Otford's earliest history and archaeology shows occupation for at least 3,000 years. Occupants have included
Iron Age farmers,
Romans, archbishops, and royalty, and major events include two battles. The etymology of the village name is disputed: an article in the
Kent and Sussex Courier claims that Otford is a contraction of
Ottansford, meaning the ford of Otta, a local man of importance.
Roman A
Roman villa in what is now Otford was abandoned during the 4th century, approximately 1700 years ago. The remains were re-discovered and excavated during the 1930s, and again in 2015 by the West Kent Archeological Society. It is at least twice the size of nearby
Lullingstone villa.
Saxon Otford was made part of the
Hundred of Codsheath, one of the nine Hundreds making up the
Lathe of Sutton at Hone in about the 6th century AD.
Lathes were Saxon administrative regions. From to 750, during the early medieval period,
Polhill Anglo-Saxon cemetery was used as a place of burial. The archaeologist Brian Philp suggested that the community who buried their dead at Polhill likely lived at Otford, noting that from the centre of the village, the cemetery was visible. The name Otford may be a contraction of
Otterford, possibly derived from
Offa, the King of
Mercia who fought the Kentish
Saxons in 776 at the
Battle of Otford.
The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3, published 1797, indicates that Otford's Saxon name was
Ottanford. It further notes that: "In 791, Offa, king of Mercia, whose gifts to the British churches and monasteries in general were great and munificent, gave Otteford to the church of Canterbury." Priest Werhard, kinsman of archbishop
Wulfred briefly took possession of Otteford, but was commanded by the archbishop to return it to Canterbury in 830. It remained so until 1070. The chronicler monk
John of Worcester told that
Edmund Ironside brought his army to Kent, and fought the
Danes at the
Battle of Otford in 1016. The Danes apparently fled to
Sheppey.
Norman Otford is mentioned in the
Domesday Book of 1086, where it shows that the Archbishop of
Canterbury possessed 8 mills in the village, which is referred to as
Otefort.
The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3 Middle Ages In 1514, Archbishop
William Warham replaced an existing ecclesiastical building with
Otford Palace, and in 1519, King
Henry VIII stayed in the palace. Apparently, he liked it so much, Archbishop
Thomas Cranmer felt compelled to give it to the king in 1537.
Late Middle Ages The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent says that: "Otford Parish is about nine miles in circumference, and contains about two thousand four hundred acres of land, of which about seventy are woodland. It lies for the greatest part of it in a low damp situation, which makes it far from being pleasant, and gives it a lonely and gloomy appearance, and in all probability it would have been but little known had it not been for the residence of the archbishops at it for such a length of time." On 16 January 1975 the village pond was granted
listed building status. In 1999, Otford Medical Practice extended its reach to include a new branch surgery in Kemsing.
Recent history In 2002, Otford won the Kent Village of the Year competition; the results were broadcast live on
BBC Radio Kent, and reported in the
Kent Messenger newspaper. The census of 2011 lists Otford and
Shoreham as having 4,595 residents (cf 798 in 1841, see above), in 1,852 households. The area is given as 2,147 hectares (cf 2,400 acres in the 1797 survey). The population density is averaged at 2.1 per hectare (0.85 per acre); however, this is perhaps misleading, as most housing is clustered. In 2012, Otford was formally twinned with
Neufchâtel-Hardelot, under a Twinning Charter signed in Neufchâtel-Hardelot on 17 September 2011 and Otford on 31 March 2012. The pond one-way system was declared Roundabout of the Year by the Roundabout Appreciation Society in 2013. In 2013 and 2014, Otford suffered considerable flooding from the river Darent. An assessment in 2011 by
KCC highlighted significant risk for Otford. The risks were not overstated, with some shops out of business for several months. ==Skyline==