Swanscombe is a village in the borough of Dartford in north‑west Kent, England, sitting on the south bank of the River Thames near Northfleet and Greenhithe. It combines suburban residential areas with former industrial and brownfield land and lies within commuting distance of London, benefitting from nearby transport links such as Ebbsfleet/Ebbsfleet International station.
The area is best known for the Swanscombe Skull Site, a nationally important Palaeolithic archaeological location where ancient hominin skull fragments were found, and for a long history of chalk quarrying and cement production; many former pits are now the focus of regeneration and new housing and leisure developments, with large retail and leisure centres like Bluewater close by, giving the village a mix of industrial heritage and contemporary redevelopment pressures.