Located on Dartford High Street next to the
River Darent, the oldest part of the church was constructed in approximately 1080 by
Gundulf,
Bishop of Rochester, on the site of an earlier
Saxon building, and was mentioned in the
Domesday Book as containing three chapels. It was enlarged in the 13th century with the addition of a new chapel dedicated to Saint
Thomas Becket, for use by pilgrims. When that chapel's altar was removed during the
English Reformation and the flow of pilgrims dried up, the church ceased to provide a focus for the town's religious and ceremonial life, and many traders lost a valuable source of income. In about 1485, a
fresco depicting
Saint George slaying the dragon was painted on one of the church's walls and can still be seen today. The original
Norman tower (currently containing eight bells) was added onto in the 14th century, and part of the church was removed during alterations by
Robert Mylne in 1792 in order to widen the High Street. A small portion of the original churchyard survives east of the church, a parish hall having been constructed on the northern part in 1971. A new churchyard was created on the site of the chantry chapel of St Edmund the Martyr. ==Present day==