SWANSCOMBE, a parish in the hundred of AXTON-DARTFORD-and-WILMINGTON,
lathe of SUTTON
at HONE, county of KENT, 4 miles (E.) from Dartford, containing
908 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the
archdeaconry and diocese of Rochester, rated in the
king's books at £25. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the
Master and Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
The church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, is principally
in the early style of English architecture. The
parish is bounded on the north by the river Thames,
from which the village, agreeably surrounded by woods,
has a highly picturesque appearance. Svvanscombe, anciently
Swanes-Camp, is celebrated for the landing and
encampment of Sweyn, King of Denmark; also as the
place where the men of Kent enclosed William the Conqueror
with boughs in their hands, when, casting them
down, they prepared for battle, demanding the enjoyment
of their former rights, which they obtained.
From Greenhithe, a hamlet in this parish, immense
quantities of chalk and lime are sent to the neighbouring
ports.