Wilmington, Kent

Wilmington

St Michael and All Angels Church
Wilmington
 Wilmington shown within Kent
Area  2.617 sq mi (6.78 km2)
Population 7,178 (2011)[1]
   – density  2,743/sq mi (1,059/km2)
OS grid referenceTQ520725
   – London 15 mi (24 km)  WNW
Civil parishWilmington
DistrictDartford
Shire countyKent
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town DARTFORD
Postcode district DA2
Dialling code 01322
Police Kent
Fire Kent
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentDartford
WebsiteWilmington Parish Council
List of places
UK
England
Kent

Coordinates: 51°25′51″N 0°11′15″E / 51.4309°N 0.1876°E / 51.4309; 0.1876

Wilmington is a village and civil parish in the borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located a little over one mile south of Dartford town centre, beside the A2 Dartford Bypass, and around two and a half miles northeast of Swanley. The parish covers the southwestern corner of the borough, including the Joydens Wood estate, and borders Greater London.

The centre of the village has one shop and four pubs: The Orange Tree (a Shepherd Neame pub[2]), The Plough, The Foresters and The Horse and Groom at Leyton Cross. Its most prominent landmark is the St Michael and All Angels Church, which is the site for the annual Wilmington Model Railway Exhibition.

Transport

Wilmington is served by the Arriva Kent Bus service 477 with services to Bluewater via Dartford and Orpington via Swanley. Birchwood Road is served by Transport for London service B12 to Erith via Bexleyheath and to Joydens Wood, and the Go Coach service 429 to Dartford and Swanley. The closest rail links to Wilmington are at Dartford station, Crayford station (from Leyton Cross), Bexley station (from Joydens Wood) and Swanley station (from Top Dartford Road), all roughly two miles away.

Nearby areas

History

In the reign of Edward IV, a manor house in the village was the residence of the king-making Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. In the 19th Century Wilmington was noted for being surrounded by gardens and cherry orchards. In the 1970s the village was bisected by the A2 dual carriageway.

Famous residents

Wilmington is perhaps most famous for being the childhood home of Mick Jagger, lead singer with the Rolling Stones. Another earlier resident was Sir James Whitehead, whose family grave is in the village churchyard. He was Lord Mayor of London c.1888-9 and he lived for a number of years in the Manor, which was an early part of the girls' school. Two daughters (Leila and Florence) lived at Hazlewood in Rowhill and they founded the Mission in Broad Lane.

Sport

Wilmington Cricket Club has been a part of the village for over 100 years and has had many successes in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, playing at Lords twice and winning many competitions over the years. They currently play in the Kent Regional Cricket League and the home ground is in Oakfield Park.

Wilmington used to have a successful football club whose history, in the form of trophies and shields, is displayed in the Wilmington Pavilion on Oakfield Lane.[3] In 2014, Richard Moore, a resident of Wilmington, started a new Wilmington FC team playing in the North Kent Sunday League. In their first season they won the League Three title as well as the League A cup.

Schools

Wilmington Primary School

There are three secondary schools within the parish: Wilmington Grammar School for Boys (WGSB), whose students wear blue blazers, white shirts, grey trousers and different ties for each house within the school (these colours are red, green, white, black and purple); Wilmington Grammar School for Girls (WGSG), where the uniforms are maroon; and the mixed-sex Wilmington Academy (formerly Wilmington Hall), whose pupils wear black blazers.

Wilmington Academy and 'Wilmington Boys' are situated near Common Lane. The Academy was built in the mid-1970s on the site of Wilmington Hall Manor and is a specialist centre of excellence for both business and vocational courses. Wilmington Grammar School for Boys has engineering specialist status. Wilmington Grammar School for Girls specialises in mathematics and computing.

There is one primary school in the village and another in Joydens Wood Estate; a nursery school is situated next to Wilmington Academy.

The Dartford Campus of North West Kent College is accessed via Oakfield Lane, Wilmington,[4] but its grounds lie within Dartford.

References

  1. ↑ "Wilmington CP". Neighbourhood Statistics. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  2. ↑ David Anstiss. "The Orange Tree Public House, Dartford (C) David Anstiss :: Geograph Britain and Ireland".
  3. ↑ "Expired website - This website has expired".
  4. ↑ Only the westbound lane and properties to the south of the road lie within Wilmington parish
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