About Northfleet
An industrial past, a high-speed present, covered door to door
Northfleet grew up around Thames-side industry: by 1900 the North Kent cement trade, centred here and at neighbouring Swanscombe, produced around 40% of all cement made in Britain. Shipbuilding thrived too, with Thomas Pitcher's yard turning out vessels from 1788. The town's best-known modern landmark is its Bowaters paper mill, built in 1923, which still produces Andrex — one of the UK's most recognisable household brands.
In the 1830s, local developer Rosher tried to turn part of Northfleet into a fashionable Thames-steamer resort called Rosherville, complete with the popular Rosherville Gardens. That grand vision never fully arrived — but today's Northfleet has something arguably more useful: it sits right beside Ebbsfleet International, the High Speed 1 station that puts London St Pancras just 17 minutes away by rail.
