Axstane Hundred

The Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone historically included a large part of Kent: the present-day boroughs of Dartford, Bexley, Greenwich, Bromley, Lewisham, Sevenoaks District and small parts of the Borough of Tonbridge and Malling and Borough of Tunbridge Wells. It was named after the village and parish of Sutton at Hone in the Darent valley. The lathe was an ancient administrative division of Kent and originated, probably in the 6th century AD, during the Jutish colonisation of the county. It was not unusual for the Anglo-Saxons to establish their juridical and administrative centres a short distance from more populous towns. In this case Sutton at Hone is about two miles from Dartford, one of only four royal manors in Kent at the time of the Domesday Book.At that time, Sutton was ranked as a "Half Lathe", as was Milton, to which it was not connected. Alongside these two Half Lathes were five (full) Lathes: Aylesford, Borough, Eastry, Lympne (later renamed Shepway) and Wye. By 1295 Sutton had been promoted to a full lathe, while alongside it were only four other lathes. This was because Borough and Eastry had merged into the Lathe of Saint Augustine, while Milton and Wye had merged to form the Lathe of Scray. The Lathe continued to be an important administrative, judicial and taxation unit for 600 years after the Domesday Book. The functions of Lathe and hundreds were somewhat similar, with a Lathe covering a much wider area. Although never formally abolished, it has had no administrative functions since the end of the 19th century. The Sheriff toured the county twice yearly, visiting each lathe: in the case of Sutton, possibly at Shire Hall. The lathe was responsible for raising of aids and subsidies for the Militia. However the Lathe court became anomalous as it fell between the hundred courts below and the Justices of the County (in petty and quarter sessions) above The Lathe of Sutton was mentioned in The London Gazette as late as 1899.According to Hasted, the Lathe of Sutton at Hone consisted of the following Hundreds: Blackheath Ruxley Bromley and Beckenham Little and Lesnes Dartford and Wilmington Axstane Codsheath Westerham and Edenbridge SomerdenThe lathe was the most westerly of the lathes into which Kent was divided. The first four hundreds in the above list now collectively form the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, Bexley and Bromley except Penge which was not originally in the county of Kent. Dartford and Wilmington Hundred is now in the borough of Dartford. Axstane hundred is now divided between the districts of Dartford and Sevenoaks, while the last three hundreds form the remainder of Sevenoaks District, except that Somerden and therefore the Lathe of Sutton included part of the parish of Speldhurst, which is now in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Thus the boundary of the Lathe with the rest of Kent is still in existence, with minor deviations, as the boundaries Dartford and Sevenoaks local authorities have the rest of Kent.The Lathe of Sutton had an area of 173,440 acres (271 sq. miles or 702 km2).

New Barn is a village in Kent, England. It is a compact residential area surrounded by open fields which lies four miles southwest of Gravesend. It is in the local government district of Dartford. The villages of New Barn and Longfield are within and give their names to the civil parish of Longfield and New Barn. New Barn is larger in population than Longfield, although has little in the way of services, being a recent development and purely residential in nature

Toltingtrough (or Toltingtrow) was a hundred in the Lathe of Aylesford in the county of Kent, England. This hundred is called, in some ancient writings, Toltetern and Tollentr, and in Domesday, Tollentru. In the return made of the several knights fees throughout England, by inquisition into the exchequer, in the 7th year of king Edward I, the archbishop of Canterbury appears to have been then lord of this Hundred. In the 20th year of king Edward III, on the levying 40 shillings on every knight's fee, this Hundred answered for four knights fees and a half.The hundred included the parishes of Gravesend Ifield Luddesdown Meopham Milton Northfleet NursteadThe town of Gravesend & Milton was incorporated during the reign of Elizabeth I and encompassed the parishes of Gravesend and Milton. Milton civil parish was abolished in 1915. Nurstead and Ifield civil parishes were abolished in 1935, when they were incorporated into Cobham.The Borough of Gravesham created in 1974 contains the same area, plus Chalk, Higham, Shorne and Cobham. The importance of the hundred courts declined from the 17th century, and most of their powers were extinguished with the establishment of county courts in 1867. In 1894 the Hundred was succeeded by Strood Rural District, the Urban District of Northfleet and the municipal borough of Gravesend.The area and population of each parish and the totals for the Hundred were as follows:

Longfield Academy is an academy school in Longfield, Kent, England. The academy is operated by Leigh Academies Trust and occupies the site where Longfield Comprehensive and Axton Chase School used to be. Longfield Academy moved into new buildings in July 2011 and has 877 pupils.(Around 1,030 Pupils in 2018)

Southfleet is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Dartford in Kent, England. The village is located three miles southwest of Gravesend, while the parish includes within its boundaries the hamlets of Betsham and Westwood. Southfleet takes its name from the River Fleet, a minor tributary of the River Thames. The water that supplied the river came from a place called Springhead, where there were watercress and oyster beds; the river then flowed through Southfleet, Ebbsfleet and Northfleet.

Longfield is a village in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located 6 miles south east of Dartford and the same distance south-west of Gravesend.

Northfleet Green is a hamlet in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. It is located around two miles southwest of Gravesend and just east of Southfleet in the neighbouring borough of Dartford. The High Speed 1 railway line passes just to the north of the hamlet. The population of the hamlet is included in the ward of Istead Rise.

Rectory Meadow is a 2.2-hectare (5.4-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Hartley in Kent. It is owned by Hartley Parish Council and managed by the council together with the North West Kent Countryside Project.This site has chalk grassland and woodland. 193 species of flora have been recorded, including man orchids and cornflowers.There is access from Hartley Road.

Hartley is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. It is located 7 miles (11 km) south west of Gravesend and the same distance south east of Dartford.

Longfield railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the villages of Longfield, Hartley, and New Ash Green. It is 23 miles 30 chains (37.6 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Farningham Road and Meopham. The station and all trains that call are operated by Southeastern.

Istead Rise is a village in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England, 3 miles (5 km) south of Gravesend. It had a population of 3,437 at the 2011 Census.The name of the village is not an ancient one; it first appears as a road-name on the Ordnance Survey 25" map of 1907. At that time Istead Rise was the only road in the region and led to Frog's Island at its western end. The name may be connected to a field-name, Highstead, appearing as plot 690 on the Northfleet tithe award of 1838. By road, it is 23 miles (37 km) east of London on the A2 road. The nearest railway station is 1.7 miles (3 km) away at Meopham (34 minutes from London Victoria). Istead Rise is 3.7 miles (6 km) from Ebbsfleet International for Eurostar services to Paris, Brussels and Lille. Southeastern commuter trains run on the high-speed track to London St Pancras (16 minutes away), stopping only at Stratford International. When devising the route of the high speed railway in the early 2000s the line was planned to pass right through and destroy the village. It transpired that very old maps had been used which did not feature Istead Rise; the railway was duly redrawn one mile to the north but not without vigorous protests from the residents. The new Linear Park, on the site of the old A2, is 15 minutes' walk away, 5 minutes by bike, and is suited to cycling, walking and jogging. At the Eastern end is Shorne Country Park. The new Cyclopark opened there in September 2012. Istead Rise Primary School provides education for children till the age of 11. In addition, on the site of the primary school, there are two nursery schools. St Barnabas Church (Church of England), founded in 1957, is located near the shops. There is a small parade of shops with an Indian restaurant, fish and chip shop, butcher, pharmacy, Co-op and dry cleaner. On Lewis Road there are an hairdresser, florist and dentist. There is a GP surgery on Worcester Close. Istead Rise was a pig-farming community in the 1860s, situated in the North Downs pathway. A pig farm was on what is now the site of Istead Rise Primary School. Kent County Council bought the site for its school in the 1960s. Until then Istead Rise did not have a school as there were insufficient children in the area to make this viable. As well as a pig farm on Downs Road, there were orchards on what are now the Community Centre fields and the surrounding housing area. There was also a flower farm with large greenhouses around what is now Flower Hill House and Flowerhill Way. Frog Island is on the site of what is now Istead Rise Parade. Frog Island is also the name of the local Morris Men group. References to these can be found in the local history of Istead Rise The Rise of the Rise, by Ken Jones. Istead Rise community centre was destroyed by a fire started during a burglary on 20 March 2007. The centre was re-built and opened again on 17 December 2008.

The DA postcode area, also known as the Dartford postcode area, is a group of eighteen postcode districts in England, within eleven post towns. These cover parts of south-east London and north-west Kent. The main sorting office in Dartford ceased operating in 2012 and became a Delivery Office. The area served includes most of the London Borough of Bexley and very small parts of the London Borough of Bromley and the Royal Borough of Greenwich, while in Kent it covers almost all the Borough of Dartford, most of the Gravesham district, the northeastern part of the Sevenoaks district and a very small part of the borough of Tonbridge and Malling.