River Darent

River Darent
Confluence of Darent (left) and Cray rivers, viewed from Crayford Marshes, towards Temple Hill.
Basin features
Main source	Hills south of Westerham TQ 450 519 51°14′53″N 0°04′26″E / 51.247917°N 0.073981°E / 51.247917; 0.073981
River mouth	River Thames TQ 541 780 51°28′48″N 0°13′12″E / 51.479887°N 0.220133°E / 51.479887; 0.220133Coordinates: 51°28′48″N 0°13′12″E / 51.479887°N 0.220133°E / 51.479887; 0.220133
Physical characteristics
Length	20 miles (32 km)

The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford, as illustrated by the adjacent photograph, snapped at high tide. 'Darenth' is frequently found in the spelling of the river's name in older books and maps, Bartholomew's "Canal's and River of England" being one example. Bartholomew's Gazetteer (1954) demonstrates that Darent means "clear water" and separately explains the other name. Considering the River Darent runs on a bed of chalk and its springs rise through chalk, this is not surprising. The original purity of the water was a major reason for the development of paper and pharmaceuticals in the area.

Darenth Parish (through which the river flows) derives from a Celtic phrase 'stream where oak-trees grow' (Irish: "dair" = 'oak-tree', "abha" = river ) (compare e.g."Derwent") The confusion is excusable but the "stream where the oak trees grow" is the Darenth . The landscapes of the valley were painted in a visionary manner by the renowned Victorian artist Samuel Palmer during the mid 1800s.

Fed by springs from the greensand hills south of Westerham in Kent and below Limpsfield Chart in Surrey it flows 21 miles (34 km) east then north by Otford and Shoreham, past the castle and the ruined Roman villa at Lullingstone, then by Eynsford, Farningham, Horton Kirby, South Darenth, Sutton-at-Hone, Darenth, and eventually to Dartford whence it proceeds a final two miles as a tidal estuary until it drops into the Thames "Long Reach".