, on the northern shore of the Thames, sustained a greater influx of Vikings than did Kent, there being considerably more recorded deneholes in Essex, particularly around [[Orsett]] and Grays – see [[Hangman's Wood]].

Archaeological digs and centuries of tilling have revealed a Danish [[castle]] and settlement, with pottery, anchors, weapons and some ships' timbers. The settlement was later variously called ''Suinescamp'' (in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086), ''Sweinscamp'' and ''Swanscamp''. Legend derives the name from the Viking king [[Sweyn Forkbeard]], who landed in [[East Anglia]] and became [[Kings of England|King of England]] in 1013. The father of [[Cnut|Canute]], Sweyn died at [[Gainsborough, Lincolnshire|Gainsborough]], on the [[River Trent|Trent]], in 1014. Canute (Cnut) died in [[Shaftesbury]] in 1035, and his sons were unable to hold on to his empire. But the name of Swanscombe cannot derive from Sweyn Forkbeard, as the place-name is first attested in 695 AD.

Other research suggests that deneholes might have been dug as a method of extracting chalk for use on the fields above, or the mining may have been a by-product of defence. In any case the practice reached a peak around the 13th&nbsp;– 14th centuries, long after the Viking raids had ceased.

===Norman Conquest===
It is claimed, apparently without evidence, that in 1066 Swanscombe locals massed an army in defiance of [[William the Conqueror|William I]] and so won the right to continue their ancient privileges, including the tradition of passing inheritance by [[gavelkind]]. The men of Kent met William near Swanscombe, where the Saxons concealed their number with branches, thus intimidating the Norman army. Again according to legend, they were offered a truce that left Kent as the only region in England that William left unconquered. Hence in this area of England alone, Kent County Council adopted the motto ''Invicta'', meaning unconquered.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bill|first1=Joe|title=Man of Kent or Kentish Man – which are you?|url=http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/man-of-kent-or-kentish-man-which-are-you-1-2334928|access-date=11 June 2017|work=kentnews.co.uk|date=14 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613032923/http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/man-of-kent-or-kentish-man-which-are-you-1-2334928|archive-date=13 June 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Churches===
[[Richard Norman Shaw]] designed All Saints' Church in 1894, built out of knapped flint for the workers of the cement industry. It survives as a rare example of his design, covering several [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] styles throughout its architecture and features, such as [[Decorated architecture|Decorated]] tracery on the windows and [[Arts and Crafts movement|Arts and Crafts]] [[Perpendicular architecture|Perpendicular]] woodwork in the interior.<ref>{{cite web|title=CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS, Swanscombe and Greenhithe – 1085781|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1085781|publisher=Historic England}}</ref>

The flint parish church of [[Feast of Saints Peter and Paul|St Peter and St Paul]] is mostly of the 13th century.  However various sections contain Early Norman material. The tower and chancel contain 11th- and 12th-century work respectively, although the tower was reconstructed in the 13th century and the chancel arch is from the 14th century. The lower section of the tower contains some Saxon material. The tower is topped with a broached shingled spire, and in 1902 the church was struck by lightning causing extensive damage. A large-scale restoration was undertaken by Jabez Bignall in 1872–73 and again by him after the damage from the lightning strike. The parish register dates from 1559. [[George Cecil Renouard]] is buried in the Swanscombe [[churchyard]].<ref>{{cite web|title=PARISH CHURCH OF ST PETER AND ST PAUL, Swanscombe and Greenhithe – 1085788|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1085788|publisher=Historic England}}</ref>

===Second World War===
Just after 8 o'clock in the evening of Sunday 10 November 1940 a German bomb crashed down direct into The Morning Star Inn, causing in a single explosion Swanscombe's worst wartime disaster. All that was left after the explosion was, where the pub had stood, a "heap of bricks and twisted rafters"¹ surrounding the smouldering pit that had been the cellar, although the staircase leading to the clubroom upstairs extended up out of the wreckage. Distressed families of those known to be in the pub at the time gathered at the street corners awaiting news of the casualties as bodies were gradually recovered from the ruins.

The official casualty lists revealed the death toll to be 27, with six others seriously injured and five people slightly hurt.

:"The landlord was amongst the dead, although his wife and son<!-- editors: see Revision of 14:45, 2 July 2007 : this may have been a daughter - can anyone confirm? --> survived. The barmaid who was killed had given notice the week before the raid but had stayed on that evening because of the match. One of the other victims was a merchant seaman on seven days' leave who had spent two days travelling from Scotland to see his wife and children and was having a drink with his father in the pub at the time of the bombing: both were killed."<ref>Andrew Rootes (1980) "Front Line County"</ref>

On 30 July 1940 another [[Luftwaffe]] raid led to the death of more than a dozen civilians, with 22 seriously injured. Its proximity to London and position under the German flight path to the city meant that Swanscombe fell victim to this kind of damage several times during the [[World War II|war]].

On 30 July 1944 a [[V-1 flying bomb]] landed on Taunton Road. Half of one side of the road was wiped out. 13 were killed and 22 seriously injured.<ref>"Gravesend Reporter" 6 August 1944 "Front Line County" Andrew Rootes (1980) Page 157.</ref>

===Cliff Collapse===
On 10 April 2023, Galley Hill, Swanscombe, was closed because part of the chalk cliff supporting the A226 collapsed on Easter Monday, taking some of the road with it, near the old George & Dragon pub. Buses have been on diversion to Stanhope Road, the A2, [[Ebbsfleet International]] and Thames Way.