Singlewell or Ifield is an area south of

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

, in the

Gravesham Gravesham ( ) is a local government district with borough status in north-west Kent, England. The council is based in its largest town of Gravesend. The borough is indirectly named after Gravesend, using the form of the town's name as it appear ...

district, in the county of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. Originally two separate settlements on either side of

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

, it is now separated by the A2 road and the

Channel Tunnel Rail Link High Speed 1 (HS1), officially the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of the line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Euro ...

and bears little resemblance to its past. Singlewell Road leads from Gravesend town southwards to the A2, linking with Hever Court Road just to the north of the former site of the A2. The A2 was moved to the South in the 2000s, allowing a widening from three to four lanes in each direction. The carriageways were then turned into a parkland area. Singlewell is one of the highest points in Gravesham, including Marling Cross, which forms the junction at Gravesend East on the A2, which is the highest point in the Borough. The name Singlewell, originally ''Shinglewell'' – and not therefore referring to it having the only well in the district – and its eponymous ancient well with ancient origins has now come to mean the area now part of the built-up area of Gravesend. The well was filled in during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The original Watling Street is now Hever Court Road and the nearby estate named after it was built in 1957. Hever Court itself was the original home of the medieval family who moved to

Hever, Kent Hever village is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks (district), Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the River Eden, Kent, River Eden, a tributary of the River Medway, east of Edenbri ...

in 1331. Hever Court eventually became derelict and was demolished in 1952. Ifield, once a large rural parish, is now a few houses south of the main road, and the tiny church of St Margaret, with

Norman architecture The term Norman architecture is used to categorise styles of Romanesque architecture developed by the Normans in the various lands under their dominion or influence in the 11th and 12th centuries. In particular the term is traditionally used f ...

included in its walls. The parish formed part of the Hundred of

Toltingtrough Toltingtrough (or Toltingtrow) was a hundred in the Lathe of Aylesford in the county of Kent, England. This hundred is called, in some ancient writings, Toltetern and Tollentr, and in Domesday, Tollentru. In the return made of the several knight ...

, then

Strood Rural District Strood Rural District was a rural district in the county of Kent, England. It was subject to boundary reforms in 1934 and 1935. It consisted of the following civil parishes: * Allhallows (1935–1974; gained from Hoo Rural District) *Chalk ...

from 1894 and was abolished on 1 April 1935, split between Cobham and Gravesend, in the Municipal Borough of Gravesend. In 1931 the parish had a population of 114. The George Inn is also in Hever Court Road: it was a favourite establishment of Gravesend residents in the 19th century, being within walking distance from the town; not too different from today, although there is also a

Best Western Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...

hotel (the Manor); and the Gravesend South

Premier Inn Premier Inn Limited, a subsidiary of Whitbread, is a British limited-service hotel chain with operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. As of 2025, the company owned and operated over 800 h ...

, both serving traffic on the A2 road.

References

External links

* Villages in Kent {{Kent-geo-stub