Ebbsfleet Valley

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Ebbsfleet Valley
Ebbsfleet Valley shown within Kent
OS grid reference	TQ597730
Parish	Swanscombe and Greenhithe
District	Dartford
	Gravesham
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SWANSCOMBE
Postcode district	DA10
Dialling code	01322^[1]
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
European Parliament	South East England
List of places: UK • England • Kent

Coordinates: 51°26′04″N 0°17′50″E / 51.434322, 0.297071

Ebbsfleet Valley is a new town and redevelopment area in Kent, South East England; and part of the Thames Gateway. It is named from the valley of the Ebbsfleet River, which it straddles, with the eastern part of the site in the borough of Gravesham and with the portion west of the river in the borough of Dartford. It is located south west of the Gravesend urban conurbation.

1 Redevelopment
2 Archaeology
3 Civic identity
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Redevelopment

Much of the land is brownfield and was formerly used by industry; having been previously owned by the APCM, Blue Circle and most recently by Lafarge. The new community is planned to have a population of 40,000. Ebbsfleet International railway station was opened in November 2007 and provides services to Continental Europe on High Speed 1. Domestic services to London are planned to be operated by Southeastern.^[2] There will be a trial by BT of a fibre network in the Ebbsfleet valley, potentially offering the highest speed internet connection to home users in the United Kingdom.^[3]

[edit] Archaeology

Prior to the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in this area, archaeological work undertaken at Ebbsfleet found both an ancient Anglo-Saxon mill and a Roman villa, as well as the remains of a straight-tusked elephant. The Ebbsfleet River is of great historical importance in English history. The river, which is fed by eight natural springs, was held sacred by the Celts who settled in the area starting around 100 BC.^[4] The historical Watling Street passes through the site.

[edit] Civic identity

The football team Gravesend and Northfleet FC changed their name to Ebbsfleet United F.C. in the summer of 2007. Another move to promote a sense of identity in the new town is a planned landmark, which when built will be 50 metres high (twice as high as the Angel of the North) and is intended to be visible from road, rail and air. This sculpture, informally known as the Angel of the South, is currently being commissioned.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]