It has been the site of a settlement on the shore of the River Thames adjacent to Gravesend since Roman times.

Northfleet House was once the home of Thomas Sturge who owned a local cement works.

Springhead, the source of the Ebbsfleet River, was the first site in Britain where watercress was grown commercially in the early 19th century.

[3] Watling Street, a Roman road which forms the basis of the A2 from London to Dover, bisects the area.

[4] In 1815 the first steamboat started plying between Gravesend, Kent, and London, an event which was to bring much prosperity to the area.

The number of visitors steadily increased, and in the course of the next ten years several new and rival steam packets were started.

The regular service given by the steam packets led entrepreneurs to establish amenities for the entertainment of visitors, one of which was Rosherville Gardens.

George Jones laid out the gardens in 1837 in one of the disused chalk pits, covering an area of 17 acres (69,000 m2).

Robert Hiscock, in his A History of Gravesend (Phillimore, 1976) describes them thus: They were a place of surpassing beauty and a favourite resort of Londoners.

Adorned with small Greek temples and statuary set in the cliffs, there were terraces, and archery lawn, Bijou theatre, and Baronial Hall for refreshments, and at one time a lake.

At night the gardens were illuminated with thousands of coloured lights and there were fireworks displays and dancing.

The Princess Alice passenger steamer, after leaving Rosherville pier, was in a collision with the collier Bywell Castle, from Woolwich.

An inquest was held at Woolwich, but no conclusive reason was ever established as to the cause of the disaster at the Devils Elbow on the Thames.

A prospectus states that ' this spot will ultimate become to Gravesend what St Leonards is to Hastings and Broadstairs to Margate'.

On Friday, 16 August 1941 150 German aircraft flew through the Kent skies, to deal the worst blow to civilian life the county had experienced to that point in the war.

Northfleet was merged, inter alia, with Gravesend to become Gravesham District Council on 1 April 1974.

Aspdin's works became Robins & Co in 1853, sold on to the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers (APCM) in 1900, which was taken over by the Lafarge Group in 2001.

Now under water, one of the largest chalk pits, known locally as The Blue Lake, can be found between the A226 and the North Kent Railway line.

Northfleet is the location of a large Bowaters (later Bowater-Scott and Kimberly-Clark) paper mill built in 1923 and makes Andrex toilet tissue.

[6] Britannia Refined Metals (now part of the Glencore group) has a refinery producing lead and silver.

[7] Northfleet's railway station opened in 1849 as part of an extension of the North Kent Line from Gravesend to London and runs services operated by Southeastern and Thameslink.

[9] Ebbsfleet International railway station, on the High Speed 1 line (also known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link), is located less than a mile from Northfleet.

[14] The ancient parish church of Northfleet (dating from the 14th century, but with work from earlier periods) is dedicated to St Botolph.

The Roman Catholic church, Our Lady Of The Assumption designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and with its tower foreshadowing his Liverpool Cathedral, is built entirely of brown brick.

Built in 1878 by Parr and Strong for Bevan's cement purposes, it served as both a recreational hall and worker accommodations.

The structure features a basement, a double-height ground floor, and an ornate attic with slate roofs.

It has central recessed sections with round-headed windows and tower-like terminal parts accessible by bridges.

Before 1945, the club in Northfleet was a cultural centre with halls, sports facilities, a library, and hosted local groups.

Since closure the building has fallen in to disrepair[15] and suffered damage from a number of suspected arson attacks.

The academy is run by Northfleet Technology College teachers Brian Meaney (manager) and Lisa Donaldson (chairman) and also boasts the professional coaching of former Welsh international and current Ashford Town manager Steve Lovell.